Blemish

Blemish (מוּם, μῶμος; once תּבִלֻּל, blear-eyed, Le 21:20). There were various kinds of blemishes, i.e. imperfections or deformities, which excluded men from the priesthood, and animals from being offered in sacrifice. These blemishes are described in Le 21:17-23; Le 22:19-25; De 15:21. We learn from the Mishna (Zebachim, 12:1; Becoroth. 7:1) that temporary blemishes excluded a man from the priesthood only as long as those blemishes continued. The rule concerning animals was extended to imperfections of the inward parts: thus, if an animal, free from outward blemish, was found, after being slain, internally defective, it was not offered in sacrifice. The natural feeling that only that which was in a perfect condition was fit for sacred purposes, or was a becoming offering to the gods, produced similar rules concerning blemishes among the heathen nations (comp. Pompon. Let. De Sacerdot. cap. 6; Herodot. ii, 38; Iliad, i; 66; Ser. vius, ad Virg. AEn. ii, 4).