Hebrew word · H3971

מוּם

mum

blemish

Blemish, defect, flaw. Used of (1) physical defects that disqualify a sacrificial animal (Lev 22:20–25; Deut 15:21) or a priest from serving at the altar (Lev 21:17–23); (2) an injury one person inflicts on another (Lev 24:19–20: 'if a man causes a mum in his neighbor...

Appears 21 times in 19 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) blemish, spot, defect

1a) of physical defect

1b) of moral stain

Also means: m.um (מאוּם "blemish" H3971A)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Proverbs 9:7

Range of meaning

Blemish, defect, flaw. Used of (1) physical defects that disqualify a sacrificial animal (Lev 22:20–25; Deut 15:21) or a priest from serving at the altar (Lev 21:17–23); (2) an injury one person inflicts on another (Lev 24:19–20: 'if a man causes a mum in his neighbor... eye for eye'); (3) a moral flaw or stain (Deut 32:5; Job 11:15 'you will lift up your face without blemish'; Job 31:7 in some readings); (4) beauty's opposite (Song 4:7, 'there is no blemish in you').

Against the English

KJV 'a blot,' BSB 'taints himself,' WEB 'abuse,' NIV 'abuse,' ESV 'injury,' NLT 'get hurt,' NASB 'insults.' The versions split between moral stain (KJV, BSB), verbal attack (WEB, NIV, NASB) and physical harm (ESV, NLT). The Hebrew word can cover all three, and the verse does not say which.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 21–22 (sacrificial and priestly defect); Lev 24:19–20 (bodily injury); Deut 32:5; Job 11:15; Dan 1:4 (young men 'without any blemish'). The LXX renders this line with the related Greek verb mōmaomai ('find fault with, disgrace'); Greek mōmos ('blame, blemish') happens to sound like the Hebrew.

From the study of Deuteronomy 17:1

Range of meaning

A physical defect or blemish on a body, animal or human. In the priestly law it covers blindness, broken limbs, maiming, running sores, scabs, crushed or damaged testicles (Lev 22:22–24) and similar visible damage. Used figuratively for a moral stain (Deut 32:5; Job 11:15). Its opposite is tamim, 'whole, complete, unblemished'.

Against the English

'Blemish' (KJV, ESV, WEB, YLT) can suggest a small cosmetic spot. 'Defect' (BSB, NIV) is closer, because the Hebrew means a real bodily flaw, often a disabling one.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used of priests barred from altar service (Lev 21:17–23), of animals (Lev 22:20–25; Deut 15:21; Num 19:2 'in which there is no mum'), and as praise for physical beauty: Absalom 'from sole to crown had no mum' (2 Sam 14:25); 'there is no mum in you' (Song 4:7); the Judean youths chosen in Babylon were 'without mum' (Dan 1:4). The Septuagint renders it mōmos, a Greek word for 'blame, fault' chosen partly because it sounds like the Hebrew. That choice produced amōmos, 'without blemish', which the New Testament applies to Christ as 'a lamb without blemish' (1 Pet 1:19; Heb 9:14).

From the study of Deuteronomy 15:21

Range of meaning

A physical defect or flaw in a body, human or animal, that spoils its wholeness; by extension a 'blot' or stain on someone's character or reputation (Job 31:7; Prov 9:7; Job 11:15). In the priestly laws it is the technical term for whatever disqualifies an animal from the altar (Lev 22:20–25) or a priest from serving there (Lev 21:17–23).

Against the English

KJV, YLT and ESV say 'blemish'; BSB, WEB, NIV and NASB say 'defect' or 'flaw.' 'Defect' is closer for modern readers. 'Blemish' today usually means a small surface mark (a skin blemish), but the Hebrew word covers lameness, blindness, broken limbs, and the rest.

How it drifted

When the KJV used 'blemish' in 1611 it could mean any injury or impairment. Modern English has narrowed it toward minor, cosmetic marks.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 21:17–23 (priests 'in whom there is a mum'); Lev 22:20–25 (a list of animal defects: blind, broken, maimed, with running sores, scabbed, crushed or castrated, deformed limbs); Deut 17:1 ('any mum, any bad thing'); positively, of human beauty: Absalom had no mum 'from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head' (2 Sam 14:25), the beloved in Song 4:7, the young men of Dan 1:4. The Greek Septuagint renders it μῶμος (mōmos), a word chosen partly because it sounds like the Hebrew; from it comes ἄμωμος, 'without defect,' used later of Christ in 1 Pet 1:19 and Heb 9:14.

Where it appears

Leviticus · 10

  1. Leviticus 21:17 מ֔וּם a blemish

    “Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God.

  2. Leviticus 21:18 מ֖וּם a blemish

    No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;

  3. Leviticus 21:21 מ֗וּם מ֣וּם a blemish

    No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the food offerings to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God.

  4. Leviticus 21:23 מ֣וּם a blemish

    but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”

  5. Leviticus 22:20 מ֖וּם a blemish

    You must not present anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.

    Here: A bodily defect. Verses 22-24 show what it covers: blindness, broken bones, maiming, running sores, scabs, damaged testicles. This is more serious than the small surface mark that 'blemish' suggests today.

  6. Leviticus 22:21 מ֖וּם blemish

    When a man presents a peace offering to the LORD from the herd or flock to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without blemish or defect to be acceptable.

  7. Leviticus 22:25 מ֣וּם a blemish

    Neither you nor a foreigner shall present food to your God from any such animal. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and flawed.’”

  8. Leviticus 24:19 מ֖וּם a blemish

    If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him:

  9. Leviticus 24:20 מוּם֙ a blemish

    fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Just as he injured the other person, the same must be inflicted on him.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 19:2 מ֔וּם [is] a blemish

    “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.

    Here: A physical flaw that disqualifies an animal or priest from the altar (Lev 21–22). Here it is a bodily defect, not a moral one.

Deuteronomy · 4

  1. Deuteronomy 15:21 מ֗וּם מ֣וּם a blemish, blemish

    But if an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

    Here: A bodily defect that disqualifies: not a cosmetic spot but a flaw that makes the animal less than whole. The word is the technical term of the sacrificial and priestly laws (Lev 21–22).

  2. Deuteronomy 17:1 מ֔וּם a blemish

    You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep with any defect or serious flaw, for that is detestable to the LORD your God.

    Here: A visible bodily defect such as blindness, lameness, injury or deformity, the kind listed in Leviticus 22:22–24. Such an animal is not 'whole' (tamim).

  3. Deuteronomy 32:5 מוּמָ֑ם blemish their

    His people have acted corruptly toward Him; the blemish on them is not that of His children, but of a perverse and crooked generation.

    Here: 'Their blemish'. This is the word for a physical defect that disqualified an animal from being offered or a priest from serving at the altar. It is set directly against verse 4, where God's work is tamim, 'whole, unblemished'. The fault lies with them, not with him.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 14:25 מֽוּם׃ a blemish

    Now there was not a man in all Israel as handsome and highly praised as Absalom. From the sole of his foot to the top of his head, he did not have a single flaw.

    Here: A bodily defect. The word belongs to the purity laws, where a mum (lameness, blindness, injury, deformity) bars an animal from the altar or a priest from serving. Saying Absalom had no mum describes his body in terms usually used for flawless offerings and priests.

Job · 2

  1. Job 11:15 מִמּ֑וּם from blemish

    then indeed you will lift up your face without blemish; you will stand firm and unafraid.

  2. Job 31:7 מֻאֽוּם׃ פ a blemish

    If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has followed my eyes, or if impurity has stuck to my hands,

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 9:7 מוּמֽוֹ׃ defect his

    He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself.

    Here: 'His blemish.' The word is used for a flaw in a sacrificial animal, a bodily defect, or an injury one person inflicts on another (Lev 24:19). The reprover comes away marked: insulted, hurt, or with his name stained.

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 4:7 וּמ֖וּם and [is] blemish

    You are altogether beautiful, my darling; in you there is no flaw.

    Here: 'And a blemish…'. This is the word for a visible bodily defect, the kind that disqualified a priest or a sacrificial animal. It is placed first in its clause for emphasis: 'and as for any blemish, there is none'.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 1:4 מוּם֩ blemish

    young men without blemish, handsome, gifted in all wisdom, knowledgeable, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace—and to teach them the language and literature of the Chaldeans.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.