LEVITICUS—NOTE ON LEVITICUS 21:1__ Stricter rules of holiness are required of priests because they work directly with the holy objects of the sanctuary. ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i=0, len=images.length, img; i [ Continue Reading ]
LEVITICUS—NOTE ON LEVITICUS 21:5 Priests were prohibited from making BALD PATCHES ON THEIR HEADS, shaving off the EDGES OF THEIR BEARDS, or making CUTS ON THEIR BODY (compare Leviticus 19:27). These are pagan mourning and burial practices. Israelite priests oversee the worship, and no Canaanite ritu... [ Continue Reading ]
LEVITICUS—NOTE ON LEVITICUS 21:7 The wife of a priest must be a woman of high moral character. She may not be a PROSTITUTE, because that is a defiling profession. She must not have been DIVORCED. Even though divorce is allowed in the OT (see note on Deut. 24:1–4), a broken marriage falls short of th... [ Continue Reading ]
LEVITICUS—NOTE ON LEVITICUS 21:10 The high PRIEST is subject to stricter holiness regulations than the ordinary priest. While an ordinary priest may marry a WIDOW, the high priest must marry a VIRGIN (vv. Leviticus 21:13). (Perhaps this is to ensure that all the children in his home are his own.) Th... [ Continue Reading ]
LEVITICUS—NOTE ON LEVITICUS 21:16 No priest who has a BLEMISH may APPROACH to offer sacrifices. The same requirement applies to sacrificial animals. Both the priest and the animal are to exemplify holiness and completeness (see Leviticus 22:17). ⇐ ⇔ ⇒ var images = document.getElementsByTagName("img... [ Continue Reading ]
LEVITICUS—NOTE ON LEVITICUS 21:21 FOR I AM THE LORD WHO SANCTIFIES THEM (v. Leviticus 21:23). Although “them” might refer to the priests with physical defects (vv. Leviticus 21:17), more likely it refers to MY SANCTUARIES (v. Leviticus 21:23). While “my sanctuaries” matches the plural “them,” the re... [ Continue Reading ]