Leviticus 21

Regulations concerning Priests

1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: '¹ No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people,

2 ²except * for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother,

3 also for his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.

4 'He shall not defile himself as a relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself.

5 '³They shall not make any baldness * on their heads, ⁴nor shave off the edges of their beards, ⁵nor make any cuts in their flesh.

6 'They shall be holy to their God and ⁶not profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire to the LORD, ⁷the food of their God; so they shall be holy.

7 '⁸They shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.

8 'You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers ⁹the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the LORD, who sanctifies you, am holy.

9 '¹⁰Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

10 'The priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated * to wear the garments, ¹¹shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes;

11 ¹²nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother;

12 ¹³nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for ¹⁴the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the LORD.

13 'He shall take a wife in her virginity.

14 '¹⁵A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather * he is to marry a virgin of his own people,

15 so that he will not profane his offspring among his people; for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.' "

16 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

17 "Speak to Aaron, saying, 'No man of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect shall approach to offer the ¹⁶food of his God.

18 '¹⁷For no * one who has a defect shall approach: a blind man, or a lame man, or he who has a ¹⁸disfigured face, or any deformed limb,

19 or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand,

20 or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or ¹⁹crushed testicles.

21 'No * man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to offer the LORD'S offerings by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer ²⁰the food of his God.

22 'He may eat ²¹the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy,

23 only he shall not go in to the veil or come near the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.' "

24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.

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Leviticus 21 Commentary

Chapter 21

Laws concerning the priests.

- As these priests were types of Christ, so all ministers must be followers of him, that their example may teach others to imitate the Saviour. Without blemish, and separate from sinners, He executed his priestly office on earth. What manner of persons then should his ministers be! But all are, if Christians, spiritual priests; the minister especially is called to set a good example, that the people may follow it. Our bodily infirmities, blessed be God, cannot now shut us out from his service, from these privileges, or from his heavenly glory. Many a healthful, beautiful soul is lodged in a feeble, deformed body. And those who may not be suited for the work of the ministry, may serve God with comfort in other duties in his church.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 21

1. Leviticus 19:28; Ezekiel 44:25
2. Leviticus 21:11
3. Deuteronomy 14:1; Ezekiel 44:20
4. Leviticus 19:27
5. Deuteronomy 14:1
6. Leviticus 18:21
7. Leviticus 3:11
8. Leviticus 21:13, 14
9. Leviticus 21:6
10. Genesis 38:24; Leviticus 19:29
11. Leviticus 10:6
12. Leviticus 19:28; Numbers 19:14
13. Leviticus 10:7
14. Exodus 29:6, 7
15. Leviticus 21:7; Ezekiel 44:22
16. Leviticus 21:6
17. Leviticus 22:19-25
18. Leviticus 22:19-25
19. Deuteronomy 23:1; Isaiah 56:3-5
20. Leviticus 21:6
21. 1 Corinthians 9:13

Footnotes 11

[a]. Or "whom no man has had"
[b]. Lit "husband among"
[c]. Lit "of"
[d]. Lit "whose hand has been filled"
[e]. Lit "unbind"
[f]. Lit "take as wife"
[g]. Lit "seed"
[h]. Lit "seed"
[i]. Lit "slit"
[j]. Lit "obscurity"
[k]. Lit "seed"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 21

This chapter respects the priests, the sons of Aaron, and forbids their mourning for the dead, unless in some cases, Le 21:1-6; or their marriage with an whore or a divorced woman, Le 21:7,8; and the daughters of any of them to commit fornication, which is made punishable with death, Le 21:9; and it contains particular laws for the high priest to observe, who was not to mourn for any, even for his parents, Le 21:10,11; nor to go out of the sanctuary, Le 21:12; nor to marry any woman but a virgin, Le 21:13-15; and it also directs, that none of the priests having any blemish in them should be employed in divine service, though they might eat of the holy things, Le 21:16-24.