Passage

Leviticus 21.5

Book: Leviticus · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"3. and for his sister a virgin, that is near unto him, that hath had no husband; for her may he defile himself. 4. He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself."

"5. They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh."

"6. They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God; for the offerings of Jehovah made by fire, the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy. 7. They shall not take a woman that is a harlot, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God." (Leviticus 21:3-7, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"3. and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. 4. He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself."

"5. “‘They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh."

"6. They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7. “‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. They shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God." (Leviticus 21:3-7, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"3. And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled. 4. But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. ^{he: or, being an husband among his people, he shall not defile himself for his wife, etc}"

"5. They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh."

"6. They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy. 7. They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God." (Leviticus 21:3-7, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"3. and for his sister, the virgin, who is near unto him, who hath not been to a man; for her he is defiled. 4. 'A master [priest] doth not defile himself among his people, to pollute himself;"

"5. they do not make baldness on their head, and the corner of their beard they do not shave, and in their flesh they do not make a cutting;"

"6. they are holy to their God, and they pollute not the name of their God, for the fire-offerings of Jehovah, bread of their God, they are bringing near, and have been holy. 7. 'A woman, a harlot, or polluted, they do not take, and a woman cast out from her husband they do not take, for he [is] holy to his God;" (Leviticus 21:3-7, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Bears Mauling Youth Objection Defeater

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.