Imamat 21:18-19

21:18 Certainly ¹  no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose, ²  or a limb too long, 21:19 or a man who has had a broken leg or arm, ³ 

Imamat 22:22

22:22 “‘You must not present to the Lord something blind, or with a broken bone, or mutilated, or with a running sore, ⁴  or with a festering eruption, or with a feverish rash. ⁵  You must not give any of these as a gift ⁶  on the altar to the Lord.

[21:18]  ¹ tn The particle כִּי (ki) in this context is asseverative, indicating absolutely certainty (GKC 498 §159.ee).

[21:18]  ² tn Lexically, the Hebrew term חָרֻם (kharum) seems to refer to a split nose or perhaps any number of other facial defects (HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם qal; cf. G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 292, n. 7); cf. KJV, ASV “a flat nose”; NASB “a disfigured face.” The NJPS translation is “a limb too short” as a balance to the following term which means “extended, raised,” and apparently refers to “a limb too long” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 146).

[21:19]  ³ tn Heb “who there is in him a broken leg or a broken arm,” or perhaps “broken foot or broken hand.” The Hebrew term רֶגֶל (regel) is commonly rendered “foot,” but it can also refer to the “leg,” and the Hebrew יָד (yad) is most often translated “hand,” but can also refer to the “[fore]arm” (as opposed to כַּף, kaf, “palm of the hand” or “hand”). See HALOT 386 s.v. יָד and 1184 s.v. רֶגֶל respectively (cf. the NJPS translation). In this context, these terms probably apply to any part of the limb that was broken, including hand and the foot. B. A. Levine (Leviticus [JPSTC], 146) points out that such injuries often did not heal properly in antiquity because they were not properly set and, therefore, remained a “physical flaw” permanently.

[22:22]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “a wart” (cf. NIV; HALOT 383 s.v. יַבֶּלֶת, but see the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 358).

[22:22]  ⁵ sn See the note on Lev 21:20 above.

[22:22]  ⁶ sn This term for offering “gift” is explained in the note on Lev 1:9.