Leviticus 21:4

_BUT HE SHALL NOT DEFILE HIMSELF, BEING A CHIEF MAN AMONG HIS PEOPLE, TO PROFANE HIMSELF._ But he shall not defile himself - `for any other,' as the sense may be fully expressed. The priest, in discharging his sacred functions, might well be regarded as a chief man among his people, and by these defilements might be said to profane himself (Dr. Patrick). х_ BA`AL_ (H1167)], the word rendered "chief man", signifies also 'a husband;' and the sense, according to Knobel and others, is, 'But he being a husband, shall not defile himself by the obsequies of a wife' (Ezekiel 44:25). But this view is inadmissible, the wife being included in "the kin that is near unto him" (Leviticus 21:2). The priests among the ancient Egyptians and other people

Verse Leviticus 21:4. _A CHIEF MAN AMONG HIS PEOPLE_] The word בעל _baal_ signifies a _master, chief, husband_, c., and is as variously translated here. 1. He being a _chief_ among the people, it would be improper to see him in such a state of humiliation as mourning for the dead necessarily implies. 2. Though a _husband_ he shall not defile himself even for the death of a wife, because the anointing of his God is upon him. But the first sense appears to be the best....

The sense seems to be that, owing to his position in the nation, the priest is not to defile himself in any cases except those named in Leviticus 21:2. The Septuagint appear to have followed a different reading of the text which would mean, “he shall not defile himself for a moment.” The explanation in the margin of our version is hardly in keeping with the prohibition to Ezekiel on a special occasion. See Ezekiel 24:16....

PART III. SECTION IV. THE UNCLEANNESS AND DISQUALIFICATION OF PRIESTS. EXPOSITION The two remaining chapters of this division of the book (Leviticus 21:1, Leviticus 22:1) deal with the ease of defilements attaching to the priesthood, over and above those which affect other men, whether ceremonial (Leviticus 21:1, Leviticus 21:10-3; Leviticus 22:

[BUT] HE SHALL NOT DEFILE HIMSELF, [BEING] A CHIEF MAN AMONG HIS PEOPLE,.... Which is not to be understood of any lord or nobleman or any chief ruler or governor of the people; for the context speaks only of priests, and not of other personages; besides, such might defile themselves, or mourn for their dead, as Abraham did for Sarah; nor of any husband for his wife, for even a priest, as has been observed, might do this for his wife, and much more a private person; nor is there any need to restrain it, as some Jewish writers do, to an adulterous wife, which a husband might not mourn for, though he might for his right and lawful wife; but there is nothing in the text, neither of an husband, nor a wife: the words are to be interpreted of a priest, and either of him as considered as a person of eminence, consequence, and importance, and sons giving a reason why he should not defile himself...

4. LAWS FOR THE PRIESTS CHAPTER 21 _ 1. Laws concerning the person of the priests (Leviticus 21:1)_ 2. Laws concerning their family (Leviticus 21:7) 3. Laws concerning the high priest (Leviticus 21:10) 4. Concerning blemishes (Leviticus 21:16) We come now to the special laws and precepts for the priestly class among the people. The preceding laws concerned the nation as such. The requirements of the priests are the highest in the entire book of Leviticus. Responsibility is always according to relationship. The priests, as we have seen before, typify the church. The grace

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

DEFILE HIMSELF [for his wife]. Figure of speech _Ellipsis._ App-6. A CHIEF. a lord, or leader. Hebrew. _ba'al._ Supply Figure of speech _Ellipsis_ (App-6) [a priest]....

being _a chief man_ as a husband (R.V. mg.). This rendering limits the cases in which defilement is permissible to those already mentioned, and forbids mourning for a wife. The A.V. follows the Targum. The wording of the _v._suggests a corruption in the text. The Sept. substitute (see R.V. mg.) for -a chief man" is apparently obtained by a transposition in Heb. consonants, but fails to convey any clear meaning. It has been suggested, by a somewhat greater modification in the Heb., to read _in mourning_. Baentsch (_HG._111A) considers that the words -defile himself" and -among his people" shew that the _v._forms an intimate part of the prohibition contained in the previous _vv._Inasmuch, then, as the word rendered -chief man" is regularly used of a husband, and as mention of a wife is strangely absent from the MT., he proposes either of two alternative readings, which assume a copyist's...

BUT HE SHALL NOT DEFILE HIMSELF, BEING A CHIEF MAN AMONG HIS PEOPLE— Very different versions are given of this passage: several ancient versions render it, _neither shall he be defiled for the prince of his people:_ a rendering which Houbigant follows, and strongly approves. It seems, however, most probable, from comparing the eleventh verse in the original, that the sacred writer means to say, that _he shall not defile himself for, or upon account of, any of his people._ The LXX seem to have understood it in this sense: and let it be observed, that the context appears manifestly to justify this interpretation; first asserting, that he shall not be defiled for the dead among his people: some exceptions are then made; after which it is added, that, saving these exceptions, he shall be defiled for no other: see Houbigant....