What Does It Mean? Exclusion from the congregation

WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Is a recurrent segment in this blog. The meaning of certain Biblical verses is not always readily apparent to modern readers. Sometimes the answer to the problem is cultural, or linguistic, or philosophical. Sometimes no one knows what it means and we have to accept that full understanding will only come when we meet the Lord.

"He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.
" Deuteronomy 23:1

"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
 Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever [he be] of thy seed in their generations that hath [any] blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.
… He shall eat the bread of his God, [both] of the most holy, and of the holy.
 Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them."
 Leviticus 21: 16-17, 22-23.

These verses refer to Levites, members of the kahal (Hebrew = “congregation” or “community”), the hereditary priests who serviced the Jewish Temple. They were expected to be holy righteous men, men without moral or spiritual blemish. They also had to be physically unblemished, just as their sacrifices were required to be. Since God was utterly perfect it was considered to be insulting to Him for any imperfection to approach His presence.

The physically damaged men (the list of causes for rejection go on for several verses) were not themselves rejected. As Levites, they were entitled to the same support (“he shall eat the bread of his God”) as was provided by the other tribes to their brother Levites.