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Priestly Laws |
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| 21:1 | God told Moses to declare the following to Aaron's descendants, the priests: Let no [priest] defile himself [by contact with] the dead among his people, |
| 21:2 | except for such close blood relatives as his mother, father, son, daughter or brother. |
| 21:3 | He may also allow himself to become ritually unclean for his [deceased] virgin sister, who is [also] close to him as long as she is not married. |
| 21:4 | [However,] a husband may not defile himself for his [dead] wife if she is legally unfit for him. |
| 21:5 | Let no priest shave off patches of hair from his head. Let them not shave the edges of their beards and not make gouges in their skin. |
| 21:6 | They must be holy to their God, and not profane their God's name. Since they present God's fire offerings, the food offering for their God, they must remain holy. |
| 21:7 | They shall not marry an immoral or profaned woman. They [also] must not marry a woman who has been divorced from her husband. [The priest] must thus be holy to his God. |
| 21:8 | You must [strive to] keep him holy, since he presents the food offering to God. He must be holy, since I am God - I am holy and I am making you holy. |
| 21:9 | If a priest's daughter defiles herself by committing adultery she has defiled her father's [position], and she must be burned with fire. |
The High Priest |
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| 21:10 | [These are the rules for] the High Priest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil has been poured, and who has been inaugurated to wear the [special priestly] vestments: He shall not go without a haircut, and shall not allow his vestments to be torn. |
| 21:11 | He shall not come in contact with any dead body. He shall thus not defile himself, even for his father or mother. |
| 21:12 | [In such a case] he may not [even] leave the sanctuary. He will then not profane his God's sanctuary, since his God's anointing oil is upon him. I am God. |
| 21:13 | He must marry a virgin. |
| 21:14 | He must not marry a widow, a divorcee, or a profaned or immoral woman. He may only marry a virgin from his own people. |
| 21:15 | He will then not profane his children because of his wife. [He must do all this] because I am God, [and] I make him holy. |
Blemished Priests |
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| 21:16 | God spoke to Moses, telling him to |
| 21:17 | speak to Aaron as follows: Anyone among your descendants who has a blemish may not approach to present his God's food offering. |
| 21:18 | Thus, any blemished priest may not offer sacrifice. [This includes] anyone who is blind or lame, or who has a deformed nose or a misshapen limb. |
| 21:19 | [Also included] is anyone who has a crippled leg, a crippled hand, |
| 21:20 | who is a hunchback or a dwarf, who has a blemish in the eye, who has severe eczema or ringworm, or who has a hernia. |
| 21:21 | Any descendant of Aaron the priest who has a blemish may not approach to present God's fire offering. As long as he has a blemish, he may not approach to present his God's food offering. |
| 21:22 | [Still] he may eat the food offerings of his God, both from the holy of holies and from the holy. |
| 21:23 | But he may not come to the cloth partition [in the sanctuary], and he may not approach the altar if he has a blemish. He shall thus not defile that which is holy to Me, since I am God [and] I sanctify it. |
| 21:24 | Moses told this to Aaron, his sons and all the Israelites. |
Commentary:
| defile himself... See Numbers 19:14. |
| close to him This is a sister who has the same father as the priest (Yevamoth 22b; Yad, Avel 2:1). |
| a husband may not... (Sifra; Rashi). Or, 'a man may not defile himself for a corpse among his people' - when there are others to care for it (Rashi). Or, 'a man may not defile himself, even for the great' (Saadia; Baaley Tosafoth). Or, '[Since he is] a leader, he shall not be defiled among his people' (Targum). |
| if she is legally unfit... See Leviticus 21:7 (Yevamoth 22b; Rashi; cf. Targum Yonathan.) Or, 'since it makes him unfit for service' (Rashi; Rashbam). |
| Let no priest... (Sifra; Rashi cf. Yad, Avodath Kokhavim 12:15). See Deuteronomy 14:1. |
| Let them not shave... See Leviticus 19:27. |
| and not make gouges... See Leviticus 19:28. |
| profaned Born from a marriage between a priest and a woman forbidden to him (Rashi). See Leviticus 21:15. |
| adultery If she is married (Rashi). |
| High Priest Cohen Gadol in Hebrew. |
| He shall not... See Leviticus 10:6. |
| In such a case (Rashi). |
| He will then not profane... This defines the 'defiled' woman of Leviticus 21:7 (Rashi). |
| priest Literally 'man.' |
| blind Even in one eye (Bekhoroth 44a). |
| lame Or, 'paralyzed' (Saadia). |
| deformed nose (Septuagint; Targum Yonathan). Charum in Hebrew. This includes one whose nose is abnormally long or short, or who has an unopened nostril (Bekhoroth 43a; Yad, Biyath HaMikdash 8:7; Ramban). Or, 'broken-nosed' (Saadia; cf. Chizzkuni). Some say that this is speaking specifically of a deformity where the bridge of the nose between the eyes is sunken (Rashi; Radak, Sherashim). Others say that it is speaking of one who has part of the lower septum missing (Ibn Janach). According to others, however, charum denotes a person who has a missing limb (Ralbag) or one that is too short (Ibn Ezra; see next note, 'misshapen limb'. |
| misshapen limb (Sifra). Sarua in Hebrew. Some say that this includes anyone who has a limb that is disproportionate, while others say that it denotes an oversized limb (Ibn Ezra; cf. Isaiah 28:20) or an extra limb (Ralbag). It includes such specific deformities as a club foot or an overly wide foot (Sifra) or eyes that are unusually large or small (Rashi). According to some, sarua denotes a person who limps (Saadia), or who has a dislocated hip (Targum Yonathan; Yad, Biyath HaMikdash 7:9; Ibn Janach, Radak, Sherashim). Some sources state that it denotes one who has mutilated ears (Septuagint; cf. Ralbag). |
| hunchback (Sifra; Bekhoroth 43b; Saadia; Septuagint. Cf. Rambam on Bekhoroth 7:2; Ibn Janach, Radak, Sherashim). Gibben in Hebrew. Or, 'grossly fat' (Chizzkuni). According to others, the first three blemishes mentioned in this verse are in the eye, and gibben denotes a person with misformed eyebrows (cf. Ralbag). Some say that it denotes a person whose eyebrows are unusually long (Targum Yonathan; Bekhoroth 43b; Rashi; Ramban; Radak, Sherashim), or whose eyebrows are attached to each other (Bekhoroth 43b). Others say that it denotes one with missing eyebrows (Ibid.). |
| dwarf (Targum Yerushalmi; Ibn Ezra; Chizzkuni). Dak in Hebrew. Here too, some say that this is relating specifically to the eye. Some say that dak denotes a membrane or film over the eye, tella in Old French and Latin (Rashi; Radak, Sherashim; cf. Septuagint). Others say that it denotes a white spot on the pupil of the eye (Yad, Biyath HaMikdash 7:5; Ramban on Bekhoroth 6:2; Ralbag; cf. Bekhoroth 38b). Still others describe the dak as a loss of eyebrows (Targum Yonathan) or as droopy eyelids (Ibn Janach). |
| blemish (Chizzkuni). Te-bhalul in Hebrew. Some say that this specifically denotes one who has a streak of white going into the iris (Rashi; Targum Yonathan; Yad, Biyath HaMikdash 7:5; Bekhoroth 38a) or pupil (Ibn Janach; Radak, Sherashim) of the eye. Others see it as a growth in the eye (Saadia), or missing eyelashes (Septuagint). It also includes a case where the eyes focus in abnormal directions (Sifra; Bekhoroth 44a). |
| in the eye As we have seen, there is a question as to whether just one term modifies 'in the eye,' or if all three terms do. Thus, the verse can also be translated, 'Who has misshapen brows, a film, or a blemish in the eye.' Although there is a dispute as to the precise meaning of the words here, all the blemishes are known from tradition (Rambam on Bekhoroth 7:2). |
| severe eczema Or, 'a hard dry rash,' garav in Hebrew (Bekhoroth 41a; Saadia; Rashi). See Deuteronomy 28:27. Or, 'an itch' (Radak, Sherashim) or, 'a malignant skin ulcer' (Septuagint). |
| ringworm Yalefeth in Hebrew, leichen (lichen) in Greek (Septuagint). This is described as running sores, pimples or scabs (Bekhoroth 41a; Saadia; Rashi; Targum Yerushalmi). |
| hernia Or 'swollen testicles' (Targum Yonathan; Saadia). Meroach ashekh in Hebrew. Or, 'crushed testicles' (Targum; Rashi; Radak, Sherashim; Chizzkuni), or 'a missing testicle' (Septuagint; cf.Targum Yerushalmi). According to others, meroach ashekh denotes a person with abnormally dark skin coloration (Bekhoroth 44b; Rambam on Bekhoroth 7:5). |
| holy of holies The meal offering (Leviticus 2:3,10), the sin offering (Leviticus 6:18), and the guilt offering (Leviticus 7:1). |
| holy Such as peace offerings. |
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