Bible Dictionary
BROKENHANDED
Brokenhanded describes a person with a broken or injured hand. Under the law, such a physical blemish prevented a priestly descendant from carrying out the priestly office.
Definition
Brokenhanded describes a person whose hand is broken or injured. It is a physical blemish included among the conditions affecting priestly service.
Biblical Usage
Leviticus 21:19 states that a man of priestly descent with a broken hand could not execute the priestly office.
Historical Background
The term belongs to the law’s list of bodily defects that excluded a priestly descendant from performing priestly duties.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>bro'-k'-n-hand-ed (shebher yadh): In Le 21:19 one of the blemishes which prevented a man of priestly descent from the execution of the priestly office.</p>