Leviticus 21:7

_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._ They shall not take a wife. Private individuals might form several connections, which were forbidden as inexpedient or improper in priests. The respectability of their office, and the honour of religion, required unblemished sanctity in their families as well as themselves; and departures from it in their case were visited with severer punishment than in that of others. Verse 9. BURNT WITH FIRE - (see the note at Leviticus 20:14.)...

7._They shall not take a wife. _The third kind of purity is in marriage itself, that the priests’ home may be chaste and free from all dishonor. At this time also God commands by the mouth of Paul, that pastors should be chosen, who rule well their own houses, whose wives are chaste and modest, and their children well-behaved. (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6.) The same cause for this existed under the Law, lest those appointed for the government of the Church should be despised and looked down upon on account of their domestic vices. But God most especially had regard to the priesthood of Christ, that it should not be exposed to contempt. It was indeed permitted that men should marry with impunity a woman divorced from her husband; though in the sight of God such an union was unlawful. No law forbade private individuals from marrying a deflowered woman; bu

Verse Leviticus 21:7. THAT IS _A WHORE_] A prostitute, though even reclaimed. _PROFANE_] A heathen, or one who is not a cordial believer in the true God. _PUT AWAY FROM HER HUSBAND_] Because this very circumstance might lead to suspicion that the priest and the divorced woman might have been improperly connected before....

PROFANE - A woman who has been seduced, or one of illegitimate birth. A somewhat stricter rule for the priests’ marriages was revealed to the prophet in later times, Ezekiel 44:22....

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:

THEY SHALL NOT TAKE A WIFE [THAT IS] A WHORE, OR PROFANE,.... By the former is meant a common whore, that prostitutes herself to any one through lust or for gain; and by the latter one whose chastity is violated, but either unwillingly, that has been forced and ravished, or else willingly, being enticed, persuaded, and prevailed upon, but did not make a practice of it; this seems to be the true sense of the words: but the Jewish writers understand them differently; by a "whore" they suppose is meant one that is not an Israelitish woman, that is not born of an Israelite, at least of an Israelitish woman, as proselytes or freed persons; for they say there are no whores but such, or one that lies with such persons, she may not marry with; as such as are guilty of cutting off, or any of the Nethinim, or spurious persons, so Jarchi; and by a "profane" person they think is meant such as are bo...

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

_profane_ guilty of immorality....

TEXT 21:7-9 7 They shall not take a woman that is a harlot, 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 Jehovah, who sanctify you, am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire. THOUGHT QUESTIONS 21:7-9 477. How absurd it seems to us to read that a priest of the Holy God should not marry a harlot, or a profane or divorced woman. Why was it necessary to say this? 478. The sacrifices are here called the bread of God _i.e._ the food of God. How are we to understand this? 479. The daughter of the priest really carries a heavy responsibility. Why? _Cf._...