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Texts -- Leviticus 21:1-16 (NET)

Context
Rules for the Priests
21:1 The Lord said to Moses : “Say to the priests , the sons of Aaron – say to them, ‘For a dead person no priest is to defile himself among his people , 21:2 except for his close relative who is near to him: his mother , his father , his son , his daughter , his brother , 21:3 and his virgin sister who is near to him, who has no husband ; he may defile himself for her. 21:4 He must not defile himself as a husband among his people so as to profane himself. 21:5 Priests must not have a bald spot shaved on their head , they must not shave the corner of their beard , and they must not cut slashes in their body . 21:6 “‘They must be holy to their God , and they must not profane the name of their God , because they are the ones who present the Lord’s gifts , the food of their God . Therefore they must be holy . 21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution , nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband , for the priest is holy to his God . 21:8 You must sanctify him because he presents the food of your God . He must be holy to you because I , the Lord who sanctifies you all, am holy . 21:9 If a daughter of a priest profanes herself by engaging in prostitution , she is profaning her father . She must be burned to death .
Rules for the High Priest
21:10 “‘The high priest – who is greater than his brothers , on whose head the anointing oil is poured , who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments . 21:11 He must not go where there is any dead person ; he must not defile himself even for his father and his mother . 21:12 He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane the sanctuary of his God , because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord . 21:13 He must take a wife who is a virgin . 21:14 He must not marry a widow , a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution ; he may only take a virgin from his people as a wife . 21:15 He must not profane his children among his people , for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”
Rules for the Priesthood
21:16 The Lord spoke to Moses :

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The Hebrews derived the title of this book from the first word in it, wayyiqra', translated "And He [the Lord] called"(1:1). "And"or "then"is a conjunction that shows that what follows in Leviticus is a continuation of the na...
  • "At first sight the book of Leviticus might appear to be a haphazard, even repetitious arrangement of enactments involving the future life in Canaan of the Israelite people. Closer examination will reveal, however, that quite...
  • Leviticus continues revelation concerning the second of three elements necessary for any nation to exist, namely, a people (Gen. 12:10--Exod. 19), their law (Exod. 20--Num. 10:10), and their land (Num. 10:11--Josh. 24).Leviti...
  • God considered the meal, sin, and trespass offerings "most holy"(6:17, 25; 7:1, 6). This means that they were sacrifices that only the priests could eat.The "layman who touched these most holy things became holy through the c...
  • God dealt with 21 different cases of skin diseases in this pericope. Some of these may have included measles, smallpox, scarlet fever, and other diseases characterized by skin rash.141Some authorities believe that exact ident...
  • The sacrifices and offerings that Moses described thus far in the law were not sufficient to cleanse all the defilement that the sins of the people created. Much sinfulness still needed covering. Therefore God appointed a yea...
  • The second major division of Leviticus deals with how the Israelites were to express their worship of Yahweh in their private lives."The first sixteen chapters of Leviticus are concerned primarily with establishment and maint...
  • We move from public regulations in chapter 16 to intimate regulations in chapter 18 with chapter 17 providing the transition. In contrast to the first sixteen chapters, chapter 17 says very little about the role of the priest...
  • Emphasis shifts in this chapter from ceremonial defilement (ch. 17) to moral impurity. The Lord wanted His people to be holy in their behavior and character as well as in less important ritual observances (cf. Matt. 23:28; Ro...
  • The preceding two chapters specify correct behavior. This one sets forth the punishments for disobedience. Chapters 18-19 already discussed most of the subjects dealt with in this chapter."The difference between the laws in t...
  • All the people were to maintain holiness before God, but the priests had higher standards because of their privileges in relationship to God. Moses explained these higher regulations in this section of two chapters."The thrus...
  • "The list has a brief introduction (v. 1) and ends with the introduction to the next list (v. 16). There are fourteen (7 x 2) laws in the list."24421:1-6 The priest was not to defile himself ceremonially by touching a corpse ...
  • "This list is introduced by the expression And the LORD spoke to Moses saying, Speak to Aaron' (v. 16), and is concluded by the expression And Moses spoke to Aaron' (v. 24). There are fourteen (7 x 2) laws in the list."250Cer...
  • The previous section (21:16-24) named physical impediments that prohibited some priests from offering sacrifices. This one identifies the circumstances under which priests could neither officiate at the sacrifices nor eat pri...
  • Seven additional laws specified the time periods that governed the offering of some sacrifices. The Israelites were not to offer oxen, sheep, and goats as sacrifices before these animals were eight days old (v. 27). It took t...
  • God considered the Israelites (chs. 17-20), the priests, the holy gifts, and the sacrifices (chs. 21-22) as set apart to Him as holy. He regarded certain days and times of the year in the same way (ch. 23). This chapter conta...
  • Genesis reveals how people can have a relationship with God. This comes through trust in God and obedience to Him. Faith is the key word in Genesis. God proves Himself faithful in this book.Exodus reveals that God is also sov...
  • Nehemiah confronted this problem as Ezra had several years earlier (Ezra 9-10). The text records only Nehemiah's words to the people, but since we know what kind of person he was we can safely assume that he followed up his w...
  • 41:4-5 Two days after Gedaliah's murder, before the news of it had spread, 80 religious pilgrims came down from the old towns of Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria in northern Israel on their way to Jerusalem. Their dress and other...
  • Ezekiel was also to do something else during the time he was dramatizing the siege of Jerusalem with his model (ch. 4)."After Ezekiel represented the factof the siege (first sign [4:1-3]), the lengthof the siege (second sign ...
  • 23:5-8 Oholah proved unfaithful to the Lord by lusting after her attractive neighbors, the Assyrians."The appeal, then as now, was to youth, strength, position, wealth and self-gratification; that is, the world in all its daz...
  • "Chapter 39 retells the story of God's attack and defeat but with a slightly different emphasis from that of the prior chapter. Not much attention is given to the attack itself (merely vv. 1-2), whereas a great deal of space ...
  • 44:15-16 The Levites from Zadok's branch of the priestly family, however, would have special privileges since Zadok and his sons had served the Lord faithfully in the past (cf. 40:46; 1 Sam. 2:35; 2 Sam. 8:17; 15:24-29; 1 Kin...
  • 13:1 In that day God would open a fountain for the complete spiritual cleansing of the Israelites, both for their moral sins and for their ritual uncleanness (cf. Ezek. 47). The figure of a fountain pictures abundant cleansin...
  • 1:6 This second oracle begins like the first one, with a statement by Yahweh and a challenging response (cf. Isa. 1:2-3). The first oracle appealed to the Israelites generally, but this one is addressed to the priests. The pr...
  • Matthew omitted Jesus' hearing before Annas (John 18:12-14, 19-23). Quite possibly Annas lived in one wing of the same building in which the Sanhedrin met.102826:57 Josephus wrote that the building in which the Sanhedrin norm...
  • 14:53 The high priest in view here was Caiaphas. Interestingly Mark never mentioned him by name. He was the high priest that the Romans had appointed in 18 A.D., and he served in this capacity until 36 A.D.This was an unoffic...
  • 2:26 The "these things"in view probably refer to what John had just written (vv. 18-25)."The author concludes his attack on the false teachers with a warning and a word of encouragement for his followers."992:27 The "anointin...
  • 17:15 The angel next helped John understand the identity of the waters (v. 1). Water is a common symbol for people in the Old Testament (e.g., Ps. 18:4, 16; 124:4; Isa. 8:7; Jer. 47:2). The harlot exercises a controlling infl...
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