God’s Word Translation
Deuteronomy 15:21
21But if an animal is lame or blind or has any other serious defect—never sacrifice it to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 15:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God.
- New International Version (NIV)If an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But if there is a defect in it, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.
Context of Deuteronomy 15:21
19You must dedicate every firstborn male from your herds and flocks to the Lord your God. Never use a firstborn ox for work, and never shear a firstborn sheep. 20Every year you and your family must eat these animals in the presence of the Lord your God in the place the Lord will choose. But if an animal is lame or blind or has any other serious defect—never sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22Eat it in your city. Clean and unclean people may eat them together as if they were eating a gazelle or a deer. 23But never eat the blood. Pour it on the ground like water.
Read all of Deuteronomy 15Deuteronomy 15:21 word by word
וְכִֽי־יִהְיֶ֨ה ב֜וֹ מ֗וּם פִּסֵּ֙חַ֙ א֣וֹ עִוֵּ֔ר כֹּ֖ל מ֣וּם רָ֑ע לֹ֣א תִזְבָּחֶ֔נּוּ לַיהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 15:21
- Deuteronomy 17:1Never offer an ox or a sheep that has a defect or anything seriously wrong with it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. That would be disgusting to him.
- Leviticus 22:20Never bring any animal with a physical defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.
- Malachi 1:7“You offer contaminated food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘Then how have we contaminated you?’ “When you say that the Lord’s table may be despised.
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 15:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21If there be any blemish - See the notes on Leviticus 22:20. God will have both a perfect priest and a perfect offering.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19-23Verses 19-23 Compare Exodus 13:11 ff. The directions of the preceding legislation (see Numbers 18:15 ff) are here assumed, with the injunction added, that the animals thus set apart to God Deuteronomy 15:19 were not to be used by their owners for their earthly purposes. It is further allowed that firstborn animals which had a blemish should be regarded as exceptions, and instead of being given to God might be used as food Deuteronomy 15:21-22. The…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-23Verses 19-23 Here is a direction what to do with the firstlings. We are not now limited as the Israelites were; we make no difference between a first calf, or lamb, and the rest. Let us then look to the gospel meaning of this law, devoting ourselves and the first of our time and strength to God; and using all our comforts and enjoyments to his praise, and under the direction of his law, as we have them all by his gift.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21A defect was any physical flaw that lowered the value of an animal. If an animal was already of little or no value, offering it would not be a true sacrifice. A sacrifice required giving something valuable (2 Samuel 24:24).Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 15:21
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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