Leviticus 21:6-8

21:6 “‘They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane ¹  the name of their God, because they are the ones who present the Lord’s gifts, ²  the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy. ³  21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution, ⁴  nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband, ⁵  for the priest ⁶  is holy to his God. ⁷  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, ⁸  am holy.

Leviticus 21:12-15

21:12 He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane ⁹  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. ¹⁰  21:14 He must not marry ¹¹  a widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people ¹²  as a wife. 21:15 He must not profane his children among his people, ¹³  for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”

[21:6]  ¹ sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.

[21:6]  ² 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]  ³ tc Smr and all early versions have the plural adjective “holy” rather than the MT singular noun “holiness.”

[21:7]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

[21:8]  ⁸ 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.

[21:12]  ⁹ sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.

[21:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And he, a wife in her virginity he shall take.”

[21:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “take.” In context this means “take as wife,” i.e., “marry.”

[21:14]  ¹² tc The MT has literally, “from his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “from his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.

[21:15]  ¹³ tc The MT has literally, “in his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.