Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Leviticus 21:1-15 comments: orders for the priests of the Israelites

 

Leviticus 21:1 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people: 2  But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, 3  And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled. 4  But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. 5  They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. 6  They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy. 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.

 

In the first part of this passage it is made clear that priests were not to handle the body of any relative other than a very close next of kin. They also could not do things which were heathen practices which I discussed in the comments on Leviticus 19:28.

Priests were limited to whom they could marry. She was not to have been a pagan temple prostitute which is sometimes what the word whore means and turns us to the matter of Cozbi in Numbers 25. Read the context of that chapter.

Numbers 25:15  And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian…18  For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.

 

She was not to be a woman of ill repute or divorced. The moral rules for a priest and the daughter of a priest were very strict and a violation of them, making a daughter very much like one of the women the priests were not to marry, would result in their being killed. It is clear then that the priesthood was to be holy and set apart, distinct in their moral probity.

It also reveals the narrow application of the civil law given to the Hebrews to them alone. We today have no warrant or justification in creating a law that demands capital punishment for a moral failure or a bad reputation alone. Be careful applying the Law of Moses to the Christian era. It has been the cause of much suffering and injustice over the last two thousand years.

Galatians 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

 

Leviticus 21:10 ¶  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; 12  Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the LORD. 13  And he shall take a wife in her virginity. 14  A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife. 15  Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him.

 

The high priest, first mentioned here, was limited even further in his ability to mourn for a family member as he could not touch the bodies even of any close relation.  The priest’s choice for a marriage partner is reinforced here. I wanted to point out an interesting word used in several places, neither.

Neither is used with  a sort of ‘don’t even’ meaning in certain contexts.

 

Genesis 3:3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

 

Ephesians 4:26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27  Neither give place to the devil.

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