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Contemporary English Version

Leviticus 21:3

or an unmarried sister, who has no husband to take care of her.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Mourning;   Sanctification;   Uncleanness;   The Topic Concordance - Priests;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Dead, the;   Defilement;   High Priest, the;   Priests;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Mourning;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Priest;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Clean, Unclean;   Incest;   Priest, Christ as;   Priest, Priesthood;   Worship;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Purification;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Mourning;   Priest;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Birds of Abomination;   Leviticus;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Canon of the Old Testament;   Congregation, Assembly;   Crimes and Punishments;   Deuteronomy;   Hexateuch;   Holiness;   Law;   Leviticus;   Priests and Levites;   Sanctification, Sanctify;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Priesthood, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Corpse;   Leviticus;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Commandments, the 613;   Corpse;   Mourning;   Priest;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
and for his sister a virgin, that is near to him, that has had no husband; for her may he defile himself.
King James Version
And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.
Lexham English Bible
and for his sister, a virgin, who is closest to him, who has not had a husband—for her he may defile himself.
New Century Version
unmarried sister who is close to him because she has no husband. The priest may make himself unclean for her if she dies.
New English Translation
and his virgin sister who is near to him, who has no husband; he may defile himself for her.
Amplified Bible
also his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may become unclean.
New American Standard Bible
also for his virgin sister who is near to him because she has not had a husband; for her, he may defile himself.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Or by his sister a maid, that is neere vnto him, which hath not had a husband: for her he may lament.
Legacy Standard Bible
also for his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.
Complete Jewish Bible
he may also make himself unclean for his virgin sister who has never married and is therefore dependent on him.
Darby Translation
and for his sister, a virgin, that is near unto him, who hath had no husband, for her may he make himself unclean.
Easy-to-Read Version
his unmarried sister. (This sister is close to him because she has no husband. So the priest may make himself unclean for her if she dies.)
English Standard Version
or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean).
George Lamsa Translation
And for his virgin sister, who is near to him, who had no husband; for her he may defile himself.
Good News Translation
or unmarried sister living in his house.
Christian Standard Bible®
He may make himself unclean for his unmarried virgin sister in his immediate family.
Literal Translation
and for his sister, the virgin, who is near to him, who has not been with a man, for her he may be defiled.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
& vpon his sister, which is yet a virgin, & hath bene no mans wife (which belongeth vnto him) vpon her maie he defyle himself.
American Standard Version
and for his sister a virgin, that is near unto him, that hath had no husband; for her may he defile himself.
Bible in Basic English
And for his sister, a virgin, for she is his near relation and has had no husband, he may make himself unclean.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And by his sister a mayde that is nye vnto hym, whom no man hath knowe: for her shall he be defiled.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
and for his sister a virgin, that is near unto him, that hath had no husband, for her may he defile himself.
King James Version (1611)
And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh vnto him, which hath had no husband: for her may he be defiled.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and for a virgin sister that is near to one, that is not espoused to a man; for these one shall defile himself.
English Revised Version
and for his sister a virgin, that is near unto him, which hath had no husband, for her may he defile himself.
Berean Standard Bible
or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and brother and sister, virgyn, which is not weddid to man;
Young's Literal Translation
and for his sister, the virgin, who is near unto him, who hath not been to a man; for her he is defiled.
Update Bible Version
and for his sister a virgin, that is near to him, that has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.
Webster's Bible Translation
And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh to him, who hath had no husband: for her he may be defiled.
World English Bible
and for his sister a virgin, that is near to him, that has had no husband; for her may he defile himself.
New King James Version
also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for her he may defile himself.
New Living Translation
or his virgin sister who depends on him because she has no husband.
New Life Bible
or his young sister who is near to him because she has had no husband. For her he may make himself unclean.
New Revised Standard
likewise, for a virgin sister, close to him because she has had no husband, he may defile himself for her.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
or for his sister, a virgin who is near unto him, who belongeth not unto a husband, - for her, he may make himself unclean:
Douay-Rheims Bible
And for a maiden sister, who hath had no husband.
Revised Standard Version
or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself).
New American Standard Bible (1995)
also for his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.

Contextual Overview

1 The Lord gave Moses these instructions for Aaron's sons, the priests: Touching a dead body will make you unclean. So don't go near a dead relative, 2 except your mother, father, son, daughter, brother, 3 or an unmarried sister, who has no husband to take care of her. 4 Don't make yourself unclean by attending the funeral of someone related to you by marriage. 5 Don't shave any part of your head or trim your beard or cut yourself to show that you are mourning. 6 I am the Lord your God, and I have chosen you alone to offer sacrifices of food to me on the altar. That's why you must keep yourselves holy. 7 Don't marry a divorced woman or a woman who has served as a temple prostitute. You are holy, 8 because I am holy. And so, you must be treated with proper respect, since you offer food sacrifices to me, the God of holiness. 9 If any of you priests has a daughter who disgraces you by serving as a temple prostitute, she must be burned to death.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: Leviticus 22:12 - a stranger

Cross-References

Genesis 17:19
But God answered: No! You and Sarah will have a son. His name will be Isaac, and I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants.
Genesis 21:6
and Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Now everyone will laugh with me.
Genesis 21:12
But God said, "Abraham, don't worry about your slave woman and the boy. Just do what Sarah tells you. Isaac will inherit your family name,
Genesis 22:2
The Lord said, "Go get Isaac, your only son, the one you dearly love! Take him to the land of Moriah, and I will show you a mountain where you must sacrifice him to me on the fires of an altar."
Joshua 24:3
But I brought Abraham across the Euphrates River and led him through the land of Canaan. I blessed him by giving him Isaac, the first in a line of many descendants.
Matthew 1:2
From Abraham to King David, his ancestors were: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and his brothers (Judah's sons were Perez and Zerah, and their mother was Tamar), Hezron; Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Obed (his mother was Ruth), Jesse, and King David. From David to the time of the exile in Babylonia, the ancestors of Jesus were: David, Solomon (his mother had been Uriah's wife), Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram; Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, and Jehoiachin and his brothers.
Acts 7:8
God said to Abraham, "Every son in each family must be circumcised to show that you have kept your agreement with me." So when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. Later, Isaac circumcised his son Jacob, and Jacob circumcised his twelve sons.
Romans 9:7
In fact, when God made the promise to Abraham, he meant only Abraham's descendants by his son Isaac. God was talking only about Isaac when he promised

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him,.... That is, his sister by both father's and mother's side, as Aben Ezra; though, according to Gersom, his sister by his father's side, and not by his mother's side, is meant; but, according to Alphes, by his mother's side: perhaps this may signify not nearness of kin, which is expressed by being his sister, but nearness of place, for, being unmarried, she remained unto her death in her father's house:

which hath had no husband; neither betrothed to one, for then she would have been nigh to her husband, and not her brother, and therefore he might not pollute himself for her, as Gersom observes; nor married to him, for such an one he might not defile himself, even though she might have been rejected or divorced by her husband, as the same writer says:

for her may he be defiled; for a pure virgin that had never been betrothed nor married to a man, and had never departed from her father's house, and so had no husband to mourn for her, and take care of her funeral, and so for all the rest before mentioned; and which Jarchi says is a command, and not a bare sufferance or allowance, but what he ought and was obliged to do; and so it is related of Joseph r, a priest, that his wife died in the evening of the sabbath, and he would not defile himself for her, and his brethren the priests obliged him, and made him defile himself against his will.

r T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 90. 1.


 
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