(charum; Septuagint koloborin): Used only in Leviticus 21:18 as the name of a deformity which disqualified a member of a priestly family for serving the altar. The root of the word signifies "to cut off" or "to cut flat," and in the Revised Version, margin "slit nose" is substituted. The condition indicated is most probably the depressed, flattened nose which so often accompanies harelip, especially in its double form. A mere snub-nose can scarcely be regarded as a blemish of sufficient importance to unfit a priest for the service of "offering the bread of God"; but harelip, like blindness or the other congenital malformations or deformities enumerated in this passage, might well render a son of Aaron unfit or unsuitable for public religious duty.

Alexander Macalister

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

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