Leviticus 21:1-9

Restrictions for the Priests. To approach a corpse was to suffer defilement (cf. Numbers 5:2 * Numbers 19*, Tob_2:8 ff., Sir_34:25); this is, therefore, forbidden to the priest, except in the case of the nearest relations; Ezekiel (Ezekiel 44:26) prescribes a period of seven days-' cleansing even in this latter case. The mourning is looked upon as something needed by the dead or due to their memory; a married sister would ordinarily be mourned by her husband this is probably the meaning of the original text of Leviticus 21:4; if his sister were a widow, the priest might act in place of her husband. Similar restrictions are common elsewhere for priests, as also are the prohibitions of the outward signs of mourning. A scandal or profanation in the priest's household defiles the priest himself; hence he must not marry a prostitute or a divorcé e. A striking contrast is to be found in the laxness of Hindu law with regard to the morality of priests. If a priest's daughter contaminates her father's household by prostituting herself, she is to be burnt; the most emphatic warning possible against temple harlotry (cf. penalty in CH for votary who keeps or enters a tavern). These taboos are far less embarrassing than those which surrounded the Flamens at Rome, the King Archons in Athens, or Bantu chiefs at the present time.