Leviticus 21 - Introduction
_A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490._ Directions to the priests, Leviticus 21:1. To the high-priest, Leviticus 21:10. None of these must have any blemish, Leviticus 21:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490._ Directions to the priests, Leviticus 21:1. To the high-priest, Leviticus 21:10. None of these must have any blemish, Leviticus 21:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Speak unto the priests_ The next laws concerned the behaviour and personal qualifications of the priests, and were intended to denote the dignity, and preserve the honour of the holy function. _There shall none be defiled for the dead_ None of the priests shall touch the dead body, or assist at his... [ Continue Reading ]
_Near to him_ Under which general expression his wife seems to be comprehended, though she be not expressed. And hence it is noted as a peculiar case, that Ezekiel, who was a priest, was forbidden to mourn for his wife, Ezekiel 24:16, &c. These exceptions God made in condescension to human infirmity... [ Continue Reading ]
_His sister, a virgin, that hath no husband_ No husband to take care of her funeral; which was therefore a needful office of charity in her brother, though a priest. _That is nigh to him_ That is, by nearness, not of relation, (for that might seem a needless addition,) but of habitation, one not yet... [ Continue Reading ]
_Being_ Or, seeing he is _a chief man_ For such, not only the high-priest, but others also of the inferior priests were. _He shall not defile himself_ For any other person whatsoever. _To profane himself _ Because such defilement for the dead did profane him, or make him as a common person, and con... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall not make baldness_ In funerals, as the heathen did. Though I allow them to defile themselves for some of the dead, yet in no case shall they use these superstitious rites, which also the people were forbidden to do; but the priests in a more peculiar manner, because they were by word and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Holy unto their God_ Devoted to God's service, and always prepared for it, and therefore shall keep themselves from all defilements. _The name of their God_ Which they especially bear. _The bread of their God_ That is, the show-bread; or rather, all the other offerings besides burnt-offerings; whic... [ Continue Reading ]
_Profane_ Or _defiled_, or _deflowered_, though it were done secretly, or by force; because the priest must take care that all the members of his family be free not only from gross wickedness, but from all suspicions of evil.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou_ O Moses, and whosoever shall succeed in thy place, to whom it belongs to see my laws observed, shalt take care that the priest be holy, and do not defile himself by any of these forbidden marriages.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the daughter_ And by analogy his son also, and his wife, because the reason of the law here added concerns all. And nothing is more common than to name one kind for the rest of the same nature, as also is done Leviticus 18. _She profaneth her father_ Exposeth his person and office, and conseque... [ Continue Reading ]
_The garments_ Those holy garments which were peculiar to him. _Shall not uncover his head_ This being then the posture of mourners, (Leviticus 10:6,) though afterward the custom was changed, and mourners covered their heads, 2 Samuel 15:30; Esther 6:12. _Nor rend his clothes_ Another expression of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go in_ Into the chamber or house where they lie. This, and divers other rites here prescribed, were from hence translated by the heathens into their use, whose priests were put under the same obligations.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Out of the sanctuary_ To attend the funeral of any person: for upon other occasions he might, and did commonly go out. _Nor profane the sanctuary_ Either by the performance of a civility, or by entering into the sanctuary before the seven days allotted for his cleansing (Num 19:11) were expired. _T... [ Continue Reading ]
_In her virginity_ Or, a virgin, partly because, as he was a type of Christ, so his wife was a type of the church, which is compared to a virgin; and partly for greater caution and assurance that his wife was not a defiled or deflowered person. Most of these things are forbidden to all the priests;... [ Continue Reading ]
_I the Lord sanctify him_ I have separated him from all other men for my immediate service, and therefore will not have that race corrupted.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Of thy seed_ Whether the high-priest, or the inferior ones. _That hath_ In all successive ages, any defect or excess of parts, any notorious deformity or imperfection in his body. The reason hereof is partly typical, that he might more fully represent Christ, the great High-Priest, who was typified... [ Continue Reading ]
_A flat nose_ Most restrain this word to the nose, and to some great deformity relating to it. But according to others it signifies, more generally, a person that wants some member or members, because the next word, to which it is opposed, signifies one that hath more members than he should.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A blemish_ Any notorious blemish whereby he is disfigured, though not here mentioned.... [ Continue Reading ]
_He shall eat_ Which a priest having any uncleanness might not do: whereby God would show the great difference between natural infirmities sent upon a man by God, and moral defilements which a man brought upon himself.... [ Continue Reading ]
_To the veil_ To the second veil, which was between the holy and the most holy place, to burn incense, to order the show-bread, and to dress the lamps, which were nigh unto that veil, though without. _My altar _ The altar of burnt-offering, which was without the sanctuary. The sense is, he shall not... [ Continue Reading ]