Leviticus 21:15

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

He shall not profane his seed among his people: for I am Yahweh who sanctifies him.'"

World English Bible · Public Domain

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יְחַלֵּ֥ל

châlal

H2490

“to profane”

Verb, Piel, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular

Appears 143× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 4:26

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root [compare H2470 ]

TWOT: 660 , 661

to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate, begin - (Niphal) - to profane oneself, defile oneself, pollute oneself - ritually - sexually - to be polluted, be defiled - (Piel) - to profane, make common, defile, pollute - to violate the honour of, dishonour - to violate (a covenant) - to treat as common - (Pual) to profane (name of God) - (Hiphil) - to let be profaned - to begin - (Hophal) to be begun - to wound (fatally), bore through, pierce, bore - (Qal) to pierce - (Pual) to be slain - (Poel) to wound, pierce - (Poal) to be wounded - (Piel) to play the flute or pipe

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

8: words
8: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Grammatical profile

2 verbs
3 nouns
1 pronoun
1 conjunction
1 particle

Verb forms

יְחַלֵּ֥ל Piel · Imperfect
מְקַדְּשֽׁוֹ Piel · Participle Active

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 16 words from the Hebrew and 17 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 8 Hebrew tokens and 15 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Leviticus 21:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Romans 11:16 If the first fruit is holy, so is the lump. If the root is holy, so are the branches.
1 Corinthians 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now are they holy.
Genesis 18:19 For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him."
Leviticus 21:8 You shall sanctify him therefore; for he offers the bread of your God: he shall be holy to you: for I Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy.
Ezra 2:62 These sought their register [among] those who were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they deemed polluted and put from the priesthood.
Ezra 9:2 For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy seed have mixed themselves with the peoples of the lands: yes, the hand of the princes and rulers has been chief in this trespass.
Nehemiah 13:23–29 In those days also saw I the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, [and] of Moab:
Malachi 2:11 Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the holiness of Yahweh which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

Malachi 2:15 Did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? Why one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Leviticus 21:15 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְלֹֽא יְחַלֵּ֥ל זַרְע֖וֹ בְּעַמָּ֑יו כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְהוָ֖ה מְקַדְּשֽׁוֹ

He shall not profane his seed among his people: for I am Yahweh who sanctifies him.'"

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Leviticus 21:15 Septuagint · lemma form

καί οὐ βεβηλόω ὁ σπέρμα αὐτός ἐν ὁ λαός αὐτός ἐγώ κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζω αὐτός

And he shall not profane his seed among his people: I am the Lord that sanctifies him.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְלָא יַחֵל זַרְעֵהּ בְּעַמֵהּ אֲרֵי אֲנָא יְיָ מְקַדְשֵׁהּ

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְלָא יָפִיס זַרְעֵיהּ בְּעַמֵיהּ אֲרוּם אֲנָא יְיָ מְקַדְשֵׁיהּ

Neither shall he profane his offspring among his people; for I the Lord do sanctify him.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Leviticus 21:15 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Commentary source

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Lev 21:15 Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.

Ver. 15. Profane his seed.] Disable them for the priesthood by marrying such a wife as was forbidden him.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Lev 21:15. I the Lord sanctify him — I have separated him from all other men for my immediate service, and therefore will not have that race corrupted.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

By marrying any unchaste or defamed woman.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(15) Neither shall he profane his seed.—Better, And he shall not profane; that is, he is not to contract any of these forbidden marriages, lest he should thereby degrade his offspring, since the children of such an issue, as well as their mother, were debarred the privileges of the priesthood, and were not permitted to partake of those portions of the sacrifices which formed the perquisites of the officiating priests.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

15. His posterity would become unholy, if they were not sprung from a mother who was worthy of marriage union with the high priest. The later Jews were very scrupulous as to the descent of those whom it was lawful for a priest to marry.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Neither shall he profane his seed among his people,.... By marrying any such persons, whereby his children, born of them, would lie under disgrace, and be unfit to succeed him in the priesthood, or by marrying among mean persons, or by marrying them to such as were unlawful, and would be a disparagement to them:

for I the Lord do sanctify him; separate him from all others, to the high and sacred office of the high priesthood, and am concerned for his honour and holiness; and therefore it became him to observe these laws and rules, and abstain from such disagreeable marriages.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Profane his seed - i. e. by a marriage which was not in keeping with the holiness of his office.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Nation. The wife of the high priest must be of noble birth, that he may speak to kings and princes with more authority. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "he shall not defile his race," &c., by marrying one of another nation, or contrary to law. If he do, the children shall have no share in the priesthood.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Neither shall he profane his seed by mixing it with forbidden kinds, whereby the children would be disparaged, and rendered unfit for their priestly function.

Do sanctify him, i.e. have separated him from all other sorts of men for my especial and immediate service, and therefore will not have that race corrupted.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

I the Lord sanctify him - I have separated him from all other men for my immediate service, and therefore will not have that race corrupted.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Keil & Delitzsch

C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch

"Neither shall he profane his seed (posterity) among his people," sc., by contracting a marriage that was not in keeping with the holiness of his rank.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

ולא יחלל זרעו NEITHER SHALL HE PROFANE HIS SEED —,thus if he marries one of these women disqualified for a union with him his offspring (זרעו) from her becomes “profaned" (חלל) being exempted from the general law of holiness that applies to the priestly status (cf. Kiddushin 77a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Ramban (Nachmanides)

Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban / Nachmanides)

AND HE SHALL NOT PROFANE HIS SEED AMONG HIS PEOPLE. “Thus if he married one of these women who are disqualified for him, his offspring from her becomes profaned [i.e., disqualified] from the law of the sanctity of the priesthood.” This is Rashi’s language.The Rabbi [Rashi] thus explained the verse [before us] as a mere negation, meaning: “these shall he not take in order that he profane not his offspring.” But in the opinion of our Rabbis, this constitutes a second negative commandment. Thus they have said: “If [a High Priest or a common priest] betrothed and had intercourse with one of the women disqualified to him, he is subject to two penalties of whipping, once on account of he shall not take, and again on account of he shall not profane.” And the Rabbis have also said there: “If he has intercourse without betrothal, he is liable to whipping on account of he shall not profane.” Thus it is clear that these are two negative commandments. They have also explained there the reason why, for [mere] betrothal without [subsequent] intercourse, he is not liable to whipping, because [Scripture says: he shall not take … he shall not profane, meaning:] Why must he not take [her as his wife]? “In order that he may not profane” [his offspring, and therefore if the marriage was not consummated, and he can have no offspring from her, he is not liable merely for the betrothal]. If so, the meaning of the expression, these shall he not take, is “because I [the Eternal] admonish him against profaning his seed,” and from this statement we ourselves deduce that his offspring from one of the disqualified women is profaned, [rendered unfit for the priesthood].

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Leviticus, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 8 words (8 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is châlal (“to profane”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to profane” (châlal) shape what this verse is saying?
How does Romans 11:16, which shares this passage’s theme, read alongside this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
«יְחַלֵּ֥ל» is a Piel Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 8 Hebrew ↔ 15 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 11 words in this verse.
8 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 8 words in this verse.