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Friday, July 18th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

Leviticus 21:3

or his virgin sister who depends on him because she has no husband.

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.
Contemporary English Version
or an unmarried sister, who has no husband to take care of her.
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 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 said to Moses, "Give the following instructions to the priests, the descendants of Aaron. "A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean by touching the dead body of a relative. 2 The only exceptions are his closest relatives—his mother or father, son or daughter, brother, 3 or his virgin sister who depends on him because she has no husband. 4 But a priest must not defile himself and make himself unclean for someone who is related to him only by marriage. 5 "The priests must not shave their heads or trim their beards or cut their bodies. 6 They must be set apart as holy to their God and must never bring shame on the name of God. They must be holy, for they are the ones who present the special gifts to the Lord , gifts of food for their God. 7 "Priests may not marry a woman defiled by prostitution, and they may not marry a woman who is divorced from her husband, for the priests are set apart as holy to their God. 8 You must treat them as holy because they offer up food to your God. You must consider them holy because I, the Lord , am holy, and I make you holy. 9 "If a priest's daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she also defiles her father's holiness, and 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 replied, "No—Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant.
Genesis 21:6
And Sarah declared, "God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me.
Genesis 21:12
But God told Abraham, "Do not be upset over the boy and your servant. Do whatever Sarah tells you, for Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.
Genesis 22:2
"Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you."
Joshua 24:3
But I took your ancestor Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him into the land of Canaan. I gave him many descendants through his son Isaac.
Matthew 1:2
Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
Acts 7:8
"God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.
Romans 9:7
Being descendants of Abraham doesn't make them truly Abraham's children. For the Scriptures say, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted," though Abraham had other children, too.
Hebrews 11:18
even though God had told him, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted."

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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