9 And the daughter H1323 of any H376 priest, H3548 if she profane H2490 herself by playing the whore, H2181 she profaneth H2490 her father: H1 she shall be burnt H8313 with fire. H784
For I have told H5046 him that I will judge H8199 his house H1004 for H5704 ever H5769 for the iniquity H5771 which he knoweth; H3045 because his sons H1121 made themselves vile, H7043 and he restrained H3543 them not. And therefore I have sworn H7650 unto the house H1004 of Eli, H5941 that the iniquity H5771 of Eli's H5941 house H1004 shall not be purged H3722 with sacrifice H2077 nor offering H4503 for H5704 ever. H5769
Then G5119 began he G756 to upbraid G3679 the cities G4172 wherein G1722 G3739 most G4118 of his G846 mighty works G1411 were done, G1096 because G3754 they repented G3340 not: G3756 Woe G3759 unto thee, G4671 Chorazin! G5523 woe G3759 unto thee, G4671 Bethsaida! G966 for G3754 if G1487 the mighty works, G1411 which G3588 were done G1096 in G1722 you, G5213 had been done G1096 in G1722 Tyre G5184 and G2532 Sidon, G4605 they would have repented G3340 long ago G302 G3819 in G1722 sackcloth G4526 and G2532 ashes. G4700 But G4133 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 It shall be G2071 more tolerable G414 for Tyre G5184 and G2532 Sidon G4605 at G1722 the day G2250 of judgment, G2920 than G2228 for you. G5213 And G2532 thou, G4771 Capernaum, G2584 which G3588 art exalted G5312 unto G2193 heaven, G3772 shalt be brought down G2601 to G2193 hell: G86 for G3754 if G1487 the mighty works, G1411 which G3588 have been done G1096 in G1722 thee, G4671 had been done G1096 in G1722 Sodom, G4670 it would have remained G302 G3306 until G3360 this day. G4594 But G4133 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 That G3754 it shall be G2071 more tolerable G414 for the land G1093 of Sodom G4670 in G1722 the day G2250 of judgment, G2920 than G2228 for thee. G4671
One that ruleth G4291 well G2573 his own G2398 house, G3624 having G2192 his children G5043 in G1722 subjection G5292 with G3326 all G3956 gravity; G4587 (For G1161 if a man G1536 know G1492 not G3756 how G1492 to rule G4291 his own G2398 house, G3624 how G4459 shall he take care of G1959 the church G1577 of God?) G2316
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).