XXI. (1) AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES. — The laws about the purity and holiness of the Jewish community, and of every individual lay member, enacted in Leviticus 11:1 to Leviticus 20:27, are now followed by statutes respecting the purity and holiness of the priesthood who minister in holy things in... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT FOR HIS KIN, THAT IS NEAR UNTO HIM. — There are, however, seven exceptions to the general rule. According to the administrators of the Law during the second Temple, the phrase, “his kin that is near unto him,” or rather, “his flesh that is near unto him” (comp. Leviticus 18:6 with Genesis 2:24),... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FOR HIS SISTER A VIRGIN, THAT IS NIGH UNTO HIM — That is, his maiden sister who still remains in sole relationship with him. What this is the next clause explains more minutely. WHICH HATH HAD NO HUSBAND. — When she is married she goes to her husband, and ceases to be near her brother. It then... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HE SHALL NOT DEFILE HIMSELF, BEING A CHIEF MAN... — Better, _A husband shall not defile himself among his people when he had profaned himself._ As the seven exceptions to the general rule began with his wife, whose funeral rites the priestly husband is allowed to attend, the verse before us rest... [ Continue Reading ]
Make baldness upon their head. — The natural expression of grief, however, which the priests were to manifest for the above-named departed relations, was not to show itself in the practices which disfigure their bodily appearance, and which obtained among other nations of antiquity in connection wit... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL BE HOLY UNTO THEIR GOD. — This is the reason why the priests are not to disfigure themselves by maiming their outward appearance. Being sacred to the Lord, they are not to indulge in those outward manifestations of grief which would interfere with the discharge of their sacred duties, and... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT TAKE A WIFE. — From the defilement arising through contact with the dead, the lawgiver passes to’ regulation about the priest’s alliances with the living, which might be fraught with still more serious consequences to his sacred office. In selecting a wife he is to be careful both about her chas... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT SANCTIFY HIM THEREFORE. — This is addressed to the Jewish community. They are to take care that the priest does not contract such illegal marriages, and to sanctify him only who acts in obedience to these statutes. The Jewish priest is thus placed under the supervision of the people. His... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE DAUGHTER OF ANY PRIEST. — This statute, according to the administrators of the Law during the second Temple, applies only to betrothed and married daughters. Hence the ancient Chaldee version renders it, “and if the betrothed daughter” SHE SHALL BE BURNT WITH FIRE. — Whilst the married daug... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE THAT IS THE HIGH PRIEST AMONG HIS BRETHREN. — That is, among his priestly brethren, the one who is distinguished among them by this office. UPON WHOSE HEAD THE ANOINTING OIL WAS POURED. — This profuse pouring of oil was the distinctive feature in the consecration of the high priest. (See Lev... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER SHALL HE GO IN TO ANY DEAD BODY. — Not only is he to abstain from the manifestation of sorrow for the troubles which befell the community, or those whom he loves, but in the case of death he is not to enter into a tent, house, or place where a human corpse was lying (Numbers 19:14), lest he... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER SHALL HE GO OUT OF THE SANCTUARY. — Better, _and he shall not go out of the sanctuary_ as in Leviticus 10:7. When the tidings of the death of a parent is brought to him during the service, he must not desist from the service and quit the sanctuary, lest it should appear that he has a greater... [ Continue Reading ]
A WIFE IN HER VIRGINITY. — From this verse the administrators of the Law during the second Temple concluded that (1) the high priest must be the husband of one wife, though the ordinary priests might have several; (2) that she must be a virgin, under the age of thirteen; (3) that she must not even h... [ Continue Reading ]
A WIDOW. — By this the high priest was not only forbidden to marry the widow of an ordinary Israelite, or even the widow of a priest, but, according to the Jewish canons, a virgin who had been betrothed to another man, and whom she lost by death before they were married. If he, however, became engag... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER SHALL HE PROFANE HIS SEED. — Better, _And he shall not profane;_ that is, he is not to contract any of these forbidden marriages, lest he should thereby degrade his offspring, since the children of such an issue, as well as their mother, were debarred the privileges of the priesthood, and we... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES. — In the preceding part of this chapter the priests were forbidden voluntarily to disfigure themselves, or to disqualify themselves and their descendants for their sacred office by illegal alliances. The legislator, therefore, now passes on to other blemishes, which, t... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOSOEVER HE BE OF THY SEED. — Better, _any man of thy seed throughout their generations;_ that is, any of the descendants, to all future times, who have not been disqualified for service in the sanctuary by their parents contracting illegal alliances, are yet to be subject to the following regulati... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHATSOEVER MAN... — This part of the verse is simply an emphatic repetition of the same declaration at the end of the last verse to introduce the examples of the bodily blemishes which disqualified the priests for the service at the altar. A similar law obtained among the Greeks and Romans, that... [ Continue Reading ]
BROKENFOOTED, OR BROKENHANDED. — That is, one with a badly cured fractured foot or hand, since in ancient days such accidents were scarcely ever properly cured. Owing to the imperfect knowledge of surgery, and to a want of skill in setting fractures, the evil effects of such accidents had to be endu... [ Continue Reading ]
OR CROOKBACKT. — Rather, _or whose eyebrows cover his eyes._ This is the sense given to this clause during the second Temple. Hence the ancient Chaldee version of Jonathan translates it, “whose eyebrows lying cover his eyes.” That is, the hair, of the eyebrows are so thick, heavy, and long, that the... [ Continue Reading ]
NO MAN THAT HATH A BLEMISH. — The addition of this general remark to the twelve instances adduced in the preceding verses, shows that the cases in question were simply typical, and that it was left to the administrators of the Law, not only to decide the minute details and various stages of these ca... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL EAT THE BREAD OF HIS GOD. — But though unfit for serving at the altar, and reduced to do the menial work connected with the sanctuary, he was not only allowed to partake of the less holy sacrificial gifts, such as the peace shoulder, the tithes, and the first-fruits, but also to eat what re... [ Continue Reading ]
ONLY HE SHALL NOT GO IN UNTO THE VAIL. — That is, into the holy place which was before the vail.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND UNTO ALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. — These regulations about the conduct and qualifications of the priesthood, which God imparted to Moses, the latter not only communicated to the high priest and his sons the priests, but to the representatives of the people, who, as the community, had the supervi... [ Continue Reading ]