Leviticus 21:8

_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.)...

The people of Israel are now addressed. They are commanded to regard the priests, who perform for them the service of the altar, as holy in respect of their office....

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:

THOU SHALT SANCTIFY HIM THEREFORE,.... In thought and word, as Aben Ezra, by thinking and speaking well of him; should esteem and reckon him a holy person, being in a sacred office, and honour him as such; and do all that can be done to preserve him from unholiness and impurity, and particularly from marrying with improper and unsuitable persons, such as would bring a scandal on him and his sacred office: this seems to be spoken to Moses, and so to the civil magistrate in succession, who were not to suffer such marriages to take place in the priesthood; and were not only to persuade from it, but to exercise their authority, and oblige them to put away such wives, and if they refused, to use severity; so Jarchi, "thou shalt sanctify him", whether he will or not; if he will not put her away, beat him and chastise him until he does put "her away",'' see Ezra 2:62;...

SANCTIFY Verse 8 (Leviticus 21:8) illustrates the Old Testament holiness or sanctification-a person set apart for the service of God. SANCTIFY Hebrew, "qodesh." (_ See Scofield) - (Genesis 2:3). _...

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

I THE LORD, WHICH, &C.. Jehovah title. See note on Leviticus 20:8, and App-4....

This _v._has all the air of an insertion. It interrupts the transition from the character of the priest's wife to that of his daughter; and -thou" is harsh. Who is addressed? It may be an insertion (so _Oxf. Hex_.) by the compiler from an older code to enforce the sanctity of the priesthood. _the bread of thy God_ See on Leviticus 21:6....

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._...