Matthew Poole and continuators on Leviticus 21

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.