{"collection":"Hypertext Bible","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_bib_jps_lev021_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_bib_jps_lev021_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_bib_jps_lev021_htm","license":"unknown_pending_legal_review","rights_basis":"sacred_texts_v1_preview_gate_primary_text_only; acquisition-method/ToS and compilation-copyright questions still open, not resolved by this gate","source":"sacred_texts_v1","source_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bib/jps/lev021.htm","summary":"This is a passage from Leviticus (chapter 21) in the Hebrew Bible/Tanach, presented in the 1917 Jewish Publication Society translation \u2014 part of the Torah's legal and priestly literature. The text consists of divine commandments delivered through Moses to the Israelite priests (Kohanim), establishing strict behavioral and physical standards that distinguish them from ordinary Israelites. The main content covers three categories of priestly law: restrictions on ritual impurity through contact with the dead (with limited exceptions for close relatives), prohibitions on certain mourning practices and marriage partners, and \u2014 notably \u2014 the disqualification of any physically blemished descendant of Aaron from performing sacrificial offerings at the altar. A distinctive and striking claim is the exhaustive catalog of physical conditions that bar a priest from officiating, including blindness, lameness, dwarfism, and crushed testicles, though such individuals may still eat of the sacred food. The passage reflects the ancient Israelite theology that holiness requires separation and wholeness, with the priesthood held to a higher standard of purity than the general population. Anyone evaluating this text for study would find it directly relevant to topics of ritual law, priestly caste systems, bodily purity concepts in ancient religion, and the social treatment of disability in antiquity.","tags":["Book of Chronicles","Hebrew Bible Translation","Jewish Publication Society Bible"],"text":null,"title":"Tanach (JPS): Leviticus: Leviticus Chapter 21","tradition":"Hypertext Bible","translated_text":null,"word_count":622}