Leviticus 21

The Holiness of the Priests

1 The Lord said to Moses: "Speak to Aaron's sons, the priests, and tell them: A priest is not to make himself ceremonially unclean for a [dead] person among his relatives,^[a]

2 except for his immediate family: his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother.

3 He may make himself unclean for his young unmarried sister in his immediate family.

4 He is not to make himself unclean for those related to him by marriage^[b] and so defile himself.

5 "Priests may not make bald spots on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies.^[c]

6 They are to be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God,^[d] because they present the fire offerings to the Lord, the food of their God. They must be holy.

7 They are not to marry a woman defiled by prostitution^{[e] [f]} or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.

8 You are to consider him holy since he presents the food of your God. He will be holy to you because I, the Lord who sets you apart, am holy.

9 If a priest's daughter defiles herself by promiscuity,^[g] she defiles her father; she must be burned up.^[h]

10 "The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained^[i] to wear the garments, must not dishevel his hair^[j] or tear his garments.^[k]

11 He must not go near any dead person or make himself unclean [even] for his father or mother.^[l]

12 He must not leave the sanctuary or he will desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him;^[m] I am the Lord.

13 "He is to marry a woman who is a virgin.

14 He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,

15 so that he does not corrupt his bloodline^[n] among his people, for I am the Lord who sets him apart."^[o]

Physical Defects and Priests

16 The Lord spoke to Moses:

17 "Tell Aaron: None of your descendants throughout your generations who has a physical defect is to come near to present the food of his God.

18 No man who has any defect is to come near: no man who is blind, lame, facially disfigured, or deformed;

19 no man who has a broken foot or hand,

20 or who is a hunchback or a dwarf,^[p] or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.^[q]

21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to present the fire offerings to the Lord. He has a defect and is not to come near to present the food of his God.

22 He may eat the food of his God from what is especially holy as well as from what is holy.

23 But because he has a defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar. He is not to desecrate My sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sets them apart."

24 Moses said [this] to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Nm 5:2-3; 19:11-13; Ezk 44:25
• [b]. Lit unclean a husband among his people
• [c]. Lv 19:27-28; Dt 14:1; Ezk 44:20
• [d]. Lv 18:21; 22:32
• [e]. Or a woman who has been deflowered
• [f]. Dt 24:1-4; Hs 1:2
• [g]. Or prostitution
• [h]. Lv 20:14; Gn 38:24; Jdg 15:6
• [i]. Lit and one has filled his hand
• [j]. Or not uncover his head
• [k]. Lv 10:6; Ezk 44:20
• [l]. Ezk 44:25
• [m]. Lv 10:7
• [n]. Lit not profane his seed
• [o]. Ex 39:30
• [p]. Or or emaciated
• [q]. Lv 22:25; Dt 23:1; Dn 1:4

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.