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Leviticus 22

Leviticus 22 guards the holiness of Israel’s offerings through commands governing priestly purity, sacred food, and acceptable sacrifices.

YHWH tells Moses how Aaron and his sons must handle Israel’s holy offerings without profaning his name. Priests who become unclean must refrain from eating sacred food until they meet the requirements for cleansing. Rules also define which household members may eat it and what repayment follows accidental misuse. The commands then address Israel’s sacrificial animals, including defects that make them unacceptable, before closing with God’s claim upon the people he brought out of Egypt.

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2“Tell Aaron and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they make holy to me, and that they not profane my holy name. I am the LORD.
3“Tell them, ‘If anyone of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things which the children of Israel make holy to the LORD, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from before me. I am the LORD.
4“‘Whoever of the offspring of Aaron is a leper or has a discharge shall not eat of the holy things until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man who has a seminal emission,
5or whoever touches any creeping thing by which he may be made unclean, or a man from whom he may become unclean, whatever uncleanness he has—
6the person that touches any such shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the holy things unless he bathes his body in water.
7When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread.
8He shall not eat that which dies of itself or is torn by animals, defiling himself by it. I am the LORD.
9“‘They shall therefore follow my commandment, lest they bear sin for it and die in it, if they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
10“‘No stranger shall eat of the holy thing: a foreigner living with the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.
11But if a priest buys a slave, purchased by his money, he shall eat of it; and those who are born in his house shall eat of his bread.
13But if a priest’s daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s bread; but no stranger shall eat any of it.
14“‘If a man eats something holy unwittingly, then he shall add the fifth part of its value to it, and shall give the holy thing to the priest.
15The priests shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer to the LORD,
16and so cause them to bear the iniquity that brings guilt when they eat their holy things; for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”
18“Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it is any of their vows or any of their free will offerings, which they offer to the LORD for a burnt offering:
19that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without defect, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats.
20But you shall not offer whatever has a defect, for it shall not be acceptable for you.
21Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to accomplish a vow, or for a free will offering of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted. It shall have no defect.
22You shall not offer what is blind, is injured, is maimed, has a wart, is festering, or has a running sore to the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to the LORD.
23Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a free will offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
24You must not offer to the LORD that which has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut. You must not do this in your land.
25You must not offer any of these as the bread of your God from the hand of a foreigner, because their corruption is in them. There is a defect in them. They shall not be accepted for you.’”
27“When a bull, a sheep, or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother. From the eighth day on it shall be accepted for the offering of an offering made by fire to the LORD.
28Whether it is a cow or ewe, you shall not kill it and its young both in one day.
29“When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.
30It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until the morning. I am the LORD.
31“Therefore you shall keep my commandments, and do them. I am the LORD.
32You shall not profane my holy name, but I will be made holy among the children of Israel. I am the LORD who makes you holy,
33who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am the LORD.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Leviticus 22:19The requirement for an unblemished male establishes the standard for burnt offerings brought by Israelites or foreigners.
Leviticus 22:9The warning of death makes priestly responsibility grave, while identifying YHWH as the one who sanctifies them.
Leviticus 22:8The prohibition on eating animals found dead or torn protects priestly purity within the rules for handling holy food.
Where this chapter reaches

Malachi shares this chapter’s concern for acceptable sacrifices, condemning the offering of blind, lame, or sick animals to God. 1 Peter connects the language of an unblemished sacrificial animal with Christ, whose blood is described through the image of a lamb without defect.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do the restrictions on sacred food show you about the priests’ responsibility toward Israel’s offerings?

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How does the closing reference to deliverance from Egypt frame the commands you have just read?

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Questions people ask about Leviticus 22

What does being unclean mean in Leviticus 22?

Uncleanness is a ritual condition that restricts a priest’s access to holy food. The chapter names bodily conditions and contact with sources of impurity. For the contact cases described, washing and waiting until evening restore access. These conditions can arise through ordinary bodily life; becoming unclean does not itself establish moral wrongdoing.

Why did sacrifices have to be without defects in Leviticus 22?

God makes freedom from defects a condition of acceptance for the sacrifices described. The chapter lists injuries and bodily defects that disqualify animals, linking acceptable offerings with honoring his holy name. Verse 23 permits a limited exception for a free will offering involving certain deformities, while excluding that animal from a vow offering.

Who could eat the holy food in Leviticus 22?

Access depends on membership in the priest’s household and the purity rules. Purchased slaves and those born in his house may eat; hired servants and outsiders may not. A priest’s daughter who marries an outsider loses access, but a childless widow or divorced daughter returning to her father’s house may eat again.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).