Scurvy

Scurvy appears in scripture as a skin defect that disqualifies — both priests from sacrificial service and animals from being offered to Yahweh. The condition shows up in two parallel passages of Leviticus, paired in each case with "scabbed" as a comparable disqualifying blemish.

Disqualification of Priests

Among the bodily defects that bar a son of Aaron from approaching the altar, scurvy is named alongside other visible conditions: "or crook-backed, or a dwarf, or who has a blemish in his eye, or is scurvy, or scabbed, or has his stones broken" (Lev 21:20). The blemish does not exclude the man from his priestly inheritance or its food, but it forbids him from drawing near to offer the bread of his God.

Disqualification of Sacrifices

The same restriction extends to the animals brought for offering. Yahweh's command to Moses sets scurvy among the conditions that void a sacrifice: "Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, you⁺ will not offer these to Yahweh, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to Yahweh" (Lev 22:22). The standard for the priest and the standard for the offering match — what is unfit at the altar is unfit on either side of it.