Leviticus 21:1--22:33
said .... Say ......... say <0559> [Speak.]
defile <02930> [There.]
[or, the verse may be read, being an husband among his people, he shall not defile himself for his wife, etc.]
bald spot shaved <07144 07139> [not make baldness.]
This custom is also called rounding the corners of the head, (ch. 19:27,) and seems to have been performed in honour of some idol.
corner <06285> [the corner.]
The Hebrew {peath zakon}, may denote the whiskers; as the Syriac {phatho} signifies. These are by the Arabs, according to Niebuhr, still cut entirely off, or worn quite short; and hence they are called by Jeremiah, [qtswtsy p'h,] those with cropped whiskers. Perhaps some superstition, of which we are ignorant, was connected with this; but whether or not, it was the object of Moses to keep the Israelites distinct from other nations.
holy .................................. holy <06944 06918> [holy.]
profane <02490> [profane.]
food <03899> [bread.]
holy <06918> [therefore.]
prostitution <02181> [that is a whore.]
divorced <01644> [put away.]
sanctify ...................... sanctifies <06942> [sanctify.]
Lord <03068> [for I.]
daughter <01323> [the daughter.]
burned <08313> [she shall be burnt.]
head ....................... head <07218> [upon.]
ordained <04390> [consecrated.]
dishevel <06544> [uncover.]
[not rend.]
All human corpses were considered as unclean. Whoever touched one was unclean for seven days, and was obliged on the third and seventh day to purify himself according to the Mosaic instructions. In the case of the priest it went still farther; insomuch, that even mourning for the dead by any external sign, such as tearing their clothes, defiled them. Hence such mournings were absolutely forbidden to be used in any case, and by the other priests also, except in the case of their very nearest relations, for whom they were allowed to mourn. This statue is founded on the importance of sustaining the decency and purity of Divine worship. The servants of the Deity were to keep themselves at a distance from every thing that in the least degree savoured of uncleanness.
father <01> [his father.]
go out <03318> [go out.]
dedication <05145> [for the crown.]
profane <02490> [profane.]
<03068> [for I the.]
physical flaw <03971> [blemish.]
approach ... present <07126> [let him.]
food <03899> [bread. or, food.]
man ........... blind man <05787 0376> [a blind man.]
limb too long <08311> [superfluous.]
dwarf <01851> [a dwarf. or, too slender. or hath.]
physical flaw ............. physical flaw <03971> [a blemish.]
In the above list of blemishes, we meet with some that might render the priest contemptible in the eyes of men; and others that would be very great impediments in the discharge of his ministerial duties.
present ................. present <07126> [to offer.]
most holy .... holy <06944> [both.]
most holy .... holy <06944> [and of the holy.]
go <0935> [go in.]
profane <02490> [profane.]
Lord <03068> [for I the Lord.]
Aaron <0175> [Aaron.]
holy ................ profane ... holy <02490 06944> [that they profane not.]
This is the very ground of the prohibition, that they might preserve in their minds a holy reverence for the Divine Majesty. Hence when they approached unto him, they must be free from every legal impurity. If great men are to be approached with respect, how much more must Jehovah be approached with holy reverence!
consecrate <06942> [hallow.]
impure <02932 05315> [having his uncleanness upon him.]
That is, in other words, "when he is unclean."
<05315> [that soul.]
That is, according to some, thrust out of the priest's office, or from officiating at the altar; or, according to others, cut off by some immediate stroke of divine justice, like Nadab and Abihu.
before <06440> [from my.]
descendants ........................................ emission <02233> [the seed.]
These words include the daughters as well as the sons of Aaron.
diseased <06879> [a leper.]
discharge <02100> [running issue. Heb. running of the reins.]
holy offerings <06944> [holy things.]
clean <02891> [until.]
unclean <02931> [unclean.]
descendants ........................................ emission <02233> [whose.]
man <0376> [whosoever.]
person <0120> [or a man.]
incur sin <02399 05375> [bear sin for it.]
That is, be punished if he break it.
The word {zar,} a stranger, does not mean one of another nation, a foreigner, which is expressed by {hechar,} but one who is not of the seed of Aaron, or does not belong to his family.
money <03701> [his money. Heb. the purchase of his money.]
<0376> [a stranger. Heb. a man, a stranger.]
returns ...... father's house ........... father's <01 01004 07725> [returned unto her father's house.]
A widow in Bengal not unfrequently returns to her father's house on the death of her husband: the union between her and her own family is never so dissolved as among European nations.
youth <05271> [as in her.]
incur ... penalty <05771 05375> [suffer them to bear the iniquity of the trespass. or, lade themselves with the iniquity of trespass in their eating. bear.]
Lord <03068> [for I.]
When any man <0376> [Whatsoever.]
foreigners <01616> [of the strangers.]
votive <05088> [vows.]
freewill offerings <05071> [freewill.]
peace offering <08002> [peace.]
for ... special <06381> [to accomplish.]
flock <06629> [sheep. or, goats. it shall be perfect.]
This law is so founded on the nature of the thing itself, that it has been in force among all nations that sacrificed victims to their deities.
blind <05788> [Blind.]
gift <0801> [an offering.]
sheep <07716> [lamb. or, kid. superfluous.]
torn <05423> [broken. or, cut.]
foreigner <05236> [a stranger's.]
food <03899> [the bread.]
ruined <04893> [because.]
seven days ...... day <03117 07651> [seven days.]
It was necessary for the mother's health that the young one should suck so long; and prior to this time, the process of nutrition in a young animal can scarcely be considered as completely formed. Besides this, it may justly be asserted, that the flesh of very young animals is comparatively innutritive. There is something brutish in eating the young of beast or fowl, before the hair and hoofs are perfect in the one, and feathers and claws in the other; and before this period, their flesh is not good for food, consequently they were not fit for sacrifice, which is termed the bread or food of God, (ver. 25.)
sheep <07716> [ewe. or, she goat. ye shall not kill it.]
This law was certainly intended to inculcate mercy and tenderness of heart; and so the Jews have understood it.
sanctified ............. sanctifies <06942> [I will.]
sanctified ............. sanctifies <06942> [hallow you.]
