Leviticus 21:2

except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother,

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The LORD instructs Moses to relay a ritual purity regulation to Aaron’s sons, the priests, immediately after establishing their general prohibition against defiling themselves for the dead.

The words — The Hebrew phrase אִם־לִשְׁאֵר קָרוֹב אֵלָיו ('im-li'she'er qarov 'elav) literally renders "except for a relative near to him," explicitly carving out the permitted exceptions to the mourning ban.

The thread — This priestly exception aligns with the kinship boundaries outlined in Leviticus 18:6 and stands in structural contrast to the ordinary grief permitted for believers in 1 Thessalonians 4:13.

Why it lands — The text mandates that priests observe strict ritual boundaries while permitting mourning for immediate family, requiring readers to acknowledge how sacred office modifies ordinary human obligations.

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

כִּ֚יkithat אִם־'im-except לִשְׁאֵר֔וֹli/sh.'e.R/ofor/ relative/ his הַקָּרֹ֖בha./ka.Ro<the>/ near אֵלָ֑יו'e.La/vto/ him לְאִמּ֣וֹle./'i.M/ofor/ mother/ his וּלְאָבִ֔יוu./le./'a.Vi/vand/ for/ father/ his וְלִבְנ֥וֹve./li/v.N/oand/ for/ son/ his וּלְבִתּ֖וֹu./le./vi.T/oand/ for/ daughter/ his וּלְאָחִֽיו׃u./le./'a.Chi/vand/ for/ brother/ his

King James Version

But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother,

Cross-references

Leviticus 18:6 None of you are to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the LORD.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.