Leviticus 21:1
in Leviticus 21Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none defile himself for the dead among his people;
KJV
And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people:
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This verse in Leviticus 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThere 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.
This site's exposition
There shall none be defiled for the dead
on Leviticus 21:1-4
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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
And the Lord said unto Moses,....
A priest was permitted to do it for a parent or a child, for a brother or an unmarried sister, and therefore, no doubt (though this is not mentioned) for the wife of his bosom; for Ezekiel, a priest, would have mourned for his wife if he had not been particularly prohibited, Ezek. xxiv.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people--The obvious design of the regulations contained in this chapter was to keep inviolate the purity and dignity of the sacred office.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
SAY [UNTO THE PRIESTS] … AND THOU SHALT SAY UNTO THEM. “[The repetition of the verb say … and thou shalt say is] to warn the adults about the children” [that they observe this law]. This is Rashi’s language on the basis of the words of our Rabbis.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֔ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אֱמֹ֥ר | ʾemor | say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַכֹּהֲנִ֖ים | hakohanim | the priests | H3548 → | 750 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אַהֲרֹ֑ן | ʾaharon | Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֔ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ | lenefesh | for a corpse | H5315 → | 754 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִטַּמָּ֖א | yitama' | he will make himself unclean | H2930 → | 162 times |
| בְּעַמָּֽיו׃ | beamav | among kinspeople<s> his | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
אֱמֹ֥רsay
ʾemorH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַכֹּהֲנִ֖יםthe priests
hakohanimH3548 →750 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] sons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
אַהֲרֹ֑ןAaron
ʾaharonH175 →347 times
וְאָמַרְתָּ֣and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵהֶ֔םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
לְנֶ֥פֶשׁfor a corpse
lenefeshH5315 →754 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יִטַּמָּ֖אhe will make himself unclean
yitama'H2930 →162 times
בְּעַמָּֽיו׃among kinspeople<s> his
beamavH5971 →1873 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 19:28You must not make any cuts in your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 14:1
You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,
- 1 Kings 18:28
So they shouted louder and cut themselves with knives and lances, as was their custom, until the blood gushed over them.
- Leviticus 21:5
Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.
- Jeremiah 16:6
“Both great and small will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, nor will anyone cut himself or shave his head for them.
- Jeremiah 48:37
For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth.
- Deuteronomy 14:1
Through
Leviticus 21:11He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother.
it leads to
- Numbers 19:14
This is the law when a person dies in a tent: Everyone who enters the tent and everyone already in the tent will be unclean for seven days,
- Numbers 6:7
Even if his father or mother or brother or sister should die, he is not to defile himself, because the crown of consecration to his God is upon his head.
- Numbers 19:14
Through
Ezekiel 44:25A priest must not defile himself by going near a dead person. However, for a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a brother, or an unmarried sister, he may do so,
it leads to
- Leviticus 22:4
If a descendant of Aaron has a skin disease or a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man…
- Leviticus 22:4
About Leviticus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.