Exodus 28:36

28:36 “You are to make a plate ¹  of pure gold and engrave on it the way a seal is engraved: ²  “Holiness to the Lord.” ³ 

Leviticus 21:6-8

21:6 “‘They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane ⁴  the name of their God, because they are the ones who present the Lord’s gifts, ⁵  the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy. ⁶  21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution, ⁷  nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband, ⁸  for the priest ⁹  is holy to his God. ¹⁰  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, ¹¹  am holy.

Leviticus 21:10-12

Rules for the High Priest

21:10 “‘The high ¹²  priest – who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained ¹³  to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. ¹⁴  21:11 He must not go where there is any dead person; ¹⁵  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 ¹⁶  the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord.

Numbers 16:7

16:7 put fire in them, and set incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”

[28:36]  ¹ tn The word צִּיץ (tsits) seems to mean “a shining thing” and so here a plate of metal. It originally meant “flower,” but they could not write on a flower. So it must have the sense of something worn openly, visible, and shining. The Rabbinic tradition says it was two fingers wide and stretched from ear to ear, but this is an attempt to give details that the Law does not give (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 818).

[28:36]  ² tn Heb “the engravings of a seal”; this phrase is an adverbial accusative of manner.

[28:36]  ³ sn The engraving was a perpetual reminder of the holiness that was due the Lord (Heb “Yahweh”), that all the clothing, the furnishings, and the activities were to come under that description. This corresponded to the symbolism for the whole nation of binding the law between the eyes. It was to be a perpetual reminder of commitment.

[21:6]  ⁴ sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.

[21:6]  ⁵ sn Regarding the Hebrew term for “gifts,” see the note on Lev 1:9 above (cf. also 3:11 and 16 in combination with the word for “food” that follows in the next phrase here).

[21:6]  ⁶ tc Smr and all early versions have the plural adjective “holy” rather than the MT singular noun “holiness.”

[21:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “A wife harlot and profaned they shall not take.” The structure of the verse (e.g., “wife” at the beginning of the two main clauses) suggests that “harlot and profaned” constitutes a hendiadys, meaning “a wife defiled by harlotry” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 143, as opposed to that in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 343, 348; cf. v. 14 below). Cf. NASB “a woman who is profaned by harlotry.”

[21:7]  ⁸ sn For a helpful discussion of divorce in general and as it relates to this passage see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 143-44.

[21:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:7]  ¹⁰ tn The pronoun “he” in this clause refers to the priest, not the former husband of the divorced woman.

[21:8]  ¹¹ tn The three previous second person references in this verse are all singular, but this reference is plural. By adding “all” this grammatical distinction is preserved in the translation.

[21:10]  ¹² tn The adjective “high” has been supplied in the translation for clarity, as in many English versions.

[21:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he has filled his hand.” For this expression see the note on Lev 8:33.

[21:10]  ¹⁴ tn Regarding these signs of mourning see the note on Lev 10:6. His head had been anointed (v. 10a) so it must not be unkempt (v. 10b), and his garments were special priestly garments (v. 10a) so he must not tear them (v. 10b). In the translation “garments” has been employed rather than “clothes” to suggest that the special priestly garments are referred to here; cf. NRSV “nor tear his vestments.”

[21:11]  ¹⁵ tc Although the MT has “persons” (plural), the LXX and Syriac have the singular “person” corresponding to the singular adjectival participle “dead” (cf. also Num 6:6).

[21:12]  ¹⁶ sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.