Leviticus 21

the holy things] That they do not presume to eat of them in the circumstances now to be mentioned. Biblioth. Bibl.

Leviticus 21:3

3. — which hath had no husband;] To take care of her funeral. Bp. Patrick.

4. — having his uncleanness upon him,] The circumstance of the priests’ being disqualified from ministering in, or even entering the sanctuary, by these impurities, which in themselves were merely legal and ritual, was one effectual means to preserve and cultivate, in the minds of men, worthy sentiments of the majesty of God, and all that preparation of the heart, with which it became them to approach His worship. Dean Spencer.

Leviticus 21:4

4 — being a chief man among his people,] The Hebrew words admit of being translated “for a chief man among his people:” so the Vulgate, Syriack, and Arabick render it; and this sense seems preferable. Biblioth. Bibl.

Divers laws and ordinances relating to the priests. Before CHRIST 1490. a Chap. 19. 37.

Leviticus 21:5

5. They shall not make baldness &c.] After this manner the Egyptians annually worshipped Osiris. They shaved their heads, meaning to express their sorrow for the sad fate of their king, in despoiling their own heads of the ornament of their hair. They beat their breasts, tore the flesh off their arms, and ripped open the scars of wounds which they had given themselves the year before. Thus all the customs here forbidden obtained among the Egyptians and other nations, and were of an idolatrous nature, as practised by them in their mournings for the dead. Biblioth. Bibl.

— neither — shave off the corner of their beard.] After the manner of the idolatrous priests, who were used to shave their beards, and smite their cheeks, at the funeral of their friends. Nor was the high priest to “make cuttings in his flesh” with his nails or with a knife, or other sharp instruments, in imitation of the heathen, who by these rites thought to pacify the anger of the enraged deities. Lewis.

Leviticus 21:6

6. — the bread of their God.] The sacrifices are so called, as the altar was the table of God, whereon His provision, as their King, was laid, and consumed in the palace of His tabernacle. Bp. Patrick.

Leviticus 21:7

7. — a wife that is a whore, &c.] The priests were forbidden to marry a prostitute, or even a person of suspected chastity; also “a profane woman,” that is, one descended from persons of bad character, or born of such an union as is here forbidden to the priest; also a woman who had been divorced, because she was of suspected fame. Lewis.

8. — because it is his food.] God was so gracious, as not to keep a priest any longer in a state, wherein he should want his necessary or comfortable sustenance. Bp. Patrick.

Leviticus 21:8

8. Thou shalt sanctify him therefore;] Some suppose this precept directed to Moses and his successors in the supreme authority; others to the people, that, within their proper bounds, they should do all that in them lay to prevent such profanations as these, and keep any priests, who had thus actually disqualified themselves, from continuing to exercise their function till they had divorced such wives. Biblioth. Bibl.

Leviticus 21:9

9. — the daughter of any priest.] The particular severity

the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;

Leviticus 21:10

10. — not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;] The high priest especially was not to omit the duties of his office, by shewing signs of mourning, even on the occasion of the death of his nearest relations. By “uncovering his head,” is either meant the laying aside of his mitre, which is one of the holy garments, without which it was unlawful for him to officiate: or else the shaving of his head, which was a customary mode of expressing grief. Dr. Jennings.

— rend his clothes;] The Jews say, that they whose garments were torn by accident were as incapable of officiating as those who rent them by design. Lewis. The high priest, because he was a more eminent type of Christ, was to have an especial care of his sanctity. S. Clarke.

10. — no stranger] By “stranger” is here meant, one not of the priest’s family; as also at ver. 12. By “a soharmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,” having no such infirmity as the high priests of the law, which should make Him need to offer up sacrifice for any sins of His own, or daily ones for other people; but having made a full reconciliation by the sacrifice of Himself, and remaining perfect, and “consecrated for evermore.” Dr. Berriman. Those who were deformed and ill favoured were excluded from the ministry, because the vulgar do not judge according to men’s true worth and beauty, (which lie in the soul,) but according to their outward appearance, in the comeliness of their bodies, and the richness of their garments; and therefore the end of these precepts was, that the house of God might be had in due reverence and honour. Lewis.

Leviticus 21:12

12. Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary.] The priest’s constant observance of this law, not to leave the sanctuary at any time, till he had duly finished the service of it, did not a little tend to render both his office and his person more venerable. For when, in obedience and honour to God, he had such a command of himself as to let nothing interrupt him in the exercise of his office, and take him from it, neither ordinary business, nor extraordinary events of any kind; this discovered how serious and profound a reverence he bore to the sanctuary of his God. Dean Spencer.

Leviticus 21:15

15. Neither shall he profane his seed] That is, neither shall he vitiate or corrupt his posterity by foreign and forbidden mixtures in marriage. Bp. Kidder.

Leviticus 21:17

17. — that hath any blemish, &c.] The priests were required to be free from any blemish or defect of body, as well as possessed of a religious frame and habit of mind, which did but faintly represent the unexampled purity and perfections of our great High Priest, “who is holy,

Before CHRIST 1490. Divers laws and ordinances. Before CHRIST 1490. Or, food. b Chap. 22. 23. Or, too slander. him not approach to offer the || bread of his God.

Leviticus 21:22

22. He shall eat the bread of his God,] Though such a priest might not offer any sacrifice, yet he might eat with his brethren of that part of the sacrifices which was given to them for their portion; both, of “the most holy,” as meat offerings and sin offerings; and “of the VOL. I. T Divers laws and ordinances. Before CHRIST 1490.

the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.