7 They shall not take H3947 a wife H802 that is a whore, H2181 or profane; H2491 neither shall they take H3947 a woman H802 put away H1644 from her husband: H376 for he is holy H6918 unto his God. H430
And he shall take H3947 a wife H802 in her virginity. H1331 A widow, H490 or a divorced woman, H1644 or profane, H2491 or an harlot, H2181 these shall he not take: H3947 but he shall take H3947 a virgin H1330 of his own people H5971 to wife. H802
When a man H376 hath taken H3947 a wife, H802 and married H1166 her, and it come to pass that she find H4672 no favour H2580 in his eyes, H5869 because he hath found H4672 some H1697 uncleanness H6172 in her: then let him write H3789 her a bill H5612 of divorcement, H3748 and give H5414 it in her hand, H3027 and send H7971 her out of his house. H1004 And when she is departed out H3318 of his house, H1004 she may go H1980 and be another H312 man's H376 wife. And if the latter H314 husband H376 hate H8130 her, and write H3789 her a bill H5612 of divorcement, H3748 and giveth H5414 it in her hand, H3027 and sendeth H7971 her out of his house; H1004 or if the latter H314 husband H376 die, H4191 which took H3947 her to be his wife; H802 Her former H7223 husband, H1167 which sent her away, H7971 may H3201 not take H3947 her again H7725 to be his wife, H802 after H310 that she is defiled; H2930 for that is abomination H8441 before H6440 the LORD: H3068 and thou shalt not cause the land H776 to sin, H2398 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee for an inheritance. H5159
Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 Where is the bill H5612 of your mother's H517 divorcement, H3748 whom I have put away? H7971 or which of my creditors H5383 is it to whom I have sold H4376 you? Behold, for your iniquities H5771 have ye sold H4376 yourselves, and for your transgressions H6588 is your mother H517 put away. H7971
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Leviticus 21
Commentary on Leviticus 21 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 21
Le 21:1-24. Of the Priests' Mourning.
1. There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people—The obvious design of the regulations contained in this chapter was to keep inviolate the purity and dignity of the sacred office. Contact with a corpse, or even contiguity to the place where it lay, entailing ceremonial defilement (Nu 19:14), all mourners were debarred from the tabernacle for a week; and as the exclusion of a priest during that period would have been attended with great inconvenience, the whole order were enjoined to abstain from all approaches to the dead, except at the funerals of relatives, to whom affection or necessity might call them to perform the last offices. Those exceptional cases, which are specified, were strictly confined to the members of their own family, within the nearest degrees of kindred.
4. But he shall not defile himself—"for any other," as the sense may be fully expressed. "The priest, in discharging his sacred functions, might well be regarded as a chief man among his people, and by these defilements might be said to profane himself" [Bishop Patrick]. The word rendered "chief man" signifies also "a husband"; and the sense according to others is, "But he being a husband, shall not defile himself by the obsequies of a wife" (Eze 44:25).
5. They shall not make baldness upon their heads … nor … cuttings in their flesh—The superstitious marks of sorrow, as well as the violent excesses in which the heathen indulged at the death of their friends, were forbidden by a general law to the Hebrew people (Le 19:28). But the priests were to be laid under a special injunction, not only that they might exhibit examples of piety in the moderation of their grief, but also by the restraint of their passions, be the better qualified to administer the consolations of religion to others, and show, by their faith in a blessed resurrection, the reasons for sorrowing not as those who have no hope.
7-9. They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane—Private individuals might form several connections, which were forbidden as inexpedient or improper in priests. The respectability of their office, and the honor of religion, required unblemished sanctity in their families as well as themselves, and departures from it in their case were visited with severer punishment than in that of others.
10-15. he that is the high priest among his brethren … shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes—The indulgence in the excepted cases of family bereavement, mentioned above [Le 21:2, 3], which was granted to the common priests, was denied to him; for his absence from the sanctuary for the removal of any contracted defilement could not have been dispensed with, neither could he have acted as intercessor for the people, unless ceremonially clean. Moreover, the high dignity of his office demanded a corresponding superiority in personal holiness, and stringent rules were prescribed for the purpose of upholding the suitable dignity of his station and family. The same rules are extended to the families of Christian ministers (1Ti 3:2; Tit 1:6).
16-24. Whosoever he be … hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God—As visible things exert a strong influence on the minds of men, any physical infirmity or malformation of body in the ministers of religion, which disturbs the associations or excites ridicule, tends to detract from the weight and authority of the sacred office. Priests laboring under any personal defect were not allowed to officiate in the public service; they might be employed in some inferior duties about the sanctuary but could not perform any sacred office. In all these regulations for preserving the unsullied purity of the sacred character and office, there was a typical reference to the priesthood of Christ (Heb 7:26).