Leviticus 22:20

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

But whatever has a blemish, that you shall not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Word by word

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מ֖וּם

mʼûwm

H3971

“blemish”

Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 22× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Leviticus 21:17

Full BDB Definition

Origin: as if passive participle from an unused root

TWOT: 1137a

blemish, spot, defect - of physical defect - of moral stain

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 →

11: words
8: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is מ֖וּם blemish H3971 — appearing just 22 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

מ֖וּם blemish H3971 occurs in 19 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

2 verbs
3 nouns
2 prepositions
1 conjunction
3 particles

Verb forms

תַקְרִ֑יבוּ Hiphil · Imperfect
יִהְיֶ֥ה Qal · Imperfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

לֹ֣א not H3808 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 18 words from the Hebrew and 22 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 11 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 22:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Deuteronomy 17:1 You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox, or a sheep, in which is a blemish, [or] anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh your God.
Deuteronomy 15:21 If it have any blemish, [as if it be] lame or blind, any ill blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God.
Malachi 1:8 When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn't that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn't that evil? Present it now to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Or will he accept your person?" says Yahweh of Hosts.
Leviticus 22:25 Neither from the hand of a foreigner shall you offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them. There is a blemish in them. They shall not be accepted for you.'"
Hebrews 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
1 Peter 1:19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb without spot, the blood of Christ;
Malachi 1:13–14 You say also, 'Behold, what a weariness it is!' and you have sniffed at it," says Yahweh of Hosts; "and you have brought that which was taken by violence, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring the offering. Should I accept this at your hand?" says Yahweh.

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 22:20 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר בּ֥וֹ מ֖וּם לֹ֣א תַקְרִ֑יבוּ כִּי לֹ֥א לְרָצ֖וֹן יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶֽם

But whatever has a blemish, that you shall not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Leviticus 22:20 Septuagint · lemma form

πᾶς ὅσος ἄν ἔχω μῶμος ἐν αὐτός οὐ προςἄγω κύριος διότι οὐ δεκτός εἰμί σύ

They shall not bring to the Lord anything that has a blemish in it, for it shall not be acceptable for you.

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)

כֹּל דִי בֵהּ מוּמָא לָא תְקָרְבוּן אֲרֵי לָא לְרַעֲוָא יְהֵי לְכוֹן

(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)

כָּל דְבֵיהּ מוּמָא לָא תְקַרְבוּן אֲרוּם לָא לְרַעֲוָא יְהֵי לְכוֹן

But anything that hath a blemish you shall not offer; for that will not be acceptable from you.

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 22:20 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 →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Lev 22:20 [But] whatsoever hath a blemish, [that] shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.

Ver. 20. It shall not be acceptable.] Nay, it shall be abominable. {Mal 1:7} God requires the best of the best, fine flour without bran, {Lev 2:1, &c.} and curseth that cheat, that having a sound or a fat male in his flock, bringeth to him a corrupt carrion, or a lean starveling, for sacrifice. {Mal 1:14}

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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 20. Whatsoever hath a blemish] The same perfection is required in the sacrifice that was required in the priest; see on Le 22:2, and the notes on the preceding chapter.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(20) But whatsoever hath a blemish.—Better. whatsoever hath, &c, without the “but,” which is not in the original, and is not wanted. The general rule is here repeated as an introduction to the cases which are immediately to be specified. It will be seen that only quadrupeds are given and that fowls are not alluded to, because when people brought birds the Law did not require any distinction to be made between male and female, and during the second Temple no blemish disqualified a bird except the entire absence of a limb.

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

John Gill's Exposition

And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offering unto the Lord,.... This, as Ben Gersom observes, is distinguished from a burnt offering; for though it was to be perfect, and without blemish, yet not obliged to be a male as that, Lev 3:1. This was either by way of thanksgiving for mercies received, Lev 7:12, or

to accomplish his vow; made in any distress, that if God would deliver him, then he would offer such a sacrifice:

or a freewill offering; either on account of favours received, or in order to obtain them: which sacrifice, whether

in beeves or sheep; whether in bullocks or sheep, under which are comprehended goats, both being of the flock, Lev 22:19,

it shall be perfect to be accepted; perfect in all its parts, not only in those that are without and obvious to view, but in those that are within: wherefore the Jewish writers say (w), if it had but one kidney, or the spleen was consumed, it was unfit for the altar; wherefore, in order to be an acceptable sacrifice to God, it was to be complete in all respects:

there shall be no blemish therein; which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and that it might be observed. Such sacrifices were typical of Christ, the immaculate Lamb of God, who offered himself without spot to him, Pe1 1:19; and shows that no sacrifice of man's can be so acceptable to God as to atone for him, since none of theirs are perfect, and without blemish.

(w) Maimon. Hilchot Issure Mizbeach, c. 2. sect. 11.

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

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

to be accepted

This can be stated in active form. AT: "for me to accept it" or "for Yahweh to accept it" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

sacrifice

fellowship offering

flocks

fulfill

freewill offering

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

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 11 words (8 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is mʼûwm (“blemish”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word mʼûwm carries the sense “blemish.” How does it shape the verse?
Leviticus 21:17 shares the word «blemish» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“not” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
The verb «תַקְרִ֑יבוּ» is Hiphil Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Adam Clarke's Commentary read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 11 Hebrew ↔ 15 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 9 words in this verse.
“not” occurs 2× in this single verse.
8 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 11 words in this verse.