Bible Strands
Leviticus 21:11
He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD instructs Moses to relay a purity mandate to Aaron’s sons, the priests. This specific command targets the high priest, who wears the anointing oil and ordained garments.
The words — The phrase כָּל־נַפְשׁוֹת מֵת (kol-nafshot met) literally translates to "any corpse of a dead person." The verb יָבֹא (ya.vo) here denotes physically approaching or entering proximity to the dead.
The thread — This proximity prohibition aligns with Numbers 19:14, which details contamination from death in a tent, and Leviticus 19:28, which restricts mourning cuts for the dead. Leviticus 21:1 establishes the foundational rule that priests must not defile themselves for the dead.
Why it lands — The text commands the high priest to avoid all contact with corpses, explicitly overriding obligations to his father or mother. It requires strict physical separation from death to maintain the ritual purity demanded by his consecration.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;
Cross-references
- Numbers 19:14 This is the law when a person dies in a tent: Everyone who enters the tent and everyone already in the tent will be unclean for seven days,
- Leviticus 19:28 You must not make any cuts in your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.
- Leviticus 21:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,
- Numbers 6:7 Even if his father or mother or brother or sister should die, he is not to defile himself, because the symbol of consecration to his God is upon his head.
- Matthew 8:21 Another of His disciples requested, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
- Matthew 12:46 While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to Him.
- Luke 9:59 Then He said to another man, “Follow Me.” The man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
- Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.
- 2 Corinthians 5:16 So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
- Deuteronomy 33:9 He said of his father and mother, ‘I do not consider them.’ He disregarded his brothers and did not know his own sons, for he kept Your word and maintained Your covenant.