Leviticus 21:2

Summary

This verse specifies an exception to a prohibition (introduced in Leviticus 21:1) by listing which deceased relatives a priest may still approach: his mother, father, son, daughter, and brother. The phrase functions as a legal exception clause built around the construct pair she'er... qarov ("flesh... near").

Key words

• ki 'im (H3588B + H0518B) — a compound conditional/adversative construction meaning "except" or "unless," marking this clause as an exception to a preceding statement.
• she'ero ("his relative/flesh", H7607) — masculine singular construct noun with 3ms suffix, literally "his flesh," used here as a technical term for kinship.
• ha-qarov ("the near", H7138) — adjective with definite article modifying she'ero, specifying that the relative in view is one who is "near" in degree of kinship.
• le-'immo ("for his mother", H0517 + H9023) — construct noun with preposition le (H9005) and 3ms suffix, the first item in the list of qualifying relatives.
• u-le-'achiv ("and for his brother", H0251G + H9023) — final item in the list, joined by the conjunction u (H9002), closing the enumeration.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause opens with the double particle ki 'im, a standard construction for introducing an exception ("except," "but only"). This governs the phrase li-she'ero ha-qarov 'elav — "for his relative, the one near to him" — where she'er (H7607) is a construct noun meaning kin or flesh, modified by the adjective qarov (H7138, "near") with the article, and further specified by the prepositional phrase 'elav ("to him"). This general expression ("his near relative") is then unpacked through five specific terms — mother, father, son, daughter, brother — each introduced by the preposition le and each in construct form with a 3ms pronominal suffix ("his mother," "his father," etc.), joined by the conjunction u- ("and"). The repeated le- prefix on each noun creates a list structure in which each relative is grammatically parallel, all depending on the initial exception clause ki 'im.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew lists the relatives in the order mother, father, son, daughter, brother. The LXX (Swete) and the Vulgate both reverse the first pair, giving "father and mother" (πατρὶ καὶ μητρί; patre et matre) before son, daughter, brother. The LXX also renders the opening phrase she'ero ha-qarov ("his near relative") with the phrase "ἐν τῷ οἰκείῳ τῷ ἔγγιστα" ("in the household nearest"), shifting from a term of kinship (she'er) to a term evoking household/domestic proximity (oikeios).