Leviticus 21:9

9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore , she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.

Leviticus 21:9 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 21:9

And the daughter of any priest
The Targum of Jonathan restrains it to one that is betrothed; but others, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, whether betrothed or married; and all confess, as the former says, that the Scripture does not speak of one that is single or entirely free: but there is no exception in the text; and besides, the daughter of any man that was betrothed to a man, and guilty of the crime here spoken of, was to die, ( Deuteronomy 22:23 Deuteronomy 22:24 ) ; and therefore such a law respecting the priest's daughter would be needless; unless it can be thought that it was made merely for the sake of the different kind of death she was to be put to, and that burning was a more terrible one than stoning: if she profane herself by playing the whore;
which brings scandal and disgrace on any person, and much more on anyone that had the honour of being related to a person in such a sacred office, and the advantage of a more strictly religious education, and had eaten of the holy things in her father's house; all which were aggravations of her crime, and made it the more scandalous and reproachful to her: some render it, "when she begins to play the whore" F2; as soon as ever it is discovered in her, and she is taken in it; even for the first that she commits, she is not to be spared, but put to death: she profaneth her father:
which is another aggravation of her sin; she brings him under disgrace, disparages his office, and exposes him to censure, reproach, and ridicule, as not having taken care of her education, and taught her better, and kept her under restraints; men will upbraid him with it, saying, this is a priest's daughter that has committed this lewdness; nor will say of him, as Jarchi observes, cursed be he that begat her, and cursed be he that brought her up: she shall be burnt with fire;
not with hot melted lead poured down her mouth, but with faggots set about her; (See Gill on Leviticus 20:14); no punishment is here fixed for the person that lay with her, but, according to the Jewish canons F3, she was to be strangled.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 (twnzl lxt yk) "cum coepit fornicari", Pagninus, Montanus; so Tigurine version.
F3 Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 10. sect. 1. Maimon. Issure Biah, c. 1. sect. 6.

Leviticus 21:9 In-Context

7 They shall not take a wife that is a whore , or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.
8 Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.
9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore , she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
10 And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured , and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;
11 Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;
The King James Version is in the public domain.