Leviticuschapter 21
24 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th to 13th century BC · The Law
Key verse
The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments.
It stands in The high priest held to a stricter line, verses 10 to 15.
The chapter
Chapter summary
Holiness of priests. Priests are not to be defiled for the dead except for the closest kin; not to mar their heads or beards; not to marry a harlot or a profane or divorced woman. The high priest, with higher consecration, must marry a virgin of his own people and not go in to any dead, not even father or mother. Physical blemishes (blind, lame, disfigured, crippled) disqualify from priestly service at the altar, though the priest still eats of the holy bread. The chapter insists that mediators represent the perfection of the holy God they serve. Hebrews 7:26 applies the chapter's logic to the great High Priest.
Context
Law · Moses · Leviticus overview
The world of this chapter
Israel encamped at Sinai, the priesthood ordained and serving · c. 1445 BC on the traditional reckoning, in the second year after the Exodus, following the book's own setting · The tabernacle at Sinai, with the rules read out to Aaron, to his sons and to the whole nation · Aaron and his sons, and the people who had to recognise a priest as holy and watch him work
Historical context
The instruction is given to Aaron's sons, the priests, and verse 24 records Moses telling all of it to Aaron, to his sons and to all the children of Israel. Aaron at this point has already buried two sons who died at the altar, at Leviticus 10. The dating follows the book's own setting at Sinai.
The place is the tabernacle in the wilderness camp, a tent the priests served in daily and the nation never entered. The chapter reaches into the priest's ordinary life rather than into the rite, so it governs his funerals, his marriage and his household.
A first hearer knew what mourning looked like. Shaving the head, cutting the beard and cutting the flesh were the recognised signs of grief across the region, and they were already forbidden to all Israel at 19:27 and 19:28. A priest was forbidden them again, and the high priest was forbidden to leave the sanctuary even for his own father or mother.
A first hearer also knew that a priest lived from the offerings. That is why the chapter can bar a man with a physical defect from the altar and still feed him at the holy table with his brothers. He loses the function and keeps the portion.
Significance
For the people watching, these rules made the priest legible. A man set apart to carry other people's offerings was held to visible standards in his grief, his marriage and his body.
For the priests themselves the chapter set the cost of the office. The high priest could not mourn his parents, and the ordinary priest could bury only his nearest kin, so the service of the tent took precedence over the family that produced the man serving it.
Where the chapter sits
Leviticus 21 falls in The Holiness Code (chapters 17–26). ‘Ye shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy.’ Blood, sexual ethics, neighbor-love, feasts, jubilee, blessings and curses.
Before it: Day of Atonement, chapters 16. After it: Vows and dedications, chapters 27.
The whole shape of Leviticus→The structure of this chapter
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A. A priest and the dead
1. (vv. 1-4)
A priest may bury his nearest kin and nobody else. Verse 2 names his mother, his father, his son, his daughter and his brother, and verse 3 adds a sister who is a virgin and still in the family. The list stops there without naming a wife, and verse 4 has been read two ways, as a rule about his standing as a chief man among his people and as the bar on mourning a wife, which is how Jamieson, Fausset and Brown report the dispute. Ezekiel 24:16-18, where a priest is told not to mourn the wife of his eyes, is where the question comes up again.
Leviticus 21:1
“Among his people - None of the priests shall touch the dead body, or assist at his funeral, or eat 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.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Leviticus 21:1
“There shall none be defiled for the dead - No priest shall assist in laying out a dead body, or preparing it for interment. Any contact with the dead was supposed to be of a defiling nature, probably because putrefaction had then taken place; and animal putrefaction was ever held in detestation by all men.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Leviticus 21:3
“That is nigh him - That is, by nearness not of relation, (for that might seem a needless addition) but of habitation, one not yet cut off from the family. For if she was married, she was now of another family, and under her husband's care in those matters.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 21:4
“A chief man among his people - The word בעל baal signifies a master, chief, husband, etc., and is as variously translated here. 1. He being a chief among the people, it would be improper to see him in such a state of humiliation as mourning for the dead necessarily implies. 2. Though a husband he shall not defile himself even for the death of a wife, because the anointing of his God is upon him. But the first sense appears to be the best.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2. (vv. 5-9)
The mourning customs forbidden here, a shaved head, a cut beard and cuttings in the flesh, were already forbidden to all Israel at 19:27-28, so the priest carries a rule his neighbours carry too. Verses 7 to 9 then reach into his house and govern whom he marries and what his daughter does. The penalty at verse 9 falls on a woman who never serves at the altar, and the ground the verse gives is that she profaneth her father. The word profane falls nine times in these twenty-four verses and holds the chapter together.
Leviticus 21:5
“These prohibitions given to the people at large (compare the margin reference.) had a special fitness for the Hebrew priests. They were the instruments of the divine will for averting death, all their sacrifices were a type of the death of Christ, which swallowed up death in victory 1Co 15:54-57, and it would therefore have been unsuitable that they should have the same freedom as other people to become mourners.”
Leviticus 21:6
“The word here and in Lev 21:8 rendered “bread”, is the same as is rendered food in Lev 3:11, Lev 3:16, etc., and meat in Lev 22:11. The reader of the English Bible should keep in view that bread, meat, and food, were nearly equivalent terms when our translation was made, and represent no distinctions that exist in the Hebrew.”
Leviticus 21:7
“Profane - A woman who has been seduced, or one of illegitimate birth. A somewhat stricter rule for the priests’ marriages was revealed to the prophet in later times, Eze 44:22.”
Leviticus 21:8
“The people of Israel are now addressed. They are commanded to regard the priests, who perform for them the service of the altar, as holy in respect of their office.”
Leviticus 21:9
“She shall be burnt with fire - Probably not burnt alive, but strangled first, and then burnt afterward. Though it is barely possible that some kind of branding may be intended.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
B. The high priest held to a stricter line
1. (vv. 10-12)
The title high priest occurs here for the first time in Scripture. What Moses forbade Aaron in the hour his sons died at 10:6, an uncovered head and rent clothes, is fixed on the office permanently, and verse 11 closes to him the two funerals an ordinary priest may attend, his father's and his mother's. Verse 12 keeps him inside the sanctuary and gives the reason as the crown of the anointing oil of his God, then ends with I am the LORD. Mark 14:63 and Matthew 26:65 both record a high priest rending his clothes at the trial of Jesus.
Leviticus 21:10
“He that is the high priest - This is the first place where this title is introduced; the title is very emphatic, הכהן הגדול haccohen haggadol, that priest, the great one. For the meaning of כהן cohen, see the note on Gen 14:18. As the chief or high priest was a representative of our blessed Lord, therefore he was required to be especially holy; and he is represented as God’s king among the people.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Leviticus 21:10
“The garments - Those holy garments, which were peculiar to him. Shall not uncover his head - This being then the posture of mourners, chap. x, 6, though afterwards the custom was changed and mourners covered their heads, 2 Sam. xv, 30, Esth vi, 12.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 21:11
“If any of the inferior priests were under a ceremonial pollution, there were other priests that might supply their places; but, if the high priest were defiled, there would be a greater want of him. And the forbidding of him to go to any house of mourning, or attend any funeral, would be an indication to the people of the greatness of that dignity to which he was advanced.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Leviticus 21:12
“The crown of the anointing oil - is upon him - By his office the priest represented Christ in his sacrificial character; by his anointing, the prophetic influence; and by the crown, the regal dignity of our Lord.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Leviticus 21:12
“The crown of the anointing oil - Or, the crown, the golden plate, which is called the holy crown, Exod. xxix, 6, and the anointing oil of his God are upon him. So there is only an ellipsis of the conjunction and, which is frequent.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
2. (vv. 13-15)
The circle narrows at every step toward the altar. An ordinary Israelite may marry a widow, the priest at verse 7 may not marry a harlot or a divorced woman, and verse 14 adds the widow to the list for the high priest alone and requires a virgin of his own people. Verse 15 puts the reason on his seed rather than on himself, since the office passes to his sons, and closes with I the LORD do sanctify him.
Leviticus 21:13
“He shall take a wife in her virginity - בתוליה bethuleyha. This is a full proof that בתולה bethulah is the proper Hebrew term for a virgin; from the emphatic root בתל bathal, to separate; because such a person was in her separate state, and had never been in any way united to man.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Leviticus 21:13
“The reason of this was to put a difference between him and other priests in this matter; and (as some suggest) that he might be a type of Christ, to whom the church was to be presented a chaste virgin, 2 Cor. xi. Christ must have our first love, our pure love, our entire love; thus the virgins love thee ( Cant. i. 3 ), and such only are fit to follow the Lamb, Rev. xiv.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Leviticus 21:15
“Some understand it as forbidding him to marry any of an inferior rank, which would be a disparagement to his family. Jehoiada indeed married of his own tribe, but then it was into the royal family, 2 Chron. xxii. This was not to teach him to be proud, but to teach him to be pure, and to do nothing unbecoming his office and the worthy name by which he was called.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
C. A blemish keeps a son from the altar
1. (vv. 16-20)
Twelve defects are listed across three verses and no reason is given for any of them. The word blemish falls six times in this chapter and governs the animal as well at 22:20-21, so the man who offers and the thing he offers are measured by one standard. The readings on offer differ: Calvin declined to inquire into the particular defects and rested on the rule that only what was perfect came to the altar, Clarke read the list as fitness before the people who watch him, and Gregory of Nazianzus in Oration 2 read the whole of it as a figure of soundness of soul. The text itself settles none of them.
Leviticus 21:16
“And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After he had spoken to him of the holiness of the priests, that they should not defile themselves, neither with the dead nor with impure marriages, he proceeded to add some things concerning blemishes in their bodies, which rendered them unfit for the service: saying; as follows.”
2 more voices on this verse
Leviticus 21:16
“He was not treated as an outcast, but enjoyed his privileges as a son of Aaron, except in regard to active duties. Lev 21:20 A dwarf - One who is small and wasted, either short, as in the text, or slender, as in the margin. It is hardly likely that dwarfishness would be overlooked in this enumeration. So most critical authorities. Scurry or scabbed - These words most probably include all affected with any skin disease. Lev 21:22 See Lev 2:3 note; Lev 6:25 note.”
Leviticus 21:16
“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. 8 Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the L ORD , which sanctify you, am holy.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Leviticus 21:17
“Speak unto Aaron, saying. Priests in whom there was any notable bodily defect are here forbidden from approaching the altar. I will not curiously inquire into the defects which Moses enumerates, since the same rule is here laid down, which is afterwards applied to the sacrifices, whereof none but perfect ones were to be offered.”
John Calvin· Commentaries (1554)reformed
3 more voices on this verse
Leviticus 21:17
“Whosoever - hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God - Never was a wiser, a more rational, and a more expedient law enacted relative to sacred matters. The man who ministers in holy things, who professes to be the interpreter of the will of God, should have nothing in his person nor in his manner which cannot contribute to render him respectable in the eyes of those to whom he ministers.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Leviticus 21:17
“I know also that not even bodily blemishes in either priests or victims passed without notice, but that it was required by the law that perfect sacrifices must be offered by perfect men—a symbol, I take it, of integrity of soul.”
Gregory of Nazianzus· written before 390· ORATION 2 (IN DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT TO PONTUS) 94patristic
Leviticus 21:17
“The particular defect's here mentioned, I shall not enlarge upon because some of the Hebrew words are diversely interpreted, and because the use of these things being abolished, the knowledge of them is not necessary.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 21:18
“A blind man - That is, in one eye; for he that was utterly blind could not possibly be employed in such a service. A flat nose, like that of an ape; so the best versions. Any thing superfluous, such as six fingers, six toes, etc.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Leviticus 21:18
“A flat nose - Most restrain this word to the nose, and to some great deformity relating to 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.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 21:19
“Broken-footed, or broken-handed - Club-footed, bandy-legged, etc.; or having the ankle, wrist, or fingers dislocated.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Leviticus 21:19
“Or a man that is brokenfooted or brokenhanded. That has any of the bones or joints in his hands and feet broke, or when they are distorted, and he is clubfooted, or his fingers crooked and clustered together; and such a man could not be fit to ascend the altar, and lay the sacrifice in order upon it; and may be an emblem of such as are awkward or disorderly in their walk and conservation, and to every good work and action unfit, and so unfit for their master's use.”
Leviticus 21:20
“Crooked-backed - Hunch-backed or gibbous. A dwarf, דק dak, a person too short or too thin, so as to be either particularly observable, or ridiculous in his appearance. A blemish in his eye - A protuberance on the eye, observable spots or suffusions. Scurvy, or scabbed - A bad habit of body, evidenced by scorbutic or scrofulous affections. Stones broken - Is ruptured; an infirmity which would render him incapable of fulfilling the duties of his office, which might be often very fatiguing.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2. (vv. 21-24)
The blemished priest keeps his portion and loses his function. The phrase bread of his God bars him at verses 17 and 21 and feeds him at verse 22, where he eats of the most holy and of the holy with his brethren, and only the vail and the altar are shut to him. Calvin read it that no natural defect kept such a man from the sacred meals and that the bar stood on appearing before God for others. Verse 24 has Moses telling all of it to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, so the law governing the priesthood is read out to the people it serves.
Leviticus 21:21
“Priests laboring under any personal defect were not allowed to officiate in the public service; they might be employed in some inferior duties about the sanctuary but could not perform any sacred office. In all these regulations for preserving the unsullied purity of the sacred character and office, there was a typical reference to the priesthood of Christ (Heb 7:26).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Leviticus 21:22
“He shall eat the bread of his God. He permits them indeed to eat of the sacrifices, because no uncleanness on account of their natural defects could prevent them from partaking of the sacred meals; they are only forbidden to appear in God's presence as mediators to propitiate Him.”
John Calvin· Commentaries (1554)reformed
Leviticus 21:23
“To the veil - To the second veil which was between the holy and the most holy place, to burn incense, to order the shew-bread, and to dress the lamps, which were nigh unto that veil though without. My altar - The altar of burnt-offering, which was without the sanctuary. The sense is, he shall not execute the priest's office, which was to be done in those two places.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Keep studying
On this page
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.