Leviticus 21 commentary

As these priests were types of Christ, so all ministers must be followers of him, that their example may teach others to imitate the Saviour. Without blemish, and separate from sinners, He executed his priestly office on earth. What manner of persons then should his ministers be! But all are, if Christians, spiritual priests; the minister especially is called to set a good example, that the people may follow it. Our bodily infirmities, blessed be God, cannot now shut us out from his service, from these privileges, or from his heavenly glory. Many a healthful, beautiful soul is lodged in a feeble, deformed body. And those who may not be suited for the work of the ministry, may serve God with comfort in other duties in his church.

1. Speak unto the priests. All these things which follow tend to the same end, i.e., that the priests may differ from the rest of the people by notable marks, as if separated from ordinary men; for special purity became those who represented the person of Christ. It seems, indeed, as if God here gave precepts respecting small and unimportant things; but we have elsewhere said that the legal rites were as it were steps by which the Israelites might ascend to the study of true holiness. The declaration of Paul indeed was always true, that “bodily exercise profiteth little,” (1 Timothy 4:8;) but the use of the ancient shadows under the Law must be estimated by their end. Although, therefore, the observation of the things which are now treated of did not of itself greatly please God, yet inasmuch as it had a higher tendency, it was sinful to make light of it. Now though the priests were thus admonished that holiness was to be cultivated by them with peculiar diligence, as the sanctity of their office required; yet the principal design of God was to set forth the image of perfect holiness which was at length beheld in Christ. The first law contains a prohibition of mourning, absolutely and without exception as regarded the high priest, and as regarded the sons of Aaron with certain specified restrictions; for although God elsewhere forbids the people generally to imitate the custom of the Gentiles in excessive mourning, yet here he requires something more of the priests, viz., that they should abstain even from ordinary mourning, such as was permitted to others. This prohibition indeed was again repeated, as we shall see, arising from an actual occurrence; for when Nadab and Abihu, who had offered incense with strange fire, were consumed with fire from heaven, God allowed them to be mourned for by all the people, except the priests; Addition in Fr., “Qui estoyent neanmoins les plus prochains parens:” who were nevertheless the nearest relations. but on this occasion the general law was again ratified afresh, lest the priests should pollute themselves by mourning for the dead; except that there mourning was forbidden even for a domestic loss, that they might acquiesce in God’s judgment, however sad it might be. For by these means they were impeded in the discharge of their duties; because it was not lawful for mourners to enter the sanctuary. Therefore God threatens them with death, unless they should restrain their grief even for the death of a near relative But this (as is elsewhere said) is a rare virtue, so to repress our feelings when we are deprived of our brothers or friends, as that the bitterness of our grief should not overcome our resignation and composure of mind. In this way, therefore, the exemplary piety of the priests was put to the proof. Besides, abstinence from mourning manifests the hope of the blessed resurrection. Therefore the priests were forbidden to mourn for the dead, in order that the rest of the people might seek for consolation in their sorrow from them. The Fr. says, “De leur exemple." This was truly and amply fulfilled in Christ, who although He bore not only grief, but the extreme horror of death, yet was free from every stain, and gloriously triumphed over death; so that the very recollection of His cross wipes away our tears, and fills us with joy. Now when it is said, “They shall not profane the name of their God;” and in the case of the high priest, “neither shall he go out of the sanctuary;” this reason confirms what; I have just stated, that mourning was forbidden them, because it prevented them from the discharge of their duties; for their very squalidness would have in some sense defiled God’s sanctuary, in which nothing unseemly was to be seen; and being defiled too, they could not intercede as suppliants for the people. God then commands them to remain pure and clear from all defilement, lest they should be compelled to desert their office, and to leave the sanctuary, of which they were the keepers. Moreover, we learn that the fulfillment of this figure was in Christ, from the reason which is immediately added: viz., because the holy oil is on the head of the high priest; whereby God intimates that it is by no means right that His glory and dignity should be profaned by any pollution.

As to the words themselves; first, greater liberty is granted to the rest of the posterity of Aaron, than to the high priest; but only that they should mourn for their father, mother, children, their own brothers, and unmarried sisters. Lest ambition should carry them further, they are expressly forbidden to put on mourning even upon the death of a prince. Nor can we doubt but that the mourning was improper which God permitted to them out of indulgence; but regard was had to their weakness, lest immoderate strictness might drive them to passionate excess; yet God so spared them as still to distinguish them from the multitude. To “defile” one’s-self, (as we have elsewhere seen,) is equivalent to putting on mourning for the dead, celebrating the funeral rites, or going to the burial; because the curse of God proclaims itself in the death of man, so that a corpse infects with contagion those by whom it is touched; and again, because it must needs be that where lamentation is indulged, and as it were excited, the affection itself must burst out into impatience. As to the prohibition to make “baldness,” this was not allowed even to the rest of the people; but God expressly forbids it to the priests, in order to keep them under stricter restraint. With regard to the high priest, something greater seems to be decreed besides the exceptions, that he “shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes:” which is still enjoined elsewhere on the sons of Aaron. But here what would be allowable in others is condemned in the high priest; and it was surely reasonable that he should present a peculiar example of moderation and gravity; and therefore the dignity of his office, in which he was superior to others, is called to mind, that he may acknowledge his obligations to be so much the greater. This is indeed the sum, that since the priesthood is the holiness of God, it must not be mixed up with any defilements.

Deuteronomy 31

Deuteronomy 31:9

9. And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.

9. Scripsitque Moses Legem istam, et dedit eam sacerdotibus filiis Levi portantibus arcata foederis jehovae, et cunctis senioribus Israel.

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; but what was permitted to the multitude God condemned in the priests, in order to withdraw them from every mark of infamy. And this reason is also expressed when he says that He would have the priests holy, because He has chosen them for Himself; for if the people had not reverenced them, all religion would have been contemptible. Therefore that their dignity might be preserved, He commands them to take diligent heed not to expose themselves to ignominy. Finally, still more highly to commend reverence to their holy office, He reminds them that it related to the welfare of the whole people: “I the Lord (He says) do sanctify him,” ver. 15. In these words He intimates that the grace of adoption, whereby they were chosen as His heritage, was based on the priesthood.

9. And the daughter of any priest. The moderation and chastity (required in the priest Added from Fr. ) is extended also to his daughter; and by synecdoche all that relates to good discipline is comprised under a single head; viz., that his children should be educated in the study of virtue, and in decent and pure morality. A heavy punishment is denounced against a priest’s daughter if she should play the harlot, because sacrilege would be combined with her disgraceful licentiousness. But it is no light crime to violate God’s sanctuary; and, if the priest had tolerated such an iniquity in his daughter, he would have been no severe avenger of the same turpitude in strangers; nay, he would not have been at liberty to punish crimes, unless he made a beginning in his own house.

Leviticus 21

Leviticus 21:16-24

16. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

16. Loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:

17. Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.

17. Loquere ad Aharon, dicendo, Vir e semine tuo per aetates suas, in quo fuerit macula, non accedet ut offerat panem Dei sui.

18. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous,

18. Quippe nullus vir in quo fuerit macula, aecedet: vir crocus, vel claudus, aut diminutus, aut superfluus:

19. Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded,

19. Aut vir in quo fuerit fractura pedis, vel fractura manus:

20. Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken;

20. Aut gibbosus, aut lippus, aut qui habebit maeulam in oculo suo, aut cui fuerit scabies vel impetigo, aut qui contritus fuerit testiculo.

2l. No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.

21. Omnis vir in quo fuerit macula, e semine Aharon sacerdotis, non accedet ad offerendum oblationes ignitas Jehovae: in quo fuertit macula, non accedet ad offerendum panem Dei sui.

22. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.

22. Panem quidem Dei sui e sanctitatibus sanctitatum et e sanctis comedet.

23. Only he shall not go in unto thevail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

23. Atqui intra velum non ingredietur, et ad altare non aceedet: quia macula est in eo, ne polluat sanctuaria mea: quoniam ego Jehova qui sanctifico vos.

24. And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.

24. Loquutus est itaque Moses ad Aharon et filios ejus, et ad omnes filios Israel.

13. And he shall take a wife in her virginity. More is required in the high priest, viz., that he should not marry a widow, nor a woman of any other tribe than his own. A question may indeed arise as to the latter clause, whether the plural word ought to be restricted to one tribe, Ainsworth’s literal translation is “a virgin of his peoples.” Fr., “Ailleurs il se prend pour tout le corps de la lignee d’Abraham:” elsewhere it is taken for the whole body of the race of Abraham. whereas it is elsewhere applied to all. But, if we examine it more closely, it is plain that “his peoples” is equivalent to “of his people,” (populares.) But nothing peculiar will be here required of the priest, if his wife is to be taken only from the children of Abraham. I admit that the chief priests married wives of Other tribes, as Elizabeth, sprung of the tribe of Judah, married Zacharias; but, since the high priest is here distinguished from all others, I do not see how it would follow that a law or privilege referring to him should be observed by the whole posterity of Aaron. On this point, however, I will not contend, if any one thing is otherwise. But assuredly, since he presented the brightest type of Christ, it was right that superior and more perfect holiness should be beheld in him. It is surely strange that C., who here seems to draw out the Christology of the ordinances of the Law with unusual fullness and precision, should have omitted to mention “the mystical union which is between Christ and His Church,” as most luminously set forth in this type. Vide Song, passim. Psalm 95; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:27; Revelation 19:8, etc. For this was the tendency of the restriction, that his wife, not having known another man, should manifest the modesty worthy of her station and quality of sacred honor. If any should object that the marriage of, an old priest with a young girl was ridiculous and somewhat indecorous, as well as liable to many inconveniences; I answer, that special regulations should be so expounded as not to interfere with general principles. If a decrepit old man falls in love with a young girl, it is a base and shameful lust; besides he will defraud her if he marries her. Hence, too, will jealousy and wretched anxiety arise; or, by foolishly and dotingly seeking to preserve his wife’s love, he will cast away all regard for gravity. When God forbade the high priest to marry any but a virgin, he did not wish to violate this rule, which is dictated by nature and reason; but, regard being had to age, He desired that modesty and propriety should be maintained in the marriage, so that, if the priest were of advanced years, he should marry a virgin not too far from his own age: but, if he were failing and now but little fitted for marriage on account of his old age, the law that he should marry a virgin was rather an exhortation to celibacy, than that he should expose himself to many troubles and to general ridicule.

17. Speak unto Aaron, saying. Priests in whom there was any notable bodily defect are here forbidden from approaching the altar. I will not curiously inquire into the defects which Moses enumerates, since the same rule is here laid down, which is afterwards applied to the sacrifices, whereof none but perfect ones were to be offered. For God rejected whatever was defective or mutilated, in order that the Israelites might know that no victim would suffice for the expiation of sin, except such as possessed complete perfection; and this is justly required in a priest, who cannot be a mediator between God and men unless he is free from every spot. But the analogy must be kept in view between the external figures and the spiritual perfection which existed only in Christ. God could bear no defect in the priests; it follows, then, that a man of angelic purity was to be expected, who should reconcile God to the world. The bodily imperfections, then, which were here enumerated, must be transferred to the soul. The offering of bread comprehends by synecdoche the other offerings, and the whole legal service, which the priests were wont to perform in their course; and this the words of Moses immediately afterwards confirm, wherein he mentions all “the offerings made by fire,” besides the bread. We have seen elsewhere that any of the people wounded in the testicles were prohibited from entering the sanctuary; that they were, not even to set foot in the court; but there was a special reason for this as regarded the priests, lest they should pollute the sanctuary by their defects. Hence it appears how needful for us is the intercession of Christ; for, if his perfect cleanness did not wash away our impurity, no oblation could proceed from us except what would be foul and unsavory. Moreover, it is worthy of observation that the sanctuary of God is polluted by any defect or imperfection; and, consequently, that whatever of their own men obtrude upon God, is condemned as profane, so far are they from conciliating God’s favor by any merit.

22. He shall eat the bread of his God. He permits them indeed to eat of the sacrifices, because no uncleanness on account of their natural defects could prevent them from partaking of the sacred meals; “La nouristure assignee aux enfans d’Aaron.” — Fr. they are only forbidden to appear in God’s presence as mediators to propitiate Him. And here the imperfection of the legal service betrays itself; for nothing could be found among men which could fully represent the truth. Since then the defects of men rendered it necessary to separate the two connected things, viz., the honor and the burden, hence the Israelites were admonished that another priest was promised them, in whom nothing would be wanting for the consummation of all virtues and perfection. Finally, Moses relates that he delivered God’s commands not only to Aaron and his sons, but to all the people likewise; so that the humblest of them might be the censor of the priests “Peust contreroler, par maniere de dire, les Sacrificateurs:” might, so to say, control the priests. — Fr. if in anything they fell short.

Leviticus 22

Leviticus 22:1-16

1. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

1. Loquutus est insuper Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:

2. Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD.

2. Loquere ad Aharon, et filios ejus ut separent sese a sanctificationibus filiorum Israel et ne polluant nomen sanctitatis mese in his quae ipsi sanctificant mihi: ego Jehova.

3. Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD.

3. Dic illis, in generationibus vestris omnis vir qui accesserit ex omni semine vestro ad sanctificationes quae sanctificaverint filii Israel Jehovae, et immunditia sua fuerit super ipsum, excidetur anima ipsius a facie mea: ego Jehova.

4. What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;

4. Quicunque e semine Aharon fuerit leprosus, vel seminifluus, de sanctificationibus non comedet donec mundet se: et qui tedgerit immundum super morticinio, ant virex quo egreditur effusio seminis,

5. Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;

5. Ant vir qui tetigerit quodcunque reptile per quod immundus erit, ant hominem propter quem immundus erit, secundum omnem immunditiam eius:

6. The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.

6. Anima inquam quae tetigerit illum, immunda erit usque ad vesperam: et non comedet de sanctificationibus nisi laverit carnem suam aqua.

7. And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.

7. Quum autem occubuerit sol, turn erit mundus, et postea comedet de sanctificationibus: quia cibus ejus est.

8. That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the LORD.

8. Cadaver et rapture non comedet, et polluat se in eo: ego Jehova.

9. They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the LORD do sanctify them.

9. Et custodiant custodiam meam, et ne portent peccatum propter illud, et moriantur propter illud, quum polluerint illam: ego Jehova sanctificans eos.

10. There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.

10. Omnis autem alienigena non comedet sanctificationem: inquilinus sacerdotis, et mercenarius non comedet sanctificationem.

11. But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.

11. Quod si sacerdos emerit hominem emptione argenti sui: ipsc comedet ex ea, et vernaculus ejus: illi comedent de cibo ejus.

12. If the priest’s daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things.

12. Filia autem sacerdotis quum fuerit viro alieno: ipsa de oblatione sanctificationum non comedet.

13. But if the priest’s daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father’s house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof.

13. Filia vero sacerdotis quum fuerit vidua, ant repudiata, et semen non erit el, et reversa fuerit ad domran parris sui, sicut in pueritia sua, de eibo patris eomedet: onmis autem alienigena non comedet ex co.

14. And if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall put the fifth part thereof unto it, and shall give it unto the priest with the holy thing.

14. Quod si aliquis comederit sanctificationem per imprudentiam, addet quintam partem ejus, et dabit sacerdoti eum sanctificatione.

15. And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the LORD;

15. Et non contaminabunt sanctificationes filiorum Israel, quas obtulerint Jehovae.

16. Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things: for I the LORD do sanctify them.

16. Neque portare facient cos iniquitatem delicti, dum comederint sanctificationes eorum: ego enim Jehova sanctificans eos.

CHAPTER 21

Le 21:1-24. Of the Priests' Mourning.

1. There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people--The obvious design of the regulations contained in this chapter was to keep inviolate the purity and dignity of the sacred office. Contact with a corpse, or even contiguity to the place where it lay, entailing ceremonial defilement (Nu 19:14), all mourners were debarred from the tabernacle for a week; and as the exclusion of a priest during that period would have been attended with great inconvenience, the whole order were enjoined to abstain from all approaches to the dead, except at the funerals of relatives, to whom affection or necessity might call them to perform the last offices. Those exceptional cases, which are specified, were strictly confined to the members of their own family, within the nearest degrees of kindred.

4. 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" [Bishop Patrick]. The word rendered "chief man" signifies also "a husband"; and the sense according to others is, "But he being a husband, shall not defile himself by the obsequies of a wife" (Eze 44:25).

5. They shall not make baldness upon their heads ... nor ... cuttings in their flesh--The superstitious marks of sorrow, as well as the violent excesses in which the heathen indulged at the death of their friends, were forbidden by a general law to the Hebrew people (Le 19:28). But the priests were to be laid under a special injunction, not only that they might exhibit examples of piety in the moderation of their grief, but also by the restraint of their passions, be the better qualified to administer the consolations of religion to others, and show, by their faith in a blessed resurrection, the reasons for sorrowing not as those who have no hope.

7-9. They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane--Private individuals might form several connections, which were forbidden as inexpedient or improper in priests. The respectability of their office, and the honor 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.

10-15. he that is the high priest among his brethren ... shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes--The indulgence in the excepted cases of family bereavement, mentioned above [Le 21:2, 3], which was granted to the common priests, was denied to him; for his absence from the sanctuary for the removal of any contracted defilement could not have been dispensed with, neither could he have acted as intercessor for the people, unless ceremonially clean. Moreover, the high dignity of his office demanded a corresponding superiority in personal holiness, and stringent rules were prescribed for the purpose of upholding the suitable dignity of his station and family. The same rules are extended to the families of Christian ministers (1Ti 3:2; Tit 1:6).

16-24. Whosoever he be ... hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God--As visible things exert a strong influence on the minds of men, any physical infirmity or malformation of body in the ministers of religion, which disturbs the associations or excites ridicule, tends to detract from the weight and authority of the sacred office. Priests laboring under any personal defect were not allowed to officiate in the public service; they might be employed in some inferior duties about the sanctuary but could not perform any sacred office. In all these regulations for preserving the unsullied purity of the sacred character and office, there was a typical reference to the priesthood of Christ (He 7:26).

There shall none be defiled for the dead - No priest shall assist in laying out a dead body, or preparing it for interment. Any contact with the dead was supposed to be of a defiling nature, probably because putrefaction had then taken place; and animal putrefaction was ever held in detestation by all men.

A chief man among his people - The word בעל baal signifies a master, chief, husband, etc., 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.

They shall not make baldness - See the note on Lev 19:27. It is supposed that these things were particularly prohibited, because used superstitiously by the Egyptian priests, who, according to Herodotus, shaved the whole body every third day, that there might be no uncleanness about them when they ministered in their temples. This appears to have been a general custom among the heathen. In the book of Baruch 6:31, the priests of Babylon are represented sitting in their temples, with their clothes rent, and their heads and beards shaven, and having nothing upon their heads. Every person knows the tonsure of the Catholic priests. Should not this be avoided as an approach to a heathenish custom?

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.

She shall be burnt with fire - Probably not burnt alive, but strangled first, and then burnt afterward. Though it is barely possible that some kind of branding may be intended.

He that is the high priest - This is the first place where this title is introduced; the title is very emphatic, הכהן הגדול haccohen haggadol, that priest, the great one. For the meaning of כהן cohen, see the note on Gen 14:18. As the chief or high priest was a representative of our blessed Lord, therefore he was required to be especially holy; and he is represented as God's king among the people.

The crown of the anointing oil - is upon him - By his office the priest represented Christ in his sacrificial character; by his anointing, the prophetic influence; and by the crown, the regal dignity of our Lord.

He shall take a wife in her virginity - בתוליה bethuleyha. This is a full proof that בתולה bethulah is the proper Hebrew term for a virgin; from the emphatic root בתל bathal, to separate; because such a person was in her separate state, and had never been in any way united to man.

Whosoever - hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God - Never was a wiser, a more rational, and a more expedient law enacted relative to sacred matters. The man who ministers in holy things, who professes to be the interpreter of the will of God, should have nothing in his person nor in his manner which cannot contribute to render him respectable in the eyes of those to whom he ministers. If, on the contrary, he has any personal defect, any thing that may render him contemptible or despicable, his usefulness will be greatly injured, if not entirely prevented. If however a man have received any damage in the work of God, by persecution or otherwise, his scars are honorable, and will add to his respectability. But if he be received into the ministry with any of the blemishes specified here, he never will and never can have that respect which is essentially necessary to secure his usefulness. Let no man say this is a part of the Mosaic law, and we are not bound by it. It is an eternal law, founded on reason, propriety, common sense, and absolute necessity. The priest, the prophet, the Christian minister, is the representative of Jesus Christ; let nothing in his person, carriage, or doctrine, be unworthy of the personage he represents. A deformed person, though consummate in diplomatic wisdom, would never be employed as an ambassador by any enlightened court, if any fit person, unblemished, could possibly be procured.

A blind man - That is, in one eye; for he that was utterly blind could not possibly be employed in such a service. A flat nose, like that of an ape; so the best versions. Any thing superfluous, such as six fingers, six toes, etc.

Broken-footed, or broken-handed - Club-footed, bandy-legged, etc.; or having the ankle, wrist, or fingers dislocated.

Crooked-backed - Hunch-backed or gibbous. A dwarf, דק dak, a person too short or too thin, so as to be either particularly observable, or ridiculous in his appearance.

A blemish in his eye - A protuberance on the eye, observable spots or suffusions.

Scurvy, or scabbed - A bad habit of body, evidenced by scorbutic or scrofulous affections.

Stones broken - Is ruptured; an infirmity which would render him incapable of fulfilling the duties of his office, which might be often very fatiguing. In the above list of blemishes we meet with some that might render the priest contemptible in the eyes of men, and be the means of leading them, not only to despise the man, but to despise the ministry itself; and we meet with others that would be a very great impediment in the discharge of his ministerial duties, and therefore any person thus blemished is by this law precluded from the ministry. The blemishes here enumerated have been considered by some in an allegorical point of view, as if only referring to the necessity of moral purity; but although holiness of heart and righteousness of life be essentially necessary in a minister of God, yet an absence of the defects mentioned above is, I fully believe, what God intends here, and for the reasons too which have been already advanced. It must however be granted, that there have been some eminent divines who have been deformed; and some with certain blemishes have been employed in the Christian ministry, and have been useful. The Mosaic rule, however, will admit of but few exceptions, when even examined according to the more extended interpretation of the Christian system. "The Hebrews say there are in all 120 blemishes which disable the priest - eight in the head, two in the neck, nine in the ears, five in the brows, seven in the eyelids, nineteen in the eyes, nine in the nose, nine in the mouth, three in the belly, three in the back, seven in the hands, sixteen in the secrets, eight in any part of the body, eight in the skin, and seven in the strength and in the breath." - Ainsworth. In ancient times, even among heathens, persons of the most respectable appearance were appointed to the priesthood; and the emperor, both among the ancient Greeks and Romans, was both king and priest. It is reported of Metellus, that, having lost an eye in endeavoring to save the Palladium from the flames, when the temple of Vesta was on fire, he was denied the priesthood, though he had rendered such an excellent piece of service to the public; yet the public opinion was that a priest who was defective in any member was to be avoided as ominous - See Dodd. "At Elis, in Greece, the judges chose the finest looking man to carry the sacred vessels of the deity; he that was next to him in beauty and elegance led the ox; and the third in personal beauty, etc., carried the garlands, ribbons, wine, and the other matters used for the sacrifice." - Athen. Deipnisoph., l. xiii., c. 2.

Formerly the Church of England was very cautious in admitting to her ministry those who had gross personal defects; but now we find the hump-backed, the jolt-headed, bandy-legged, club-footed, one-eyed, etc., priests even of her high places. Why do our prelates ordain such?

He shall not go in unto the veil - The priest with a blemish was not permitted to enter into the holy of holies, nor to burn incense, nor to offer the shew-bread, nor to light the golden candlestick, etc. In short, he was not permitted to perform any essential function of the priesthood.

1. The great perfection required in the Jewish high priest was intended principally to point out the perfection of that priesthood of which the Jewish was only the type. And yet, as the apostle assures us, that law made nothing perfect, but pointed out that most perfect priesthood and sacrifice by which we draw near to God.

2. As none who had a blemish could enter into the holy of holies, and this holy of holies was a type of the kingdom of God, so nothing that is defiled can enter into heaven; for he gave himself for his Church that he might purify it to himself, and present it at last before the presence of the Divine glory having neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing, Eph 5:27; a passage which evidently refers to the directions in the preceding verse. Reader, art thou become a king and priest unto God and the Lamb? and hast thou obtained, or art thou earnestly seeking, that holiness without which thou canst not see the kingdom of heaven?

Among his people - None of the priests shall touch the dead body, or assist at his funeral, or eat of the funeral feast. The reason of this law is evident, because by such pollution they were excluded from converse with men, to whom by their function they were to be serviceable upon all occasions, and from the handling of holy things. And God would hereby teach them, and in them all successive ministers, that they ought entirely to give themselves to the service of God. Yea, to renounce all expressions of natural affection, and all worldly employments, so far as they are impediments to the discharge of their holy services.

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, Eze 24:16, &c. These exceptions God makes in condescension to human infirmity, because in such cases it was very hard to restrain the affections. But this allowance concerns only the inferior priest, not the high - priest.

That is nigh him - That is, by nearness not of relation, (for that might seem a needless addition) but of habitation, one not yet cut off from the family. For if she was married, she was now of another family, and under her husband's care in those matters.

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 consequently unfit to manage his sacred employment.

They shall not make baldness - In funerals, as the Heathens 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 are by word and example to teach the people their duty.

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 shew - bread: or rather, all the other offerings, besides burnt - offerings: which are called bread, because bread is commonly put for all food.

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.

Thou - O Moses, and whosoever shall succeed in thy place, to whom it belongs to see my laws observed, shall take care that the priest be holy, and do not defile himself by any of these forbidden marriages.

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 Lev 18:6. She profaneth her father - Exposeth his person and office, and consequently religion, to contempt.

The garments - Those holy garments, which were peculiar to him. Shall not uncover his head - This being then the posture of mourners, Lev 10:6, though afterwards the custom was changed and mourners covered their heads, 2Sam 15:30, Esth 6:12. Nor rent his clothes - Another expression of mourning.

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.

Out of the sanctuary - To attend the funerals 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. The crown of the anointing oil - Or, the crown, the golden plate, which is called the holy crown, Exo 29:6, and the anointing oil of his God are upon him. So there is only an ellipsis of the conjunction and, which is frequent. And these two things, being most eminent, are put for the rest, as the sign is put for the thing signified, that is, for he is God's high - priest.

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; and here to the high - priest, to shew that he also, and he especially is obliged to the same cautions.

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.

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 both by the priest and sacrifice, and therefore both were to be without blemish; partly moral, to teach all Christians and especially ministers of holy things, what purity and perfection of heart and life they should labour after, and that notorious blemishes in the mind or conversation, render a man unfit for the ministry of the gospel; and partly prudential, because such blemishes were apt to breed contempt of the person; and consequently, of his function, and of the holy things wherein he ministered. For which reason, such persons as have notorious defects or deformities, are still unfit for the ministry except where there are eminent gifts and graces, which vindicate a man from the contemptibleness of his bodily presence. The particular defect's here mentioned, I shall not enlarge upon because some of the Hebrew words are diversely interpreted, and because the use of these things being abolished, the knowledge of them is not necessary.

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.

A blemish - Any notorious blemish whereby he is disfigured, though not here mentioned.

He shall eat - Which a priest having any uncleanness might not do whereby God would shew the great difference between natural infirmities sent upon a man by God, and moral defilements which a man brought upon himself.

To the veil - To the second veil which was between the holy and the most holy place, to burn incense, to order the shew - 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 execute the priest's office, which was to be done in those two places.

1 AND the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:

To wit, by touching of the dead body, or abiding in the same house with it, or assisting at his funerals, or eating of the funeral feast. The reason of this law is evident, because by such pollution they were excluded from converse with men to whom by their function they were to be serviceable upon all occasions, and from the handling of holy things, Num. 6. 6. and 19. 11, 14, 16. Deut. 26. 14. Hos. 9. 4. And God would hereby teach them, and in them all successive Ministers of holy things, that they ought so entirely to give themselves to the service of God that they ought to renounce all expressions of natural affections, and all worldly employments so far as they are impediments to the discharge of their holy services. See Lev. 10. 3, 7. Deut. 33. 9. Mat. 8. 22. Hereby also God would beget in the people a greater reverence to the Priestly function, and oblige the Priests to a greater degree of strictness and purity than other men.

Marginal references: Ezek. 44. 25.

2 But for his kin that is near unto him , that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother ,

Under which general expression his wife seems to be comprehended, though she be not expressed in the following instances, because from the mention of others more remote it was easie to gather that so near a relation was not excluded. And hence it is noted as a peculiar and extraordinary case, that Ezekiel, who was a Priest, was forbidden to mourn for his wife, Ezek. 24. 16. &c. These exceptions God here makes in condescension to humane infirmity, because in such cases it was very hard to restrain the affections. But this allowance concerns onely the inferiour Priest, not the High-priest, as we shall see.

Obj. Eleazar and Ithamar are forbidden to mourn for their brethren, Nadab and Abihu. Ans. 1. That case was singular, both because such a mourning might seem to be a censure of Gods severity upon them, and because they were then in the actual execution of their office and in their initiation to it, and they were the onely persons, besides Aaron, that could perform that work, and therefore their attendance upon it was more necessary then it would be in after times and other cases. 2. The latter law can either limit or enlarge the former at the pleasure of the lawgiver. And this law may seem to be added least that prohibition Lev. 10. should be taken for a general rule.

3 And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him , which hath had no husband : for her may he be defiled.

Either by father, or mother.

(i. e.) By nearness not of relation, (for that might seem a needless addition) but of habitation, i. e. one not yet cut off from the family, as it follows.

For if she was married, she was now of another family, and under her husbands special care in those matters.

4 But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people , to prophane himself.

Or, seeing he is a chief man, &c. or ruler, &c. for such not onely the High-Priest▪ but others also of the inferiour Priests were. And therefore though he might defile himself for the persons now named, yet he, above all others, must take heed so to do it that he do not profane himself by doing as follows. Or, for a chief man, &c. the preposition Lamed being easily understood from the former verse, where it is oft used, such supplements being not unusual in the Hebrew tongue. So the sence is, He shall not defile himself for any other person whatsoever who is not thus near of kin to him, no not for a prince or chief ruler among his people, who might seem to challenge this duty from him, to joyn with all others in their res[illegible: 1+ letters]ntment of the publick loss, much less shall he defile himself for any other. And so the last word, to profane himself, may be added as a reason why he should not defile himself for the prince or any other, except the persons named, because such defilement for the dead did profane him or make him as a common person and unclean, and consequently unfit to manage his sacred employment, which was an impediment to the service of God, and a publick inconvenience to the people whose concerns with God he negotiated. And it was not meet such great and important affairs should give place to the ceremonies of a funeral, for a stranger.

Marginal references: Or, being [illegible: 1+ letters] husband among his people he shall not defile himself for his wife, &c.

5 They shall not make baldness upon their head , neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cutting in their flesh.

To wit, in funerals, as the heathens did: q. d. Though I allow them to defile themselves for some of the dead, yet in no case shall they use these superstitious and heathenish rites, which also the people are forbidden to do Lev. 19. 27. Deut. 14. 1. but the Priests in a more peculiar manner, because they are by word and example to teach the people their duty not to sorrow for the dead as persons without hope.

Marginal references: chap. 19. 2[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ 28. Ezek. 44. 20.

6 They shall be holy unto their God , and not profane the Name of their God : for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.

Devoted to Gods service and always prepared and fit for it, and therefore shall keep themselves, as far as they can from all defilement, which makes them unmeet for their masters use.

Which they especially bear: they shall not disparage the service of God by making it give place to such sleight occasions.

(i. e.) the shew-bread: or rather, all the other offerings, besides burnt-offerings: which are called bread, either because bread is commonly put for all food, as below ver. 17, 21. or, because God is satisfied and refreshed with these offerings, as a man is with his bread: or rather, because they or part of them are the bread or food of the Priests, and are here called bread of their God, either objectively because they were offered to God, or efficiently, because they were given by God to the Priests. And these are called bread in opposition to the burnt-offerings, which being wholly consumed gave no food to the Priests. Or, the offerings made by fire are here put Synecdochically for all the rest▪ the most eminent kind for all, which are here called bread, because devoured by fire to the honour of God. For the particle and is not in the Hebrew, and may be omitted.

Marginal references: Heb. holiness.

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.

Or, defiled, or defloured, though it were done secretly, or by accident, or by force: because the Priest must take care that all the members of his family be free not onely from gross wickedness, but from all suspitions of evil and occasions of reproach or contempt, because this would reflect upon himself and upon his God and religion also. The word may note one defloured by any person, though it were by her husband, or a widow, because not onely the High-priest was obliged to marry a virgin, ver. 13. but also the inferiour Priests, as appears from Ezek. 44. 22. and that is either signified by this word or by none other here. It is true, a widow, and a profane person are distinguished, ver. 14. but the same word may be and oft is taken in differing sences, both more largely and more strictly, in the same chapter. And there was some reason why it should be more expresly and distinctly set down there, a widow, or one profane or defloured otherwise, because there was the more need of caution in the High-priest, and therefore the widow is particularly mentioned, which in the former case might be sufficiently comprehended under a general title.

Though not for adultery but for light causes and by the husbands fault, because though the woman might be wholly innocent and free, yet it would leave some blemish upon her.

Marginal references: Ezek. 44. 22.

8 Thou shalt sanctifie him therefore, for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee : for I the LORD which sanctifie you am holy .

Thou, O Moses, and whosoever shall succeed in thy place, to whom it belongs to see those and other of my laws observed shall take care that the Priest be holy and do not defile himself by any of these forbidden marriages, though he would do it.

Either, 1. in thy esteem, and therefore shall not give thee cause to think meanly and irreverently of him by his defiling or debasing of himself with irregular mixtures: or, 2. to thy use or service, in whose name he is to act with God, and therefore shall preserve himself in a state of holiness and acceptation with God.

And therefore my Ministers must be such also.

9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane her self by playing the whore, she profaneth her father , she shall be burnt with fire .

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 Levit. 18.

(i. e.) Exposeth his person and office and consequently religion, one of whose prime ministers he is, to contempt.

Which was the severest of all the kinds of punishments among the Iews. Whereby God would shew, both the greatness of their sins who stand in nearer relation to God than others, and how far God is from allowing sin in those who are nearest to him.

10 And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oyl was poured , and that is consecrated to put on the garments , shall not uncover his head , nor rent his clothes z.

Levit. 8. 11. Which was onely sprinkled upon inferiour Priests, blood also being mixed with it, Lev. 8. 30.

To wit, those holy garments, which were peculiar to him as well as those common to others.

This being then the posture of mourners, Lev. 10. 6. though afterwards the custom was changed and mourners covered their heads, 2 Sam. 15. 30. E[illegible: 1+ letters]. 6. 12. Or i[illegible: 1+ letters] this custom was now in use, the meaning may be he shall not put off the Priestly covering or miter, which was necessary for him to do if he had put on the mourners covering upon his head, otherwise the holy covering had been defiled, but he shall continue in the exercise of his office, which is signified by keeping on his Priestly garments.

Marginal references: Exod. 3[illegible: 1+ letters]. 30.; Exod. 28. 2. chap. 16. 32.; chap. 10. 6.

11 Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or for his mother.

To wit, into the chamber or house where they ly. 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.

Because upon his fathers death he was actually High-priest, having been consecrated to this office in his Fathers life-time.

12 Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary , nor profane the sanctuary of his God: for the crown of the anointing oyl of his God is upon him: I am the LORD.

To wit, to attend the funerals of any person: for upon other occasions he might and did commonly go out.

Either by making the service thereof give place to the discharge of his passions or the performance of a civility, or by entring into the Sanctuary before the seven days allotted for his cleansing, Numb. 19. 11. were expired.

(i. e.) The anointing oil, which to him was in stead of a crown, by which he was advanced not onely above the rest of his brethren, but even above all the people, whose chief Governour he was in the things of God, though subject and accountable to the civil Magistrate, by which also he was made an eminent type of Christ who was to be King and Priest. Or, the crown, to wit, the golden plate, which is called the holy crown, Exod. 29. 6. and the anointing oyl of his God are upon him. So there is onely an Ellipsis of the conjunction, and, which is frequent, as Psal. 33. 2. and 144. 9. Isa. 63. 11. Hab. 3. 11. &c. And these two things, being most eminent, are put for the rest, and the sign is put for the thing signified, q. d. for he is Gods High-priest. Or, the consecration (for so n[illegible: 1+ letters]zer signifies) of the anointing oil, which by an Hypallage may be put for the anointing oil of the consecration, i. e. whereby he is consecrated, is upon him, i. e. though that action be past, yet the vertue of it remains still upon him, he is a sacred person in the highest degree and therefore not to defile himself in any kind.

Marginal references: Exod. 28. 36.; Or, consecration, or separation, Numb. 6. 7.

13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity .

Or, a Virgin, partly for the decency of the type, because as he was a type of Christ, so his wife was a type of the Church, which is compared to a Virgin, 2 Cor. 11. 2. Rev. 14. 4. and partly for greater caution and assurance that his wife was not a defiled or defloured person. This and the following rule belong not to all the Priests, for then this were a gross tautology, these same things or most of them being expresly forbidden to them ver. 7. but onely to the High-priest, to shew that he also and he especially is obliged to the same cautions.

14 A widow , or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take, but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.

Except she were the widow of his predecessour, which some gather from Ezek. 44. 22. But that place speaks onely of the common Priest, not of the High-priest.

(i. e.) Either 1. of his own tribe, which is confuted by the examples of holy men. See 2 Chron. 22. 11. Or 2. of the seed of Israel, as it is explained Ezek. 44. 22.

15 Neither shall he prophane his seed among his people: for [illegible: 1+ letters] the LORD do sanctifie him .

By mixing it with forbidden kinds, whereby the children would be disparaged and rendred unfit for their Priestly function.

(i. e.) have separated him from all other sorts of men for my especial and immediate service, and therefore will not have that race corrupted.

17 Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations , that hath any blemish , let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.

Whether the High-Priest, or the inferiour ones.

In all successive ages, as long as your Priesthood and policy indures.

i. e. 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 both by the priest and sacrifice, and therefore both were to be without blemish; partly moral to teach all Christians, and especially Ministers of holy things, what purity and perfection of heart and life they should labour after, and that notorious blemishes in the mind or conversation render a man unfit for the Ministery of the Gospel, and partly prudential, because such blemishes were apt to breed contempt of the person, and consequently, of his function, and of the holy things wherein he ministred. For which reason, some conceive, that still such persons as have notorious defects or deformities which render them contemptible are not fit for the Ministery. Which may be true in the general, except where there are eminent gifts and graces, which are sufficient to vindicate a man from the contemptibleness of his bodily presence. The particular defects here mentioned, I shall not enlarge upon, because some of the Hebrew words are diversly interpreted, and because the use of these things being abolished, the knowledge of them is not very necessary.

Either the shew-bread, one eminent part being named for the whole: or the food, i. e. all the oblations. See before on ver. 8.

Marginal references: Or▪ [illegible: 1 word]

18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach : a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose , or any thing superfluous,

Unto God, or to serve him in his sanctuary.

Most restrain this word to the nose, and to some great deformity relating to it, either the want of it wholly or in part, or the shortness, flatness, or crookedness of 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.

Marginal references: chap. 22. 23.

21 No man that hath a blemish , of the seed of Aaron the priest, shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish, he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God.

Any notorious blemish whereby he is disfigured, though not here mentioned.

22 He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy .

Which a Priest having any uncleanness upon him might not do. Whereby God would shew the great difference between natural infirmities sent upon a man by God, and moral defilements which a man brought upon himself. What was holy, and what most holy was declared before. See Levit. 2. 3. and 6. 17. and 7. 1. and 14. 13. and 22. 10.

23 Onely he shall not go in unto the vail , nor come nigh unto the altar , because he hath a blemish, that he prophane not my sanctuary : for I the LORD do sanctifie them .

(i. e.) To the second vail which was between the Holy and the most Holy place, Exod. 26. 13, 36. to burn incense, to order the shew-bread, and to dress the lamps, which were nigh unto that vail though without.

(i. e.) The altar of burnt-offering, which was without the sanctuary. The sense is, He shall not execute the priests office, which was to be done in those two places.

Heb. my sanctuaries, in the plural number, as it is also, Levit. 26. 31. Ier. 51. 51. Ezek. 28. 18. For though the Sanctuary was but one, yet there were divers parts, to wit, the Court, the Holy place, and the most holy, each of which was in a large sense a Sanctuary, or an holy place set apart for Gods Worship.

(i. e.) Do set them apart for high and holy uses, to manifest my presence and grace and to receive my Worship and service in them. And therefore I will not have them polluted or disparaged by the admission of defiled or deformed priests to Minister therein.

Lev 21:1-6

The priest was not to defile himself on account of a soul, i.e., a dead person (nephesh, as in Lev 19:28), among his countrymen, unless it were of his kindred, who stood near to him (i.e., in the closest relation to him), formed part of the same family with him (cf. Lev 21:3), such as his mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or a sister who was still living with him as a virgin and was not betrothed to a husband (cf. Eze 44:25). As every corpse not only defiled the persons who touched it, but also the tent or dwelling in which the person had died (Num 19:11, Num 19:14); in the case of death among members of the family or household, defilement was not to be avoided on the part of the priest as the head of the family. It was therefore allowable for him to defile himself on account of such persons as these, and even to take part in their burial. The words of Lev 21:4 are obscure: “He shall not defile himself בּעמּיו בּעל, i.e., as lord (pater-familias) among his countrymen, to desecrate himself;” and the early translators have wandered in uncertainty among different renderings. In all probability בּעל denotes the master of the house or husband. But, for all that, the explanation given by Knobel and others, “as a husband he shall not defile himself on the death of his wife, his mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, by taking part in their burial,” is decidedly to be rejected. For, apart from the unwarrantable introduction of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, there is sufficient to prevent our thinking of defilement on the death of a wife, in the fact that the wife is included in the “kin that is near unto him” in Lev 21:2, though not in the way that many Rabbins suppose, who maintain that שׁאר signifies wife, but implicite, the wife not being expressly mentioned, because man and wife form one flesh (Gen 2:24), and the wife stands nearer to the husband than father and mother, son and daughter, or brother and sister. Nothing is proved by appealing to the statement made by Plutarch, that the priests of the Romans were not allowed to defile themselves by touching the corpses of their wives; inasmuch as there is no trace of this custom to be found among the Israelites, and the Rabbins, for this very reason, suppose the death of an illegitimate wife to be intended. The correct interpretation of the words can only be arrived at by considering the relation of the fourth verse to what precedes and follows. As Lev 21:1-3 stand in a very close relation to Lev 21:5 and Lev 21:6, - the defilement on account of a dead person being more particularly explained in the latter, or rather, strictly speaking, greater force being given to the prohibition, - it is natural to regard Lev 21:4 as standing in a similar relation to Lev 21:7, and to understand it as a general prohibition, which is still more clearly expounded in Lev 21:7 and Lev 21:9. The priest was not to defile himself as a husband and the head of a household, either by marrying a wife of immoral or ambiguous reputation, or by training his children carelessly, so as to desecrate himself, i.e., profane the holiness of his rank and office by either one or the other (cf. Lev 21:9 and Lev 21:15). - In Lev 21:5 desecration is forbidden in the event of a death occurring. He was not to shave a bald place upon his head. According to the Chethib יקרחה is to be pointed with  ה- attached, and the Keri יקרחוּ is a grammatical alteration to suit the plural suffix in בּראשׁם, which is obviously to be rejected on account of the parallel יגלּחוּ לא זקנם וּפאת. In both of the clauses there is a constructio ad sensum, the prohibition which is addressed to individuals being applicable to the whole: upon their head shall no one shave a bald place, namely, in front above the forehead, “between the eyes” (Deu 14:1). We may infer from the context that reference is made to a customary mode of mourning for the dead; and this is placed beyond all doubt by Deu 14:1, where it is forbidden to all the Israelites “for the dead.” According to Herodotus, 2, 36, the priests in Egypt were shaven, whereas in other places they wore their hair long. In other nations it was customary for those who were more immediately concerned to shave their heads as a sign of mourning; but the Egyptians let their hair grow both upon their head and chin when any of their relations were dead, whereas they shaved at other times. The two other outward signs of mourning mentioned, namely, cutting off the edge of the beard and making incisions in the body, have already been forbidden in Lev 19:27-28, and the latter is repeated in Deu 14:1. The reason for the prohibition is given in Lev 21:6 - “they shall be holy unto their God,” and therefore not disfigure their head and body by signs of passionate grief, and so profane the name of their God when they offer the firings of Jehovah; that is to say, when they serve and approach the God who has manifested Himself to His people as the Holy One. On the epithet applied to the sacrifices, “the food of God,” see at Lev 3:11 and Lev 3:16.

Lev 21:7

Their marriage and their domestic life were also to be in keeping with their holy calling. They were not to marry a whore (i.e., a public prostitute), or a fallen woman, or a woman put away (divorced) from her husband, that is to say, any person of notoriously immoral life, for this would be irreconcilable with the holiness of the priesthood, but (as may be seen from this in comparison with Lev 21:14) only a virgin or widow of irreproachable character. She need not be an Israelite, but might be the daughter of a stranger living among the Israelites; only she must not be an idolater or a Canaanite, for the Israelites were all forbidden to marry such a woman (Exo 34:16; Deu 7:3).

Lev 21:8

“Thou shalt sanctify him therefore,” that is to say, not merely “respect his holy dignity” (Knobel), but take care that he did not desecrate his office by a marriage so polluted. The Israelites as a nation are addressed in the persons of their chiefs. The second clause of the verse, “he shall be holy unto thee,” contains the same thought. The repetition strengthens the exhortation. The reason assigned for the first clause is the same as in Lev 21:6; and that for the second, the same as in Lev 20:8, Lev 20:26; Exo 31:13, etc.

Lev 21:9

The priests’s family was also to lead a blameless life. If a priest’s daughter began to play the whore, she profaned her father, and was to be burned, i.e., to be stoned and then burned (see Lev 20:14). כּהן אישׁ, a man who is a priest, a priest-man.

Lev 21:10-12

The high priest was to maintain a spotless purity in a higher degree still. He, whose head had been anointed with oil, and who had been sanctified to put on the holy clothes (see Lev 8:7-12 and Lev 7:37), was not to go with his hair flying loose when a death had taken place, nor to rend his clothes (see Lev 10:6), nor to go in to any dead body (מת נפשׁת souls of a departed one, i.e., dead persons); he was not to defile himself (cf. Lev 21:2) on account of his father and mother (i.e., when they were dead), nor to go out of the sanctuary funeris nempe causa (Ros.), to give way to his grief or attend the funeral. We are not to understand by this, however, that the sanctuary was to be his constant abode, as Bähr and Baumgarten maintain (cf. Lev 10:7). “Neither shall he profane the sanctuary of his God,” sc., by any defilement of his person which he could and ought to avoid; “for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him” (cf. Lev 10:7), and defilement was incompatible with this. נזר does not mean the diadem of the high priest here, as in Exo 29:6; Exo 39:30, but consecration (see at Num 6:7).

Lev 21:13-14

He was only to marry a woman in her virginity, not a widow, a woman put away, or a fallen woman, a whore (זונה without a copulative is in apposition to חללה a fallen girl, who was to be the same to him as a whore), but “a virgin of his own people,” that is to say, only an Israelitish woman.

Lev 21:15

“Neither shall he profane his seed (posterity) among his people,” sc., by contracting a marriage that was not in keeping with the holiness of his rank.

Lev 21:16-18

Directions for the sons (descendants) of Aaron who were afflicted with bodily imperfections. As the spiritual nature of a man is reflected in his bodily form, only a faultless condition of body could correspond to the holiness of the priest; just as the Greeks and Romans required, for the very same reason, that the priests should be ὁλόκληροι, integri corporis (Plato de legg. 6, 759; Seneca excerpt. controv. 4, 2; Plutarch quaest. rom. 73). Consequently none of the descendants of Aaron, “according to their generations,” i.e., in all future generations (see Exo 12:14), who had any blemish (mum, μῶμος, bodily fault) were to approach the vail, i.e., enter the holy place, or draw near to the altar (in the court) to offer the food of Jehovah, viz., the sacrifices. No blind man, or lame man, or charum, κολοβόριν (from κολοβός and ῥίν), naso mutilus (lxx), i.e., one who had sustained any mutilation, especially in the face, on the nose, ears, lips, or eyes, not merely one who had a flat or stunted nose; or שׂרוּע, lit., stretched out, i.e., one who had anything beyond what was normal, an ill-formed bodily member therefore; so that a man who had more than ten fingers and ten toes might be so regarded (2Sa 21:20).

Lev 21:19

Whoever had a fracture in his foot or hand.

Lev 21:20-21 גּבּן a hump-backed man. דּק, lit., crushed to powder, fine: as distinguished from the former, it signified one how had an unnaturally thin or withered body or member, not merely consumptive or wasted away. בּעינו תּבלּל mixed, i.e., spotted in his eye, one who had a white speck in his eye (Onk., Vulg., Saad.), not blear-eyed (lxx). גּרב, which occurs nowhere else except in Lev 22:22 and Deu 28:27, signifies, according to the ancient versions, the itch; and ילּפת, which only occurs here and in Lev 22:22, the ring-worm (lxx, Targ., etc.). אשׁך מרוח, crushed in the stones, one who had crushed or softened stones; for in Isa 38:21, the only other place where מרח occurs, it signifies, not to rub to pieces, but to squeeze out, to lay in a squeezed or liquid form upon the wound: the Sept. rendering is μόνορχις, having only one stone. Others understand the word as signifying ruptured (Vulg., Saad.), or with swollen testicles (Juda ben Karish). All that is certain is, that we are not to think of castration of any kind (cf. Deu 23:2), and that there is not sufficient ground for altering the text into מרוח extension.

Lev 21:22-23

Persons afflicted in the manner described might eat the bread of their God, however, the sacrificial gifts, the most holy and the holy, i.e., the wave-offerings, the first-fruits, the firstlings, tithes and things laid under a ban (Num 18:11-19 and Num 18:26-29), - that is to say, they might eat them like the rest of the priests; but they were not allowed to perform any priestly duty, that they might not desecrate the sanctuary of the Lord (Lev 21:23, cf. Lev 21:12).

Lev 21:24

Moses communicated these instructions to Aaron and his sons.

Laws Concerning the Priests. (b. c. 1490.)

1 And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people: 2 But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, 3 And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled. 4 But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. 5 They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. 6 They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy. 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. 8 Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the Lord , which sanctify you, am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.

It was before appointed that the priests should teach the people the statutes God had given concerning the difference between clean and unclean, ch. x. 10, 11. Now here it is provided that they should themselves observe what they were to teach the people. Note, Those whose office it is to instruct must do it by example as well as precept, 1 Tim. iv. 12. The priests were to draw nearer to God than any of the people, and to be more intimately conversant with sacred things, and therefore it was required of them that they should keep at a greater distance than others from every thing that was defiling and might diminish the honour of their priesthood.

I. They must take care not to disparage themselves in their mourning for the dead. All that mourned for the dead were supposed to come near the body, if not to touch it: and the Jews say, "It made a man ceremonially unclean to come within six feet of a dead corpse;" nay, it is declared (Num. xix. 14) that all who come into the tent where the dead body lies shall be unclean seven days. Therefore all the mourners that attended the funeral could not but defile themselves, so as not to be fit to come into the sanctuary for seven days: for this reason it is ordered, 1. That the priests should never put themselves under this incapacity of coming into the sanctuary, unless it were for one of their nearest relations, v. 1-3. A priest was permitted to do it for a parent or a child, for a brother or an unmarried sister, and therefore, no doubt (though this is not mentioned) for the wife of his bosom; for Ezekiel, a priest, would have mourned for his wife if he had not been particularly prohibited, Ezek. xxiv. 17. By this allowance God put an honour upon natural affection, and favoured it so far as to dispense with the attendance of his servants for seven days, while they indulged themselves in their sorrow for the death of their dear relations; but, beyond this period, weeping must not hinder sowing, nor their affection to their relations take them off from the service of the sanctuary. Nor was it at all allowed for the death of any other, no, not of a chief man among the people, as some read it, v. 4. They must not defile themselves, no, nor for the high priest himself, unless thus akin to them. Though there is a friend that is nearer than a brother, yet the priests must not pay this respect to the best friend they had, except he were a relation, lest, if it were allowed for one, others should expect it, and so they should be frequently taken off from their work: and it is hereby intimated that there is a particular affection to be reserved for those that are thus near akin to us; and, when any such are removed by death, we ought to be affected with it, and lay it to heart, as the near approach of death to ourselves, and an alarm to us to prepare to follow. 2. That they must not be extravagant in the expressions of their mourning, no, not for their dearest relations, v. 5. Their mourning must not be either, (1.) Superstitious, according to the manner of the heathen, who cut off their hair, and let out their blood, in honour of the imaginary deities which presided (as they thought) in the congregation of the dead, that they might engage them to be propitious to their departed friends. Even the superstitious rites used of old at funerals are an indication of the ancient belief of the immortality of the soul, and its existence in a separate state: and though the rites themselves were forbidden by the divine law, because they were performed to false gods, yet the decent respect which nature teaches and which the law allows to be paid to the remains of our deceased friends, shows that we are not to look upon them as lost. Nor, (2.) Must it be passionate or immoderate. Note, God's ministers must be examples to others of patience under affliction, particularly that which touches in a very tender part, the death of their near relations. They are supposed to know more than others of the reasons why we must not sorrow as those that have no hope (1 Thess. iv. 13), and therefore they ought to be eminently calm and composed, that they may be able to comfort others with the same comforts wherewith they are themselves comforted of God. The people were forbidden to mourn for the dead with superstitious rites (ch. xix. 27, 28), and what was unlawful to them was much more unlawful to the priest. The reason given for their peculiar care not to defile themselves we have (v. 6): Because they offered the bread of their God, even the offerings of the Lord made by fire, which were the provisions of God's house and table. They are highly honoured, and therefore must not stain their honour by making themselves slaves to their passions; they are continually employed in sacred service, and therefore must not be either diverted from or disfitted for the services they were called to. If they pollute themselves, they profane the name of their God on whom they attend: if the servants are rude and of ill behaviour, it is a reflection upon the master, as if he kept a loose and disorderly house. Note, All that either offer or eat the bread of our God must be holy in all manner of conversation, or else they profane that name which they pretend to sanctify.

II. They must take care not to degrade themselves in their marriage, v. 7. A priest must not marry a woman of ill fame, that either had been guilty or was suspected to have been guilty of uncleanness. He must not only not marry a harlot, though ever so great a penitent for her former whoredoms, but he must not marry one that was profane, that is, of a light carriage or indecent behaviour. Nay, he must not marry one that was divorced, because there was reason to think it was for some fault she was divorced. The priests were forbidden to undervalue themselves by such marriages as these, which were allowed to others, 1. Lest it should bring a present reproach upon their ministry, harden the profane in their profaneness, and grieve the hearts of serious people: the New Testament gives laws to ministers' wives (1 Tim. iii. 11), that they be grave and sober, that the ministry be not blamed. 2. Lest it should entail a reproach upon their families; for the work and honour of the priesthood were to descend as an inheritance to their children after them. Those do not consult the good of their posterity as they ought who do not take care to marry such as are of good report and character. He that would seek a godly seed (as the expression is, Mal. ii. 15) must first seek a godly wife, and take heed of a corruption of blood. It is added here (v. 8), Thou shalt sanctify him, and he shall be holy unto thee. "Not only thou, O Moses, by taking care that these laws be observed, but thou, O Israel, by all endeavours possible to keep up the reputation of the priesthood, which the priests themselves must do nothing to expose or forfeit. He is holy to his God (v. 7), therefore he shall be holy unto thee." Note, We must honour those whom our God puts honour upon. Gospel ministers by this rule are to be esteemed very highly in love for their works' sake (1 Thess. v. 13), and every Christian must look upon himself as concerned to be the guardian of their honour.

III. Their children must be afraid of doing any thing to disparage them (v. 9): If the daughter of any priest play the whore, her crime is great; she not only polluteth but profaneth herself: other women have not that honour to lose that she has, who, as one of a priest's family, has eaten of the holy things, and is supposed to have been better educated than others. Nay, she profaneth her father; he is reflected upon, and everybody will be ready to ask, "Why did not he teach her better?" And the sinners in Zion will insult and say, "Here is your priest's daughter." Her punishment there must be peculiar: She shall be burnt with fire, for a terror to all priests' daughters. Note, The children of ministers ought, of all others, to take heed of doing any thing that is scandalous, because in them it is doubly scandalous, and will be punished accordingly by him whose name is Jealous.

10 And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes; 11 Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother; 12 Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord . 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife. 15 Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the Lord do sanctify him.

More was expected from a priest than from other people, but more from the high priest than from other priests, because upon his head the anointing oil was poured, and he was consecrated to put on the garments (v. 10), both which were typical of the anointing and adorning of the Lord Jesus, with all the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, which he received without measure. It is called the crown of the anointing oil of his God (v. 12); for the anointing of the Spirit is, to all that have it, a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty. The high priest being thus dignified,

I. He must not defile himself at all for the dead, no, nor for his nearest relations, his father or his mother, much less his child or brother, v. 11. 1. He must not use the common expressions of sorrow on those occasions, such as uncovering his head, and rending his clothes (v. 10), so perfectly unconcerned must he show himself in all the crosses and comforts of this life: even his natural affection must be swallowed up in compassion to the ignorant, and a feeling of their infirmities, and a tender concern for the household of God, which he was made the ruler of. Thus being the holy one that was entrusted with the thummim and the urim he must not know father or mother, Deut. xxxiii. 8, 9. 2. He must not go in to any dead body, v. 11. If any of the inferior priests were under a ceremonial pollution, there were other priests that might supply their places; but, if the high priest were defiled, there would be a greater want of him. And the forbidding of him to go to any house of mourning, or attend any funeral, would be an indication to the people of the greatness of that dignity to which he was advanced. Our Lord Jesus, the great high priest of our profession, touched the dead body of Jairus's daughter, the bier of the widow's son, and the grave of Lazarus, to show that he came to altar the property of death, and to take off the terror of it, by breaking the power of it. Now that it cannot destroy it does not defile. 3. He must not go out of the sanctuary (v. 12); that is, whenever he was attending or officiating in the sanctuary, where usually he tarried in his own apartment all day, he must not go out upon any occasion whatsoever, nor cut short his attendance on the living God, no, not to pay his last respects to a dying relation. It was a profanation of the sanctuary to leave it, while his presence was requisite there, upon any such occasion; for thereby he preferred some other business before the service of God and the business of his profession, to which he ought to make every thing else give place. Thus our Lord Jesus would not leave off preaching to speak with his mother and brethren, Matt. xii. 48.

II. He might not marry a widow (as other priests might), much less one divorced, or a harlot, v. 13, 14. The reason of this was to put a difference between him and other priests in this matter; and (as some suggest) that he might be a type of Christ, to whom the church was to be presented a chaste virgin, 2 Cor. xi. 2. See Ezek. xliv. 22. Christ must have our first love, our pure love, our entire love; thus the virgins love thee (Cant. i. 3), and such only are fit to follow the Lamb, Rev. xiv. 4.

III. He might not profane his seed among his people, v. 15. Some understand it as forbidding him to marry any of an inferior rank, which would be a disparagement to his family. Jehoiada indeed married of his own tribe, but then it was into the royal family, 2 Chron. xxii. 11. This was not to teach him to be proud, but to teach him to be pure, and to do nothing unbecoming his office and the worthy name by which he was called. Or it may be a caution to him in disposing of his children; he must not profane his seed by marrying them unsuitably. Ministers' children are profaned if they be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

16 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 17 Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, 19 Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, 20 Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; 21 No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. 22 He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. 23 Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the Lord do sanctify them. 24 And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.

The priesthood being confined to one particular family, and entailed upon all the male issue of that family throughout their generations, it was very likely that some or other in after-ages that were born to the priesthood would have natural blemishes and deformities: the honour of the priesthood would not secure them from any of those calamities which are common to men. Divers blemishes are here specified; some that were ordinarily for life, as blindness; others that might be for a time, as a scurf or scab, and, when they were gone, the disability ceased. Now,

I. The law concerning priests that had blemishes was, 1. That they might live upon the altar (v. 22): He shall eat of the sacrifices with the other priests, even the most holy things, such as the show-bread and the sin-offerings, as well as the holy things, such as the tithes and first-fruits, and the priests' share of the peace-offerings. The blemishes were such as they could not help, and therefore, though they might not work, they must not starve. Note, None must be abused for their natural infirmities. Even the deformed child in the family must have its child's part. 2. Yet they must not serve at the altar, at either of the altars, nor be admitted to attend or assist the other priests in offering sacrifice or burning incense, v. 17, 21, 23. Great men choose to have such servants about them as are sightly, and it was fit that the great God should have such in his house then, when he was pleased to manifest his glory in external indications of it. But it was especially requisite that comely men should be chosen to minister about holy things, for the sake of the people, who were apt to judge according to outward appearance, and to think meanly of the service, how honourable soever it was made by the divine institution, of those that performed it looked despicably or went about it awkwardly. This provision God made for the preserving of the reputation of his altar, that it might not at any time fall under contempt. It was for the credit of the sanctuary that none should appear there who were any way disfigured, either by nature or accident.

II. Under the gospel, 1. Those that labour under any such blemishes as these have reason to thank God that they are not thereby excluded from offering spiritual sacrifices to God; nor, if otherwise qualified for it, from the office of the ministry. There is many a healthful beautiful soul lodged in a crazy deformed body. Yet, 2. We ought to infer hence how incapable those are to serve God acceptably whose minds are blemished and deformed by any reigning vice. Those are unworthy to be called Christians, and unfit to be employed as ministers, that are spiritually blind, and lame, and crooked, whose sins render them scandalous and deformed, so as that the offerings of the Lord are abhorred for their sakes. The deformities of Hophni and Phinehas were worse than any of the blemishes here mentioned. Let such therefore as are openly vicious be put out of the priesthood as polluted persons; and let all that are made to our God spiritual priests be before him holy and without blemish, and comfort themselves with this, that, though in this imperfect state they have spots that are the spots of God's children, yet they shall shortly appear before the throne of God without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.

CHAP. XXI.

[non-Latin text not transcribed]

AND Iehovah said, unto Moses; Say unto the Priests, the sonnes of Aaron: and say unto them; For a soule he shal not defile himselfe, among his peoples. But, for his neere-kinne, that is nigh unto him: for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother. And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him; which hath not beene, to any man: for her, he shall defile himself. He shall not defile himself, being a chief-man amōg his peoples: to prophane himselfe. They shall not make baldnesse, upon their head; and the corner of their beard, they shall not shave: and in their flesh, they shall not cut any cutting. They shall be holy, unto their God; and shall not prophane, the name of their God: for the Fire-offrings of Iehovah, the bread of their God, they doe offer, and they shall be holinesse. They shall not take a wife, that is an whore, or prophane; neither shall they take a woman, put-away from her husband: for hee is holy, unto his God. And thou shalt sanctifie him; for he offreth, the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee; for I Iehovah which sanctifie you, am holy. And the daughter of any Priest, if she prophane her selfe, to commit-whordome: she prophaneth her father: she shall be burnt, with fire.

And the Priest that is great among his brethren, upon whose head, the oile of anoynting was poured, and hath filled his hand, to put on the garments: shall not make bare his head, nor rent his garments. Neither shal he goe-in, to any soules of the dead: for his father or for his mother, hee shall not defile himselfe. Neither shall he goe-out of the Sanctuarie; nor prophane, the Sanctuarie of his God: for the crowne, the anointing oile of his God, is upon him, I am Iehovah. And he, shall take a wife in her virginities. A widow or one put-away, or prophane, or an whore; these shall he not take: but a virgine of his peoples, shall he take to wife. And he shall not prophane his seed, among his peoples: for I Iehovah, doe sanctifie him.

And Iehovah spake, unto Moses, saying Speake unto Aaron, saying: Any man of thy seed, in their generations, in whom there shall be a blemish; hee shall not approch, to offer the bread of his God. For any man, that hath in him a blemish, shall not approach: a man blinde, or lame, or flat-nosed, or that hath any thing superfluous. Or a man, in whom there shal be, the breaking of a foot, or the breaking of a hand. Or that is crookbackt, or hath a smal-spot, or a confusion in his eye: or scurse, or scab; or hath his stones broken. No man that hath a blemish in him, of the seed of Aaron the Priest, shall comenigh, to offer the Fire-offrings of Iehovah: a blemish is in him; he shall not come-nigh, to offer the bread of his God. Hee shall eat, the bread of his God; of the holy of holies & of the holies. But hee shall not goe-in unto the Veil, nor come-nigh unto the Altar, because a blemish is in him: & he shall not prophane my Sanctuaries; for I Iehovah, doe sanctifie them. And Moses spake it, unto Aaron, and unto his sons: and unto all the sons of Israel.

Annotations. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Here beginneth (after the Hebrewes [illegible: 2 letters]count) the one and thirtieth section or Lecture of the Law. See Gen. 6. 9. THe Priests] After the generall rules of holines for all the people, here followeth a speciall law for the holinesse of the Priests: their office was to make atonement for the people, and to sanctifie them; therefore must they have a care to sanctifie themselves. And as when God forbiddeth his people to seeke unto such as have familiar spirits, &c. he telleth them of a Prophet, whom he would raise up unto them, by whom they might know his will; Deut. 18. 10. 11. 15. so it is observed here by the Hebrewes, (as Baalhatturim, and Chazkuni,) that immediately after the Law against familiar spirits, and wizards, Levit. 20. 27. this Law is given for the Priests; that the people might have no occasion to seeke unto the former, but might come unto the Priests, and they should inquire for them by Vrim and Thummim. the sonnes of Aaron] Targum Ionathan addeth, the males; and Sol. Iarchi saith, the sonnes and not the daughters of Aaron; because the lawes following concerned not the women. So in the Hebrew canons it is said, Aarons daughters are not forewarned pollution by the dead; but the Priests the sonnes of Aaron. Likewise the prophane (Priests) might defile themselves; for this is but for the sonnes of Aaron that may execute the Priests office. A yong Priest is to bee warned by the elder (Priests,) not to defile himselfe, &c. and his father is to traine him up in holinesse. Maimony tom. 4. treat. of Mourning, chap. 3. sect. 11. 12. for a soule] to weet, of the dead, as is expressed in verse 11. else-where called a dead soule, Numbers 6. 6. meaning a dead bodie: for properly at death the soule departeth, Gen. 35. 18. and the dead defileth not till his seale be departed, saith Maimony, tom. 3. in Tumath meth, chap. 1. sect. 15. wherefore the Chaldee here translateth for the dead; and Targum Ionathan, for the sonne of man that is dead. But the Greeke retaineth the Hebrew phrase, for soules. So before in Levit. 19. 28. hee shall not] that is, any Priest, shall not defile himselfe: in Greeke, they shall not be defiled. This pollution might be by the funerall of the dead; for who so touched any dead body, or came into a tent (or house) where any dead body lay, or touched a grave; he was uncleane seven daies, Numbers 19. 14. 16. so by bearing the dead hee was uncleane, by proportion from the Law, in Levit. 11. 25. And by the Hebrew canons, if a man came within foure cubits (that is, sixe f[illegible: 3 letters]) of the dead, he was uncleane. Maimony, treat. of Mourning, chap. 3. sect. 13. among his peoples] in Greeke, among their nation: that is, as Chazkuni explaineth it, among all Israel, for they are his peoples. So peoples are used for the tribes of Israel, in Deut. 33. 3. Iudg. 5. 14. Act. 4. 27. Vers. 2. his neere-kin] those of his consanguinity: see this word in Lev. 18. 6. Sol. Iarchi here understandeth the Priests wife by it; as one for whom hee might defile himselfe. See the notes on verse 3. This law is for the inferiour Priests: but the high Priest might not defile himselfe for these, verse 10. 11. Vers. 3. not beene to any man] which the Greeke explaineth, not given to (or not bestowed on) a man; meaning, which hath had no husband. For such as had husbands, were to be buried and mourned for by them, as Abraham mourned for Sarah, Genes. 23. 2. These sixe, Father, and Mother, and Sonne, and Daughter, and Brother, and Sister that hath had no husband, are againe mentioned in Ezek. 44. 25. &c. that for them the Priests might be defiled, and after their cleansing, and dayes appointed, to bring their Sin-offring. And it seemeth they were to doe the like for their wives, because Ezekiel the Priest was commanded as an extraordinary case, not to mourne for his wife when sheedied, Ezek. 24. 16. 17. 18. So the Hebrew canons say, Every Priest that is defiled for the dead, except for those sixe dead which are expressed in the Law, or for his wife: if it bee proved by witnesses, he is to be beaten: Leviticus 21. 1. And whether hee touch the dead, or come into the tent, or beare him, and whether it bee the dead person himselfe, or any other uncleannesse about him: and so if a Priest touch a grave, he is to be beaten. And every Priest that commeth within foure cubits of the dead, is to be chastised with stripes: Maimony treat. of Mourning, chap. 1. sect. 1. 2. 13. he shall defile him-selfe] in Greek, they shall be defiled, meaning all and every of the Priests. This is understood not as a permission, but a dutie, for them to bury and mourne for these their neere kin. The Hebrewes say; Very weighty is the charge of mourning, for even the Priest is driven to be uncleane, for his neere-kinne, must busie himselfe about them, and mourne for them, Leviiicus 21. 2. It is a commandement; so that if hee would not be defiled, they are to cause him to bee defiled against his will. So for his wife, (but this is not but by the doctrine of the Scribes,) because she hath no heire but him, &c. And he is to be defiled for his maried wife onely, but not for a betrothed wife. Likewise for others, which are not to be mourned for, as such as are put to death by the Synedrion (or Magistrates,) and such as are Apostate from the wayes of the Church, and untimely births, and such as wittingly kill themselves; the Priest is not to defile himself for them. And how long is he commanded to defile himselfe for his neere-kinred? Vntill the cover of the grave be closed upon them: for after that, they are as all other dead persons, that if a Priest be defiled, he is to be beaten. Maimony, treat. of Mourning, chap. 2. sect. 6. 7. 8. Vers. 4. being a chiefe-man] or, for a chief-man, that is, for any other of his house, or out of his house, save for those before specified. So Chazkuni citeth this as a common exposition of this place; A common Priest shall not defile himselfe for a chiefe man among his peoples; be he the high Priest among his people. Although I permit thee to defile thy selfe for thy neere-kinne, thou shalt not defile thy selfe for the high Priest, who is not of thy neere-kinne. The Hebrew Baal, signifieth a Lord, Master, or chiefe man, Iudg. 9. 51. Esa. 60. 8. and so the Chaldee translateth it here Rabba; that is, a master, or chiefe-man: (but the Greek expoundeth it Suddenly, as if it were written Bahal.) Baal also signifieth an husband, Exod. 21. 3. 22. which interpretation some keepe in this place. Vers. 5. not make] or, not shave, (as the Greeke translateth:) Hebr. not balde baldnesse, meaning any way, either by shaving, or pulling off the hayre, or otherwise: and the Greeke addeth for the dead, which is here intended, as is expressed in Deut. 14. 1. And that not the Gentiles onely, but the Israelites also were wont to make themselves bald, in mourning for the dead, appeareth by Ier. 16. 6. Ezek. 7. 18. Amos 8. 10. Also the idolatrous priests of the Gentiles are reported to use these ceremonies for their dead, as in the apoc[illegible: 1 letter]iphall writings, Baruch 6. 31. 32. it is said, And the Priests sit in their Temples, having their clothes rent, and their heads and beards shaven, and nothing upon their heads: they roare and cry before their gods, as men doe at the feast when one is dead. the corner] that is, any of the corners; this was the manner of Idolaters, and is forbidden not the Priests onely, but all Israelites: see the annotations on Leviticus 19. 27. cut any cutting] or, make any incision: a thing forbidden the people also, Levit. 19. 28. Deuter. 14. 1. So God would have them in their mourning for the dead, not to be immoderate, (as men which have no hope, 1 Thes. 4. 13.) nor to imitate the heathenish customes, which were idolatrous: see the notes on Levit. 19. 28. and Deut. 14. 1. Vers. 6. Fire-offrings] in Groeke, sacrifices, in Chaldee, offrings, which were burnt in fire unto God. As all the people were forbidden the fore-said superstitions, because they were holy, & Gods peculiar-treasure, above all peoples, Deuter. 14. 2. so the Priests in speciall, because they were to be holier then other men, in respect of their ministration unto God. Therefore the high Priest, who came yet neerer unto God, is forbidden to mourne for such, as common Priests might mourne for, Levit. 21. 10. 11. the bread] or, the food: which the Greeke interpreteth the gifts, the Chaldee, the offring. See Levit. 3. 11. shall be holinesse] that is, men of holinesse: which the Greeke and Chaldee translate holy-ones. Vers. 7. a wife that is an whore] This is the second law concerning the Priests holinesse; that as they should not defile themselves by the dead: so neither by the living. The whore, (called in Hebrew, Zo[illegible: 3 letters]) is by the Hebrewes said to be she that is not a danghter of Israel, or a daughter of Israel, that hath lien with a man unto whom it is not lawfull for her to be maried; [such as are forbidden in Levit. 18.] or that hath lien with a prophane man, though she may be maried unto him. Whosoever hath lien with a man that hath made her a whore, whether by constraint or willingly, whether presumptuously or ignorantly, after he hath uncovered her nakednesse; she is unlawfull by the name of an whore, [[illegible: 1 letter]or a Priest to marie her:] Any woman of whom her husband hath beene jealous, and the thing was bidden, and she hath not drunke of the bitter waters, (Numb. 5.) it is unlawfull for a Priest to marie her, because she is a suspected whore. Maimony in Issureibiah, chap. 18. sect. 1. 6. [illegible: 1 letter]2. or profane] Hebr. and prophane, or, prophaned: whereby seemeth not to be meant a common harlot, or one that hath defiled her body, for that was forbidden before under the name of an whore: but as a Priests daughter by her whoredome is said to prophane her father, verse 9. so children might againe bee prophaned by their fathers, and made unfit for to be maried unto Priests. And thus the Hebrewes expound this here, saying; Who is shee that is prophane? She that is borne of one that is forbidden the Priests. And so every one of the women which are forbidden the Priests, if she be maried to a Priest, she prophaneth her selfe. Maimony in Issurei biah, chap. 19▪ sect. 1. And Sol. Iarchi here expoundeth profane, one that is borne of such as are unlawful for the Priests; as the daughter of a widow by the high Priest, (Levit. 21. 14.) or the daughter of a divorced woman by a common Priest, (Levit. 21. 7.) &c. put-away or, cast out, as the Greeke also translateth it, that is, divorced and not for the cause of adulterie; which thing was permitted unto men under Moses law, for the hardnesse of their hearts; Deuter. 24. 1. 2. &c. Matth. 19. 8. What Priest soever, maried with any of these three, was to be beaten by the Magistrate; as is after shewed, on verse 15. According to the equitie of this Law, the Apostle requireth that the wives of the Ministers of the Church, bee grave, not slanderers, sober, faithfull in all things, 1. Tim. 3. 11. Vers. 8. And thou] or, Therefore thou shalt sanctifie him: speaking to Israel, who were to repute the Priests holy, and not suffer them to mary with such as might defile them: nor any other way to be uncleane, when they ministred before the Lord the bread] in Greek, the gifts, in Chaldee, the offring, as before in verse 6. holy unto thee] thou shalt reverently esteeme him as an holy person, sanctified unto Gods service. The Hebrewes say, It is commanded to separate the Priests, and to sanctifie them; and to prepare them for the oblation, Levit. 21. 8. And every man of Israel, must give much ho[illegible: 1 span] to the Priest, and let them be first, for every thing the is in the Sanctuarie: to open the law first, and to blese first, and to receive a seemely portion first. Maimony in Cle hamikdash, chap. 4. sect. 1. 12. Verse 9. of any Priest] Hebr. of a man a Priest▪ Which word man, sometime signifieth any o[illegible: 2 letters], a[illegible: 1 letter] Gen. 23. 6. and 24 16. Levit. 21. 17. sometime a man of dignitie, as Psal. 49. 3. and that may also be respected here. to commit whoredome] or by committing it, to weet, under her husband; as the Hebrew canons explaine it; saying There are ten which are to be burnt, namely the Priests daughter that committeth whoredome under her husband; and hee that lyeth with his daughter, &c. Maimony in Sanhed[illegible: 3 letters], chap. 15. sect. 11. The man that lay with her, they say was to be strangled; as againe they say; There is no unlawfull copulation punished with strangling, [illegible: 1 word] the lying with a mans wife onely: and if she be a Priests daughter, she is burnt, and he that lay with her, is strangled. Maimony in Issurei biah, chap. 1. sect. 6. See the annotations on Levit. 20. 10. prophaneth [illegible: 1 word] father] the Greeke version saith, she profaneth her fathers name: the Chaldee, her fathers holinesse. And Iarchi explaineth it, she prophaneth and conte[illegible: 1 span] [illegible: 2 words], for that men will say of him, Cursed is hee [illegible: 2 words] this (woman,) Cursed is hee that brought [illegible: 2 words]. Ver. 10. great among his brethren] or, greater then [illegible: 2 words]: that is, the High Priest, who because he more specially figured Christ (called our Arch (or High) priest and great High priest, Heb. 3. 1. and 4. 14.) therefore hee was to have more speciall care of his sanctitie, both in avoiding pollution by the dead, and in his mariage. And this Law concerned not the high Priest onely, but the second Priest (or Priests of the second order) mentioned in 2 King. 25. 28. and 23. 4. which ministred in the place of the high Priest if by any accident hee were polluted, (as is noted on Levit. 16. 33.) and the Priest also that was anointed for the warre, Deut. 20. 2. because these all were greater then their brethren. See the notes following on v. 13. oile of anointing] an holy oile, wherewith only the high Priests and Kings in Israel were anointed, and ordained to their office: see Exod. 30. 25. 33. and hath filled his hand] with the sacrifices, to offer them, as the Chaldee paraphrase here explaineth it; which the Greeke calleth perfecting, or consecration. See Exod. 29. 9. Both these were to be done to the high Priest: but if there were no anointing oile, they or dained him with the high Priests garments onely; saith Maimony in Clei hamikdash, ch. 4. sect. 12. and he was bound to these lawes, as well as if hee had beene anointed with oile. the garments] the eight ornaments wherewith the high Priest was to be decked: see Exod. 28. not make-bare] or, make-free, which the Greeke translateth, not put the miter off his head; but the Chaldee saith, not let his locks grow, to weet, not [illegible: 1 word] then 30. dayes, as Iarchi explaineth it: meaning that hee should not be have himselfe as a mourner for the dead. See the annotations on Lev. 10. 6. From which place, the Hebrewes gather, that one of the rites which mourners for the dead were to use, was not to poll their heads: Maimony treat. of Mourning, chap. 5. sect. 1. 2. rent his garments] which was an other signe of sorrow, see Lev. 10. 6. and Gen. 37. 34. Vers. 11. goe in] namely into any tent, house or place where any dead is, whereby he should be defiled, Numb. 19. 14. any soules of the dead] in Greeke, any dead soule; meaning a dead corpse; as before in vers. 1. his father, &c.] which was lawfull for any common Priest, vers. 2. but not for the high Priest. The Hebrewes explaine it thus; The high Priest may not be defiled for his neere-kinne, as for his father or his mother, &c. neither may hee come to any tent where the dead is, though his neerekindred. Loe thou art taught (in Lev. 21. 11.) that he is bound neither to goe in, nor to be defiled. So that if he touch, or cary (a dead person) hee is to bee beaten once; if hee come into a tent, and tary there whiles one dye by him, &c. he is to be beaten twise; for comming in, and for being defiled, If he be defiled before, and afterward come into the tent, he is to be beaten even for comming in. Maimony treat. of Mourning, c. 3. sect. 6. 7. How be it, these lawes have exceptions in cases of necessitie; as the Hebrew canons also shew thus. A Priest that lighteth on a dead body in the way, loe he is to defile himselfe; though it be the high Priest, he is bound to defile himselfe for him, and to bury him. As if one of Israel be thrown (dead) in the way, and he hath none to bury him. Provided, that the Priest be himselfe alone, and no other with him; and that hee call there in the way, and none doe answer him. But if when he call, others doe answer him, this is not a dead, which hee is commanded (to bury) but hee must call others to doe it. If a Priest and a Nazirite walke together in the way, & light upon a dead; the Nazirite must goe about (to bury him,) for his holinesse is not perpetuall; and the Priest may not defile himselfe, though he be but a common priest. If there be the high Priest, and a common priest, then the common priest is to defile himselfe: and whosoever is before his fellow in dignity, is to bee after him in pollution. And if the second chiefe priest, with the priest that is anointed for the war, (Deut. 20. 2.) doe light upon a dead: hee that was anointed for the warre, must be defiled, and not the Sagan [or second chiefe priest.] Maimony ibidem, ch. 3. sect. 8. 9. Vnto this Law, that the high Priest might not defile him-selfe for his parents or children; the words in Moses blessing of tribe of Levi, seeme to have ref[illegible: 1 letter] rence; Who saith of his father and of him mother, I respect him not; and his brethren hee acknowledgeth not; and his sonnes, he knoweth not, &c. Deut. 33. 9. Compare also Lev. 10. 2. 7. Ver. 12. goe out of the Sanctuary] to weet, in the time when he should serve there. And this Law was not for the high Priest only, but for all priests, who if any of their friends there died, or tidings of the death of any came unto their eares, might not therefore depart and leave off their ministration, upon paine of death, Lev. 10. 7. So the Hebrewes explaine it; A priest that goeth out of the Sanctuary in the time of service onely, is guilty of death, whether he be the high priest, or a common priest, Levit. 10. 7. So that which is said of the high Priest, (in Lev. 21. 12.) AND HE SHALL NOT GOE OVT, &c. is not but for the time of service onely, that hee shall not leave his service and goe out. If it be so, why is this warning repeated for the high Priest? Because a common priest, which is in the Sanctuarie, in his service, and he heareth of death of one for whom he is bound to mourne; though he may not goe out of the Sanctuary, yet he serveth not, because he is sorowfull, and if he serve when he is sorowfull, by the law he prophaneth his service, whether it be about the sacrifice of a particular person, or the sacrifice of the congregation. But the high Priest serveth when he is sorrowfull; for it is said, Neither shall hee goe-out of the Sanctuary, nor prophane the Sanctuary; as if he should say, hee shall continue and serve the service that he is imployed in, and it is not prophaned. But though the high Priest serveth when hee is sorrowfull, yet is it unlawfull for him to eate of the holy things; as it is written (in Lev. 10. 19.) Had I eaten the Syn-offring to day, should it have beene good in the eyes of the LORD? So neither hath he a portion to eat at evening, Maimony in Biath hamikdash, ch. 2. sect. 5. 6. 8. nor prophane the Sanctuarie] the Greeke expoundeth it, nor prophane the sanctified name of his God. the crowne, the anointing oile] This may be understood of two things, of the golden plate, which is called Nezer, 2 Crowne, Exod us 29. 6. and of the Anointing oile; both which were upon him. Or the later explaineth the former, and the Oile is called Nezer, a Crowne or Separation; because by it he was separated from other men, and other Priests. Thus the Greeke translateth it, the holy oile the anointing of his God, is upon him. V. 13. a wife in her virginities] that is, a wife that is a virgin, as the Greeke translateth it. Three women are unlawfull for all Priests, the divorced, the whore and the prophane: and the high Priest is forbidden foure, the three forenamed, and the widow. Whether it be the high Priest which is anointed with the anointing oile, or ordained in the (priestly) garments; and whether it be the priest that serveth, or the great Priest that serveth in his place; [in stead of the high Priest when hee is pollured, called the second Priest, 1 King 2. 28.] and likewise the Priest anointed for the warre, (Deut. 20. 2.) they all are commanded to mary virgins, and forbidden to mary widowes. Maimony in Issurei biah, chap. 17. sect. 1. The high Priest was a figure of Christ, Heb. 3. 1. his wife which was to bee a virgin, was a figure of the Church, which is to be chast, pure, holy, as the Apostle writeth to the Church of Corinth, I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you a chast virgin to Christ: 2 Cor. 11. 2. See also Rev. 14. 4. V. 14. a widow] whether she be a widow after betrothing or after mariage, she is forbidden him. Maimony in Issure Biah, chap. 17. sect. 11. a virgin of his peoples] that is, either of the tribe of Levi, or of any other tribe of Israel; as Iehojada the Priest, maried Iehoshabeath the daughter of King Iehoram, of the tribe of Iudah, 2 Chron. 22. 11. So in Ezekiel 44. 22. it is said of the Priests, they shall take maidens of the seed of the house of Israel. And in the Hebrew canons, Priests and Levites and Israelites, may lawfully goe in (that is marry) one with another; and that which is borne goeth after the male: [that is, if the father bee a Priest or Levite, the childe is a Priest or Levitc, if the father be a common Israelite, the childe is a common Israelite, though born of a Priests daughter.] Maimony in Issure biah, ch. 19. sect. 15. Vers. 15. not prophane his seed] which he should doe, by marying with any of those forbidden him, that his sonnes after him might not execute the priests office, because they were borne of an unlawfull mother. A priest that goeth in to a divorced woman, or an whore; and an high priest that goeth in to them, or unto a widow; those are made profane (women) for ever: and if hee beget a sonne of her, that which is borne is prophane. Maimony in Issureibiah, ch. 19. sect. 3. Therefore the magistrates punished the priests, that maryed and lay with any unlawful woman. Every priest that marieth any of the three women, (in vers. 7.) and lyeth with her, is to be beaten. An high priest that goeth in to awidow, is to be beaten. If an high priest marry a widow, and lye with her, hee is to bee beaten twise; once for transgressing this, HE SHALL NOT TAKE A WIDOW; and once for this, HE SHALL NOT PROPHANE. And whether he be an high priest, or a common priest, that mar[illegible: 1 letter]eth any of those (for bidden women) if hee lye not with her; he is not beaten. And in every place where he is to be beaten, she is to be beaten. Every priest that goeth in to an heathen woman, is to bee beaten as for an whore. A woman that hath beene a widow, and hath beene divorced, and hath beene made prophane, and hath beene an whore, and an high priest goeth in afterward unto her: he is to be beaten foure times, for lying with her once. Like judgement is for a common priest, if he goe in to one divorced, which was made prophane, and after that an whore; he is to be beaten thrice, for lying with her once. But if this order be changed, he is to be beaten but once. Maimony in Issure biah, chap. 17. sect. 2. &c. Vers. 17. of thy seed] that is, as the Chaldee interpreteth, of thy sons. in their generations] that is, they or any of their posteritie, in the ages following. ablemish] in Hebrew Mum, in Gt. Momos, in Chaldee Muma; which signifieth, any thing to be blamed, for deformitie, want or superfl[illegible: 2 letters] tie; any imperfection of body, in the whole or in any part. to offer the bread] that is, as the Gr. saith, the gifts, in Chaldee, the offring, or sacrifice. The reason here of was, that the Priests were both in their persons and works, to figure out Christ his person and worke; who was holy, harmlesse, undefiled, separated from sinners; and a Lambe without blemish, and without spot. Heb. 7. 26. 1 Pet. 1. 19. Vers. 18. blind] either in whole or in part, purblind, dimsighted, or that had any blemish in his sight, eye, eyelid, or the like. The Hebrew doctors reckon nineteene blemishes, that might bee in the eye of a priest; and seven in the eyelid. Maimony in Biath hamikdash, cha. 8. sect. 17. lame] or halting; on one, or both legs; having any imperfection in his gate, or feet; and in the feet, there might be twentie blemishes, Maimonyibidem. fatnosed, in Greeke, short-nosed, or having the nose cut-off. It implyeth all manner deformity in the nose, wherein there migh bee (as the Hebrewes say) nine blemishes. that hath any thing superfluous] or, that is excessive, either in the whole bodie, or any member over long: so in Levit. 22. 23. for the sacrifices. The Greek translateth it, having the eare cut off. V. 19. the breaking of a foot] that is, a broken foot; he that shall be broken-footed, or broken handed. In the hands, the Hebrewes say there might bee seven blemishes. Vers. 20. crookt-backt] that hath a bunch or hillocke on his backe or any other place, as Thargum Ierusalemy referreth it to the eyebrowes, that hang over the eyes; and so it agreeth with them which follow. But the Greeke favoureth the former interpretation. hath a smal-spot] or, a thin filme: this by the Hebrews, is referred to Imperfection in the eye. By others to the small or thin stature of the body, as to be a dwarfe, or over slender. The Hebrew Dak, is generally that which is small or th[illegible: 2 letters]. He that hath a white small spot, within the blacke (of the eye) is the Dack spoken of in the Law: saith Maimony in Biath hamik dash, ch. 7. sect. 5. The Greeke translateth it Ephelos: and Ephelis is nothing else but a certainerug gednesse and hardnesse of an evill col[illegible: 1 span] saith Cornel, Celsus, l. 6. c. 5. a confusion] or fussion, whereby the white and blacke is mixed confusedly together. Teballul (the Confusion) spoken of in the Law, is when the white of the eye is drawn, and some of it gotten into the blake untill the blake is found mingled with the white: saith Maimony ibidem. scurfe] or, dry-scaule, maunge called in Hebrew Garab, (whereupon the Latines borrow the name Porrigo,) the Greeke translateth it Psora agria: and it may be on any part of the body, as the Hebrewes observe: Maimony in Biath hamikdash, ch. 7. l. 10. This is againe mentioned in Lev. 22. 22. and in Deut. 28. 27. as a plague incurable. scab] or tettar; as the Greeke calleth it Leichen, to which the Chaldee version agreeth; for Chaziz, & the Arabik Chaziza, is that which the Greeke call Leichen: it is mentioned onely here, and in Lev. 22. 22. Maimony (in Biath hamikd. c. 7. sect. 10.) calleth it an Egyptian scab (or tettar) which is hard and foule: and that is the Iallepheth (the Scab) spoken of in the Law. It may also be on any part of the body of man or beast. stones broken] or a cod (or stone) bruised: the Greeke translateth, which hath but one stone. These twelve particulars are named, all other of like nature being implied. The Hebrewes say, There are in all, an hundred and fortie blemishes, that doe disable the Priests: eight in the head; two in the necke; nine in the eares; five in the browes; seven in the eye-lids; nineteene in the eyes; nine in the nose; nine in the mouth; three in the belly; three in the backe; seven in the hands; sixteene in the members of generation; twentie in the feet; eight in all (or any part of) the body, eight in the skin of the flesh; and seven in the strength of the body, and the breath. Maimony in Biath hamikdash, ch. 8. sect. 17. a blemish in him] This generall is added to the former particulars, to teach that any other blemishes though unnamed, did disable a Priest from sacrificing. All blemishes whatsoever, whether they be in him from the beginning of his creation, or grow upon him afterward, whether they be transitorie (blemishes that may bee removed,) or not transitorie; hee is disabled by them, till they be done away. A fixed blemish, as a broken foot or hand, or a transitorie blemish, as scurfe or scab. And not the blemishes onely which are written in the law, doe disable the priests; but all blemishes to be seene in the body, as it is written, WHOSOEVER hath A BLEMISH IN HIM, out of any place; and those that are written in the Law, are for an example. Maimony in Biath hamikdash, ch. 6. sect. 3. 4. Further to shew this, they say, An old man, that is neere unto trembling and shaking as hee stands; a sicke man, when hee trembleth through sicknesse and seeblenesse of strength; (are as blemished.) If a Priest serveth when hee stinks of sweat; or when hee hath a stinking breath out of his mouth, loe hee prophaneth his service, as doe all other that have blemishes. Maimony ibid. ch. 7. sect. 12. 13. By these God figured the perfection that should be in Christ, Heb. 9. 14. and taught also what graces are requisite in his ministers, 1 Tim. 3. 2. 3.—7. Tit. 1. 7. 8. 9. and in the whole Church, which is unto him a royall priesthood, an holy nation, 1 Pet. 2. 9. which Christ hath sanctified and cleansed, that he might present it unto himself glorious, a Church [illegible: 1 word] having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing: but that it should be holy, & with out blemish, Eph. 5. 26. 27. So the Saints are said to bee without blemish, before the throne of God, Rev. 14. 5. the fire offrings] in Gr. the sacrifices, in Chaldee the offrings. If any priest that have a blemish, do serve in the sanctuarie, he prophaneth the service, and is to bee beaten: Maimony in Biath hamikdash, chap. 6. sect. 1. a blemish] in Greeke, because a blemish is in him. Sol. Iarchi explaineth it thus, whiles his blemish is on hm, hee is rejected: but if his blemish be done away, he is fit (or approveable.) Besides the blemishes forenamed, such Priests as had transgressed in their ministration & served before idols, were no more to serve in the sanctuarie, but were reputed as blemished. There-King Iosias put downe the priests of the high places, that they came not up to the Altar of the Lord: 2 King. 23. 9. and for such this Law is given in Ezek. 44. 10.—13. The Levites that are gone away farre from me, whē Israel went astray away from me after their Idolls, they shall even beare their iniquitie, &c. And they shall not come neere unto me, to doe the office of a Priest unto me, nor to come neere to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall beare their shame and their abominations which they have committed And in the Hebrew canons it is said, Every priest that hath served Idols, whether presumptuously or ignorantly, although he returne with full repentance: yet may he never minister in the sanctuarie. And whether hee hath beene a priest to the Idoll, or but worshipped it, &c. he is disallowable for ever. If he transgress, and doe offer (in the sanctuarie) his offring is not of a sweet smelling savour, although he was in ignorance when he minstred, or when he [illegible: 1 letter]worshiped. Who so transgresseth and maketh an house without the Sanctuary, to offer his offring therein unto God, that is not as an Idols house. Notwithstanding, every priest that ministreth in such an house, may never more minister in the sanctuary. Maimony in Biath hamikd. ch. 9. s. 13. 14. the bread] in Greeke the gifts, in Chaldee, the offring. Who so found allowable by his genealogic, but had a blemish found upon him: he sate in the wood chamber, and did cleave wood for to lay on the altar, and had a portion in the holy things with the men of his fathers house, and did eat of them. Maim. ibidem. ch. 6. s. 12. So for the preists that fell to Idolatrie, God appointed, that they should be ministers in his sanctuary, Bishops at the gates of the house: that they should slay the Burnt offring, and the sacrifice for the people, &c. but not come neer to any of his holy things in the most holy place, &c. Ezek 44 11. 13. 14. Verse 22. He shall eate] Herein the blemished priests had a priviledge above the uncleane, which might not eate of the holy thing, Lev. 22. 3. 6. Vers. 23. unto the veile] of the holy place, whither the priests went in alwaies, accomplishing the services, Heb. 9. 6. unto the Altar] that which was in the courtyard, Exod. 40. 29. Any priest that had a blemish, might not come into the Sanctuary, from the Altar & forward, Lev. 21. 23. and if hee transgressed & went in, he was to be beaten, although hee served not. And if hee served in the Sanctuary, it was unlawfull; and he prophaned the service, and was to be beaten also for the service. Maimony in Biath hamikdash, ch. 6. sect. 1. not prophane my sanctuaries] the Greeke expoundeth it, not prophane the holy name of his God. doe sanctifie them.] This Chazkuni referreth to the veile of the altar forementioned, unto which none that had blemish might come. Ver. 24. all the sons of Israel] because as it concerned the Priests, to take heed they sinned not in their ministration: so the people were to sanctifie them, v. 8. and to looke that no disallowable person served in the Sanctuarie. Therefore the Hebrewes doe record, that the great Synedrion used to sit in the chamber of hewen-stone [by the Sanctuarie,] and the principall of their worke continually was to sit and judge concerning the Priesthood; and to examine the priests for their genealogies, and for their blemishes. Every priest that was found disallowable for his genealogie; he put on blacke cloathes, and wrapped himselfe over with blacks, and went out of the court. And who-soever was found perfect and lawfull; he put on whites, and went in and ministred with his brethren the priests. Who so was found lawfull for his genealogie, but had a blemish found upon him, hee sate in the wood chamber, and hewed wood, &c. Maimony in Biath hamikdash, ch. 6. sect. 11. 12.