John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Leviticus 20:1



INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 20



In this chapter several laws are, repeated, enforced with a penalty annexed to them, and the breach them made capital, to deter from it, as giving seed to Molech, Le 20:1; going after such that have familiar spirits, or are wizards, Le 20:6; by shunning which, and other sins, a regard would be shown to holiness, Le 20:7; such as cursing parents, Le 20:9; committing adultery, Le 20:10; incestuous copulations, and marriages, and beastly actions, Le 20:11; all which it became the Israelites to avoid, lest, when come into the land of Canaan, they should be cast out of it, as the old inhabitants were for the same things, Le 20:22; and therefore, that they might appear to be a distinct people from others, they were to put a difference between clean and unclean creatures, Le 20:25; and the chapter is closed with a law, making it death for any person to have a familiar spirit, or to be a wizard, Le 19:27.



Ver. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After he had delivered the above laws to him in the preceding chapter, he added penalties, to many of them, or declared what punishment should be inflicted on the transgressors of them:



saying; as follows.





Leviticus 20:2



Ver. 2. Again thou shalt say to the children of Israel,.... The body of the people by their elders, and the heads of their tribes; for the following laws were binding on them all:



whosoever [he be] of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel; everyone of the people of Israel, of whatsoever age, sex, or condition of life: and not they only, but the strangers and proselytes; and not the proselytes of righteousness only, but the proselytes of the gate, who, as well as the others, were to shun idolatry, and other impieties and immoralities after mentioned:



that giveth [any] of his seed unto Molech; which Aben Ezra interprets of lying with an idolatrous woman, or a worshipper of Molech, the abomination or idol of the Ammonites, 1Ki 11:7; of which see

Le 18:21; but more than that is here intended, or even than causing their seed or offspring to pass through the fire to Molech, as in the place referred to; more is meant by it than a lustration of them, or a dedicating them to Molech, by delivering them to his priests to lead them between two fires for that purpose, but even the sacrificing of them to him; and so the Targum of Jonathan seems to understand it, which is,



"that makes (or sacrifices) of his seed Molech to be burnt in the fire:''



for that the Phoenicians or Canaanites, whose customs the Israelites were in danger of imitating, and therefore cautioned against, did sacrifice human creatures, and these the dearest to them, even their beloved and only begotten children, to Saturn, is certain, as Porphyry {y} and Eusebius {z} affirm, or to Hercules, as Pliny {a}, and both the same with Molech, or the sun:



he shall surely be put to death; by the hand of the civil magistrate, which death was to be by stoning, as follows:



the people of the land shall stone him with stones: that is, the people of the house of Israel, as both the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; such as lived in that part of the country where the idolater lived, and where he committed the sin, or was condemned for it; of the manner of stoning, See Gill on "Ac 7:58".



{y} De Abstinent. l. 2. c. 56. {z} De laudibus Constantin. c. 13. p. 646. Vid. Suidam in voce

sardaniov. {a} Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 5.





Leviticus 20:3



Ver. 3. And I will set my face against that man,.... Express resentment, anger, wrath, and indignation at him, see Ps 34:16:



and will cut him off from among his people: that is, supposing him to have been guilty of the above horrid crime, and there being not sufficient evidence given of it by witnesses, or the magistrates negligent in doing their duty; and the matter being known to God the omniscient, he, according this declaration, would deal with him himself, and cut him off out of the land of the living, from among his relations, friends, and neighbours, by his own immediate hand; otherwise the law before provided a penalty, which is death by stoning, whereby he would be effectually cut off from his people, and deprived of all natural, civil, and religious privileges in this life, and sent into everlasting punishment in another, unless forgiving grace should be vouchsafed:



because he hath given of his seed to Molech; an iniquity to be punished by the judge, and deserving of everlasting wrath and destruction:



to defile my sanctuary; not by doing this horrid action in it, but by coming into it, having done it; or by offering sacrifice in another place than where God had commanded, as well as such a sacrifice as was abominable to him, sacrifice being to be offered nowhere but on the altar of the Lord in the sanctuary. Jarchi interprets this of the congregation of Israel, which was sanctified to the Lord, in the midst of which this wickedness was committed, and with which they were polluted:



and to profane my holy name: by sacrificing to an idol, when sacrifice should be offered to God; and such a sacrifice as would cause the name of God, and his holy laws, and true religion, to be blasphemed and evil, spoken of among the Gentiles, Ro 2:23.





Leviticus 20:4



Ver. 4. And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man,.... That is, the people of the house of Israel, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; if the friends, relations, and neighbours of such a man, though they know what he is about to do, or has done, yet they shut their eyes wilfully, or look another way; or, however, wink and connive at his wickedness, and will not discover him, and bear witness against him; or if a court of judicature, before whom he comes, does not take the evidence of his crime, nor condemn for it, or are negligent in punishing him as the law directs, a gift having blinded their eyes, or they careless and remiss in their duty:



when he giveth his seed unto Molech; a crime so heinous and abominable:



and kill him not; do not bring witness against him, so as that he may be put to death, or do not upon the evidence given condemn him to death, or do not take care to have sentence executed, by stoning him to death.





Leviticus 20:5



Ver. 5. Then I will set my face against that man,.... That man that sees him do the fact, and winks at it, or the judge that connives at him, and will not condemn him, as well as the man that has committed the iniquity:



and against his family; either the family of the witness, who could and should have testified against him, or of the judge negligent of his office, or of the man himself, whose family must be privy to so shocking an action, and were abettors of it, and aiders and assisters in it; and so Onkelos renders it, "and his helpers":



and will cut him off: the head of the family, whether judge, witness, or the criminal himself:



and all that go a whoring after him: that commit the like idolatry after his example, and encouraged to it by the connivance of others at it:



to commit whoredom with Molech; that is, idolatry, which is spiritual whoredom, and often so called in Scripture, and with great propriety; for since God had espoused these people to himself, and was their husband, as he was from the time of his bringing them out of Egypt, and making a covenant with them, Jer 31:32; and their sacrificing to and serving other gods being a breach of their matrimonial covenant with him, it was no other than whoredom in a spiritual sense, for which he threatens to cut them off:



from among their people; by an immature death, even all that were guilty of such abominable actions, or made themselves accessory to them, by any ways conniving at them, either as judges or witnesses.





Leviticus 20:6



Ver. 6. The soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits,.... The man or woman that has respect unto them, seeks after them, and inquires of them, in order to get knowledge of things:



and after wizards who pretend to tell fortunes, and discover lost and stolen goods, See Gill on "Le 19:31";



to go a whoring after them; for to consult them is to forsake the Lord, and have recourse to Satan and his instruments; to relinquish their trust in God, and put confidence in them, and attribute such things to them as only belong to God, even the knowledge of things future; and this is to commit idolatry, which is spiritual adultery:



I will even set my face against that soul; show like resentment and indignation as at him that gives his seed to Molech:



and will cut him off from among his people; in case his people do not bear witness against him, but hide their eyes, and wink at his crimes, or the civil magistrate does not condemn and punish him; the Targum of Jonathan is,



"I will destroy him by the pestilence.''





Leviticus 20:7



Ver. 7. Sanctify yourselves therefore,.... By abstaining from such impious and idolatrous practices, and separating themselves from all that gave into them, as well as by observing the holy commandments of the Lord; otherwise internal sanctification is not the work of man, but of the Lord himself, as in Le 20:8:



and be ye holy; or a separate people from all others in worship and conversation:



for I [am] the Lord your God; who is a holy God, and therefore it became them to be holy, in imitation of him, Le 19:2.





Leviticus 20:8



Ver. 8. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them,.... Not only those respecting the above things, but all others, which would be a means of preserving them from sin, and of promoting holiness in their lives and conversations:



I [am] the Lord which sanctify you: who had separated and distinguished them from all other people on earth, and who had given them holy laws, as the means of holiness; and who only could and did sanctify internally, by his Spirit and grace, such or them as were sanctified in heart, as well as outwardly.





Leviticus 20:9



Ver. 9. For everyone that curseth his father or his mother,.... Here begins the account of the penalties annexed to the several laws in the preceding chapter; and that respecting the fear and honour of parents being the first, Le 19:3, is here begun with:



shall surely be put to death; the Targum of Jonathan adds,



"by casting of stones,''



stoning being the punishment of such transgressors:



he hath cursed his father or his mother: to do either is his sin, and a capital crime it is:



his blood [shall be] upon him: he shall be guilty of death, be condemned unto it, and punished with it, namely, by stoning; for, as Jarchi observes, wherever it is, "his blood [shall be] on him", or "their blood shall be on them", it is to be understood of stoning.





Leviticus 20:10



Ver. 10. And the man that committeth adultery with [another] man's wife,.... Which is a breach of the seventh command, Ex 20:14;



[even he] that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife: which is only an explanation of the former clause; though the Jewish writers, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom, say this is so expressed to except the wife of a stranger, or a Gentile; but it means whether a Gentile or an Israelite; and which may be confirmed by the instance of Phinehas slaying a prince of Israel, that lay with a Midianitish woman, Nu 25:6:



the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death; on account of her that is espoused, by strangling, with a hard napkin within a soft one; and on account of her that is married, by casting stones; even both the adulterer and adulteress, as the Targum: and the Jews say {b}, strangling was thus performed; they that were strangled were fixed up to their knees in dung, and then they put a hard napkin within a soft one, and rolled it about his neck, and one drew it to him this way, and another drew it to him that way, until he expired: and there is no unlawful copulation punished with strangling, according to Maimonides {c}, but lying with another man's wife; and who observes, that the death which is spoken of in the law absolutely, that is, without specifying any kind of death, is strangling; but stoning seems rather meant, agreeably to De 22:24.



{b} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 3. {c} Hilchot lssure Biah, c. 1. sect. 6.





Leviticus 20:11



Ver. 11. And the man that lieth with his father's wife,.... Whether she be his mother, or another woman, as the Targum of Jonathan; that is, whether she is his own mother, or a stepmother, or whether he did this in the lifetime of his father, or after his death, or whether she was betrothed or married, it mattered not; according to the Jewish tradition {d}, this is a breach of the law, Le 18:8; and a man guilty of this



hath uncovered his father's nakedness; and which is a foul and shameful piece of wickedness; the penalty follows:



both of them shall be put to death; by casting stones on them, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; for, as before observed, wherever the following phrase,



their blood [shall be] upon them, is used, stoning is meant; and so, according to the Misnah {e}, all those were to be stoned, after mentioned, of whom this phrase is used.



{d} Misn. ut supra, (Sanhedrin, c. 7.) sect. 4. {e} lbid.





Leviticus 20:12



Ver. 12. If a man lie with his daughter in law,.... His son's wife, whether in the lifetime of his son, or after his death, or whether she was espoused or married, according to the above tradition {f}:



both of them shall surely be put to death; it being a breach of the law in Le 18:15; and this is the penalty annexed to it, even death:



they have wrought confusion: have been guilty of a shocking and shameful mixture, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom, as well as confounded the degrees of relation and affinity:



their blood [shall be] upon them; it being a capital crime, their, blood shall be shed for it; they shall be found guilty of death by stoning, as the Targum of Jonathan.



{f} Misn. ut supra. (Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 4.)





Leviticus 20:13



Ver. 13. If a man lie also with mankind, as he lieth with a woman,.... Is guilty of the sin of sodomy, this is a breach of the law in

Le 18:22;



both of them have committed an abomination; he that lies, and he that is lain with, both consenting to perpetrate the abominable wickedness; which may well be called an abomination, being contrary to nature, and more than brutish, for nothing of that kind is to be found among brutes:



they shall surely be put to death; if he that is lain with is not forced, as Aben Ezra observes:



their blood [shall be] upon them; be slain by stoning, as the above Targum.





Leviticus 20:14



Ver. 14. And if a man take a wife, and her mother,.... Marry both the one and the other, or commit uncleanness with them, they consenting to it:



it [is] wickedness; abominable wickedness, shocking and detestable; there are other things, which also are wicked and not to be done, but this is extremely wicked, wickedness to a high degree:



they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; the man, the mother and her daughter both being married together to him, or both consenting to his lying with them; otherwise, if one of them was first his wife, it was not reasonable that she should be put to death; and therefore some interpret "they", one of them, as Jarchi observes, one or other of them; and so Aben Ezra explains it, this or that; if the mother was his wife, the daughter was to be burnt; and so on the contrary, if the daughter was his wife, the mother was to be burnt; according to the Targum of Jonathan, they were to be burnt by pouring lead into their mouths: and so the manner of burning is described in the Misnah {g}; they that are to be burnt are fixed in dung up to their knees, then they put a hard napkin within a soft one, and roll it about is neck; one draws it one way, and another another way, until he opens his mouth; then they take hot melted lead, and pour it into his mouth, which goes down into his bowels and burns them. But it was rather done with faggots, of which an instance is given:



that there be no wickedness among you; of such kind, continued, countenanced, and pass unpunished. This punishment was to be inflicted, to deter persons from it. The law against it is in Le 18:17.



{g} Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 2.





Leviticus 20:15



Ver. 15. If a man lie with a beast,.... A sin quite unnatural, exceeding shocking and detestable, forbid Le 18:23:



he shall surely be put to death: by stoning, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; and this is the death such are condemned to in the Misnah {h}:



and ye shall slay the beast; with clubs, as says the Targum of Jonathan; the reasons given in the Misnah {i}, why the beast was to be slain, are, because ruin came to the man by means of it, and that it might not be said, as it passed along the streets, that is the beast for which such an one was stoned. Aben Ezra says it was to be slain, that it might not cause others to sin; and he adds, there are that say it was to cover the reproach: no doubt the true reason was to deter the more from this detestable sin, that if a beast, which was only accessory to it, and an instrument of it, was put to death, of how much sorer punishment must the man that committed it be worthy of, even of eternal wrath and destruction, and, unless repented of and forgiven, must be expected by him?



{h} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 4. {i} Ibid.





Leviticus 20:16



Ver. 16. And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto,.... In order that the beast may lie with her, and solicit it to commit such an action with her, see Le 18:23;



thou shall kill the woman and the beast: the woman by stoning, and the beast with clubs, as the Targum of Jonathan; and this for the same reasons as before, as well as to prevent monstrous births:



they shall surely be put to death; both the one and the other, and not spared:



their blood [shall be] upon them; they are guilty of a capital crime, a crime which deserves death; this must be understood of the man that lies with a beast, and of the woman; for as for the beast itself, as it is not capable of sinning, so not of guilt, in a proper sense.





Leviticus 20:17



Ver. 17. And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter,.... Take her to be his wife, or commit lewdness with her, whether she be his sister by both father and mother's side, or whether by one only, either way she is his sister, and it is not lawful to marry her, or lie with her, see Le 18:9:



and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; which is not to be understood of an immodest view, exposing to each other what should not be seen, and pleasing themselves wills such obscene sights, but of the act of lying together, for so it is afterwards explained by a phrase frequently used to express that action by; and it denotes, as Aben Ezra observes, their mutual consent and agreement in it:



it [is] a wicked thing; and by no means to be done; it is a breach of a former law, it is a scandalous and reproachful thing, and the word is sometimes used for reproach, as in Pr 14:34;



and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people; by death, either by the hand of the civil magistrate, or by the hand of God, by the pestilence, as the Targum of Jonathan; Ben Gersom interprets it, of their dying childless, as in some following cases, Le 20:20;



he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; or lay with her, which explains a preceding clause:



he shall bear his iniquity; the punishment of it, and he alone, as Aben Ezra observes.





Leviticus 20:18



Ver. 18. And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness,.... Her monthly courses, which make her weak and languid, which is forbidden, Le 18:19; this is not to be understood of a man's lying with his wife ignorantly, when in such a condition, for this being the case, he was only unclean seven days, Le 15:24; whereas this made him and her liable to cutting off, as in an after clause; but of his lying with her, knowing this to be the case with her, and of which she could not be ignorant, and therefore both liable to the same punishment; or else of any other man lying with her, or of any man lying with any woman, married or unmarried, being in such circumstances:



and shall uncover her nakedness; that is, have carnal knowledge of her:



he hath discovered her fountain; from whence her issue of blood flows: and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood; freely and willingly, as Aben Ezra observes; for if she had been forced, he alone would have been cut off; but both these phrases put together show agreement in this matter, that they both had knowledge of her case, and both consented to commit the sin:



and both of them shall be cut off from among their people; by death, either by the hand of the civil magistrate, the case being known and proved, or else by the hand of God being known by mortality or the pestilence, as the Targum of Jonathan, or they should die childless;

See Gill on "Le 20:17".





Leviticus 20:19



Ver. 19. And thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister, nor of thy father's sister,.... An aunt either by mother or father's side, against which the law is, Le 18:13;



for he uncovereth his near kin; as an aunt is to a man, and so an uncle to a woman, and both equally criminal; for it is a rule that holds good in all those cases, though not expressed, that what is binding upon one sex is upon the other, being in the same degree of relation, whether of consanguinity or affinity:



they shall bear their iniquity; "both" of them, as the Vulgate Latin version, the man and his aunt, and so a woman and her uncle;



the guilt of their sin shall be upon them, and the punishment of it be inflicted on them; either they should be cut off from their people, as before, or be childless, as in the following instances.





Leviticus 20:20



Ver. 20. And if a man shall lie with his uncle's wife,.... His uncle being dead, and he marry her, which is forbidden, Le 18:14;



he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: his wife's, which was his, and therefore the kindred too near for a man to marry in, and such a copulation must be incestuous:



they shall bear their sin; "both" of them, as the Vulgate Latin, as before, Le 20:19; the punishment of it, as follows:



they shall be childless; which Jarchi and other Jewish writers interpret, if they had any children at this time, that is, by a former marriage, they should die and be buried before them, which was reckoned a great punishment, see Jer 22:30.





Leviticus 20:21



Ver. 21. And if a man shall take his brother's wife,.... To his wife, whether in his life, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, or whether after his death, unless when there is no issue, then he was obliged to it by another law, De 25:5; which is now ceased, and the law in

Le 18:16; here referred to, stands clear of all exceptions:



it [is] an unclean thing; or a "separation" {k} from which a man should remove and keep at a distance, as from menstruous women, of whom this word is used; and so denotes that it is by all means to be avoided, as an abominable and detestable thing; and it is observed that of all copulations it is only used of this: and the Jewish writers, as Aben Ezra and others, observe that this case is somewhat like that of a menstruous woman, who in the time of her separation is unlawful, but when out of it lawful; and so, in this case, a brother's wife might not be taken, he being alive; but after his death she might, if she had no son, according to the law before referred to, but that is now abolished:



he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness; his wife's, which was his brother's; which through nearness of kin, he ought not to have done; and the same holds good of a wife's sister, the relation being the same:



they shall be childless; they shall have none by such a marriage or copulation, and die without any; and as this supposes the brother's wife to have children by her first husband, or otherwise while the Jewish law lasted, it would not have been unlawful to marry her husband's brother; the meaning may be, that these should die before them, or rather, as some think, those that might be born of such a marriage should not be reckoned legitimate, and so not inherit.



{k} hdn "separatio", Drusius,





Leviticus 20:22



Ver. 22. Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes,.... All the ordinances, institutions, and appointments of God, whether observed in this chapter or elsewhere, but particularly those concerning incestuous marriages and unlawful copulations:



and all my judgments, and do them; all the laws and commandments of God, founded injustice and judgment, and according to the rules thereof; or else, as Aben Ezra, the judgments of punishment, or the penalties annexed to the above laws, which were carefully to be observed, and put into execution, to deter from the transgression of them:



that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spew you not out; as the stomach does its food when it is loathsome and nauseous to it, and it cannot bear it; see Le 18:25.





Leviticus 20:23



Ver. 23. And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation which I cast out before you,.... Nation seems to be put for nations, for there were seven nations cast out for them; though the Canaanites may be intended, being a general name for the whole: some think the Amorites are meant, who were a principal nation, and notorious for their wickedness: hence we often meet with this phrase in Jewish writings, "the way of the Amorites", as being exceeding bad, and so to be avoided, and by no means to be walked in, Ge 15:16;



for they committed all these things; were guilty of all the idolatries, incests, and uncleannesses before mentioned, and forbid under severe penalties:



and therefore I abhorred them; the sins committed by them, being so abominable and detestable: their persons, though the creatures of God, were had in abhorrence by him, and this he showed by casting them out of the land; and hereby it is suggested, that, should they, the Israelites, be guilty of the like, they also would be rejected and abhorred by him: the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan are,



"my Word abhorred them,''



Christ, the eternal Word, Ps 45:7.





Leviticus 20:24



Ver. 24. But I have said unto you, ye shall inherit the land,.... Promised it unto them, as he had to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and also to them; or he had said the above things unto them, that they, observing them, might possess the land of Canaan, and continue therein, which is the sense of the Targum of Jonathan: the Jews say, that the right of inheritance belonged to them, from Shem the son of Noah, whose portion it was, and which they gather from Melchizedek being king of Salem, whom they take to be Shem; and they say, the Canaanites only dwelt in it to make it better, till they should come and inherit it:



and I will give it unto you to possess it; in whose gift it was, and who had a right to dispose of it; and could give them a good title to it, and secure them in the possession of it:



a land that floweth with milk and honey; abounding with all good things, with all the comforts of life, with everything both for necessity and delight; see Ex 3:8;



I [am] the Lord your God, which have separated you from [other] people; had chosen them above all people, to be a special and peculiar people to him; had distinguished them by his favours, and had given them particular laws and ordinances, to observe and walk according to them, different from all other nations, which it became them carefully to regard.





Leviticus 20:25



Ver. 25. Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean,.... The ten clean ones, as Aben Ezra observes, and all the rest that are unclean, according to the law before given, Le 11:3, by using the one for food, and not the other, and so the Targum of Jonathan, ye shall separate between the beast which is fit for food, and that which is not fit for food:



and between unclean fowls and clean; and which the same Targum interprets, what is unfit to eat and what is fit, even all that are particularly mentioned as unclean, and not fit for food, in

Le 11:13 and all the rest not excepted to as clean and fit for food, which was one way and means God made use of to separate them from other nations, and so preserve them from their idolatrous and evil works:



and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground; that is, by eating them, contrary to the command of God, which would make them abominable in his sight; see Le 11:43; every sin or transgression of this law being so to him:



which I have separated from you as unclean; which by law he had commanded them to abstain from the use of, as clean, and not fit to be eaten.





Leviticus 20:26



Ver. 26. And ye shall be holy unto me,.... Separated from all unclean persons and things, and devoted to his service, and obedient to all his commands, and so live holy lives and conversations, according to his will, and to his honour and glory:



for I the Lord [am] holy; and therefore they, his people, should be like him, and imitate him, and observe those things which are agreeable to his holy nature and will, and yield a cheerful obedience to his holy precepts:



and have severed you from [other] people, that ye should be mine; which is a very forcible argument, a strong motive, and which laid them under great obligation to obedience and holiness.





Leviticus 20:27



Ver. 27. A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit,.... Or the spirit of Python or divination, see Le 19:31; such as the damsel had in Ac 16:16; a woman is here particularly mentioned, though before included in the above law; because, as Aben Ezra says, such sort of practices were more frequently committed by women; to which Maimonides {l} adds another reason, because men have a natural clemency towards the female sex, and are not easily prevailed upon to put them to death; therefore the law says, "thou shall not suffer a witch to live",

Ex 22:18;



or that is a wizard; a knowing one, who pretends to a great deal of knowledge of things; as of lost or stolen goods, and even knowledge of things future, and imposes upon persons, and cheats them of their money they give for information: such



shall surely be put to death: and not spared through favour and affection: the death they are to be put to follows:



they shall stone them with stones; until they are dead; of the manner of stoning, See Gill on "Ac 7:58";



their blood [shall be] upon them: they are worthy of death, and they shall suffer it: this phrase following upon the former, the Jews {m} gather from hence, that, wherever it is used, it is to be understood of stoning; See Gill on "Le 20:9".



{l} Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 37. {m} Torat Cohanim in Yalcut in loc.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Leviticus 21:1



INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 21



This chapter respects the priests, the sons of Aaron, and forbids their mourning for the dead, unless in some cases, Le 21:1; or their marriage with an whore or a divorced woman, Le 21:7; and the daughters of any of them to commit fornication, which is made punishable with death, Le 21:9; and it contains particular laws for the high priest to observe, who was not to mourn for any, even for his parents, Le 21:10; nor to go out of the sanctuary, Le 21:12; nor to marry any woman but a virgin, Le 21:13; and it also directs, that none of the priests having any blemish in them should be employed in divine service, though they might eat of the holy things,

Le 21:16.



Ver. 1. And the Lord said unto Moses,.... According to some Jewish writers this was said on the day the tabernacle was set up; no doubt it was delivered at the same time the above laws were given; and as care was taken for the purity and holiness of the Israelites in general, it was necessary that the priests that were concerned in a more especial manner in the service and worship of God should be holy also, and have some instructions given them to take care and keep themselves from all defilements; and particularly the Jewish writers observe, that this paragraph or section concerning the priests follows upon, and is in connection with the law concerning such as have familiar spirits, and wizards, to teach men, that in matters of doubt and difficulty they should not have recourse to such persons, but to the priests of the Lord:



speak unto the priests, the sons of Aaron; the priests, whether elder or younger, whether fit for service, and whether having blemishes, or not; for there are some things which concern them, and these are sons, male children of Aaron, as the Targum of Jonathan, and not daughters, as Jarchi and others observe; for they were not obliged to regard the laws and rules here given:



and say unto them, there shall none be defiled for the dead among his people; by entering into a tent or house where a dead body lay, by touching it, or by hearing it, or attending it to the grave, or by any expressions of mourning for it, see Nu 19:11; that is, for any person in common that were of his people, that were not nearly related to him, as in the cases after excepted; so it was a custom with the Romans, as we are told {n}, that such as were polluted by funerals might not sacrifice, which shows that priests were not allowed to attend funerals, which perhaps might be taken from hence; and so Porphyry says {o}, that sacred persons and inspectors of holy things should abstain from funerals or graves, and from every filthy and mournful sight.



{n} Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. l. xi. ver. 3. {o} De Abstinentia, l. 2. c. 50.





Leviticus 21:2



Ver. 2. But for his kin that is near unto him,.... For such he might be defiled and mourn, or be where they were, and take care of, and attend their funerals: this clause some take to be general, of which the particulars follow, as Aben Ezra; but others take it to be the first particular excepted, and instanced in, and intends his wife; for it may be rendered, as by some, "for his flesh", or "the rest of him" {p}, the other part of himself, his wife, which is his other self, and one flesh with him; and so Jarchi and others observe, there is no flesh of his, but his wife; and if she is not intended here, she is not expressed elsewhere, though must be supposed, because it is allowed the priest to defile himself for other relations not so near; and it is plain from the case of Ezekiel, that a priest might mourn for his wife,

Eze 24:15; he being forbid it, shows his case to be an extraordinary one, and that ordinarily it was admitted, otherwise there would have been no need of a particular prohibition of him:



[that is], for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and his brother; R. Alphes adds {q}, "and his wife"; these being all near relations, and for whom natural affection would lead and oblige him to mourn, and show a concern for their death, and to take care of their funeral. This is to be understood of common priests; for as for the high priest, he might not mourn, or be concerned for either of these.



{p} wravl "carne sua", Pagninus, Montanus. {q} Sepher Alphes, par. 1. fol. 410. 2.





Leviticus 21:3



Ver. 3. And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him,.... That is, his sister by both father's and mother's side, as Aben Ezra; though, according to Gersom, his sister by his father's side, and not by his mother's side, is meant; but, according to Alphes, by his mother's side: perhaps this may signify not nearness of kin, which is expressed by being his sister, but nearness of place, for, being unmarried, she remained unto her death in her father's house:



which hath had no husband; neither betrothed to one, for then she would have been nigh to her husband, and not her brother, and therefore he might not pollute himself for her, as Gersom observes; nor married to him, for such an one he might not defile himself, even though she might have been rejected or divorced by her husband, as the same writer says:



for her may he be defiled; for a pure virgin that had never been betrothed nor married to a man, and had never departed from her father's house, and so had no husband to mourn for her, and take care of her funeral, and so for all the rest before mentioned; and which Jarchi says is a command, and not a bare sufferance or allowance, but what he ought and was obliged to do; and so it is related of Joseph {r}, a priest, that his wife died in the evening of the sabbath, and he would not defile himself for her, and his brethren the priests obliged him, and made him defile himself against his will.



{r} T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 90. 1.





Leviticus 21:4



Ver. 4. [But] he shall not defile himself, [being] a chief man among his people,.... Which is not to be understood of any lord or nobleman or any chief ruler or governor of the people; for the context speaks only of priests, and not of other personages; besides, such might defile themselves, or mourn for their dead, as Abraham did for Sarah; nor of any husband for his wife, for even a priest, as has been observed, might do this for his wife, and much more a private person; nor is there any need to restrain it, as some Jewish writers do, to an adulterous wife, which a husband might not mourn for, though he might for his right and lawful wife; but there is nothing in the text, neither of an husband, nor a wife: the words are to be interpreted of a priest, and either of him as considered as a person of eminence, consequence, and importance, and sons giving a reason why he should not defile himself for the dead, because he was a principal person among his people to officiate for them in sacred things; wherefore if he did not take care that he was not defiled for the dead, which might often happen, he would be frequently hindered from doing his office for the people, which would be attended with ill consequence to them; and therefore the above cases are only excepted, as being such that rarely happened: or rather the words are to be considered as a prohibition of defiling himself "for [any] chief" {s}, or principal man, lord, ruler, or governor, among his people; even for such an one he was not to defile himself, being no relation of his:



to profane himself; make himself unfit for sacred service, or make himself a common person; put himself upon a level with a common private man, and be no more capable of serving at the altar, or doing any part of the work off priest, than such an one.



{s} wymeb leb "in principe populi sui", V. L. so Pesicta & Ben Melech in loc. & Kimchi Sepher Shorash. rad. leb





Leviticus 21:5



Ver. 5. They shall not make baldness upon their head,.... For the dead, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Ben Gersom; not shave their heads, or round the corners of them, or make baldness between their eyes on that account; as those things were forbid the Israelites, so the priests also; this and what follow being superstitious customs used among the Heathens in their mournings for the dead, particularly by the Chaldeans, as Aben Ezra observes; and so by the Grecians; when Hephestion, one of Alexander's captains, died, he shaved his soldiers and himself, imitating Achilles in Homer {t}; so the Egyptians, mourning for the loss of Osiris, annually shaved their heads {u}; and the priests of Isis, mourning for her lost son, are called by Minutius Felix {w} her bald priests; see Le 19:27;



neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard: the five corners of it; See Gill on "Le 19:27". This the Israelites in common might not do, and particularly their priests; though the Egyptian priests shaved both their heads and beards, as Herodotus {x} relates: and so they are represented in the Table of Isis {y}:



nor make any cuttings in their flesh; either with their nails, tearing their cheeks and breasts, or with an instrument cutting their flesh in any part of their bodies, as was the custom of Heathen nations; such were made by the Egyptians in their mournings {z};

See Gill on "Le 19:28".



{t} Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 7. c. 8. {u} Julius Firmicus de Error. Proph. p. 2. {w} In Octavio, p. 22. Vid. Lactant. de fals. Relig. l. 1. c. 21. {x} Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 36. {y} Vid. Pignorii Mens. Isiac. liter. S. {z} Julius Firmicus, ut supra. ({u})





Leviticus 21:6



Ver. 6. They shall be holy unto their God,.... Sacred to his service, and wholly given up to it, and not interest themselves in things which hindered from it, or made them unfit for it; and such care becomes the ministers of the word, who should give up themselves to it, and not entangle themselves with other affairs; they should be clean, pure, and holy, that bear the vessels of the Lord, and minister in holy things, and should set an example of purity and holiness to others:



and not profane the name of their God; or cause it to be profaned and evil spoken of on their account, or his service to be interrupted, and they who bore his name put upon a level with common persons through their pollutions:



for the offerings of the Lord made by fire; the burnt offerings, which were offered up to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering every day, besides others on divers occasions:



[and] the bread of their God do they offer; the shewbread, which they set every week before the Lord on the shewbread table, and the meat or bread offering, the "minchah", which they continually offered along with the sacrifices: or the word "and", being a supplement, may be left out; and so this clause is put by way of apposition, and as interpreting the fire offering to be the bread of their God, which being wholly burnt on the altar, and devoted to God, was his meat and food, and accepted by him, see Le 3:11;



therefore they shall be holy; separate from all others, and abstain from all impurity both of flesh and spirit, from all uncleanness, moral and ceremonial; it being highly fit and proper that the bread of God should be offered by holy persons.





Leviticus 21:7



Ver. 7. They shall not take a wife [that is] a whore, or profane,.... By the former is meant a common whore, that prostitutes herself to any one through lust or for gain; and by the latter one whose chastity is violated, but either unwillingly, that has been forced and ravished, or else willingly, being enticed, persuaded, and prevailed upon, but did not make a practice of it; this seems to be the true sense of the words: but the Jewish writers understand them differently; by a "whore" they suppose is meant one that is not an Israelitish woman, that is not born of an Israelite, at least of an Israelitish woman, as proselytes or freed persons; for they say there are no whores but such, or one that lies with such persons, she may not marry with; as such as are guilty of cutting off, or any of the Nethinim, or spurious persons, so Jarchi; and by a "profane" person they think is meant such as are born of those that are rejected, as the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it; that is, that are either born of incestuous marriages, such as are forbidden, Le 18:1; or that are born of those that are rejected in the priesthood, or whom a priest might not marry, as the daughter of a widow, by the high priest, or the daughter of one divorced, by a common priest, which is the sense of Jarchi:



neither shall they take a woman put away by her husband: which was, in these and later times, common for any offence, when the crime of adultery was not pretended; but this always supposed something bad or amiss, and made such a woman suspected of having done an unseemly thing, therefore priests were forbidden marrying such persons: the Targum of Jonathan adds,



"or by her husband's brother;''



and so takes in one that has loosed the shoe, as the Jews call her, who being left without issue, her husband's brother refused to marry her, and therefore she plucked off his shoe, and spit in his face, see

De 25:7; such an one a priest might not marry, according to this paraphrast, and other Jewish writers, and if he did was to be beaten {a};



for he [is] holy unto his God; separated from common persons, and devoted to the service of God, and therefore not to be defiled with such sort of women, or to lie under any scandal or reproach through such, marriages.



{a} Misn. Maccot, c. 3. sect. 1.





Leviticus 21:8



Ver. 8. Thou shalt sanctify him therefore,.... In thought and word, as Aben Ezra, by thinking and speaking well of him; should esteem and reckon him a holy person, being in a sacred office, and honour him as such; and do all that can be done to preserve him from unholiness and impurity, and particularly from marrying with improper and unsuitable persons, such as would bring a scandal on him and his sacred office: this seems to be spoken to Moses, and so to the civil magistrate in succession, who were not to suffer such marriages to take place in the priesthood; and were not only to persuade from it, but to exercise their authority, and oblige them to put away such wives, and if they refused, to use severity; so Jarchi,



""thou shalt sanctify him", whether he will or not; if he will not put her away, beat him and chastise him until he does put "her away",''



see Ezr 2:62;



for he offereth the bread of the Lord; meaning not the shewbread he set in order before the Lord every week, but the various gift and sacrifices which were offered to God by him, and were acceptable to him as his food; and therefore he ought to be holy that drew nigh to God, and was employed in such service, see Le 21:6;



he shall be holy unto thee; in thy account and estimation, and for thy service to offer holy sacrifices, and therefore should be careful of his holiness to preserve it:



for I the Lord, which sanctify you, [am] holy; in his nature, works, and ways, and who had separated them from all other people to be a holy people to him, and therefore they that ministered in holy things for them should be holy likewise.





Leviticus 21:9



Ver. 9. And the daughter of any priest,.... The Targum of Jonathan restrains it to one that is betrothed; but others, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, whether betrothed or married; and all confess, as the former says, that the Scripture does not speak of one that is single or entirely free: but there is no exception in the text; and besides, the daughter of any man that was betrothed to a man, and guilty of the crime here spoken of, was to die, De 22:23; and therefore such a law respecting the priest's daughter would be needless; unless it can be thought that it was made merely for the sake of the different kind of death she was to be put to, and that burning was a more terrible one than stoning:



if she profane herself by playing the whore; which brings scandal and disgrace on any person, and much more on anyone that had the honour of being related to a person in such a sacred office, and the advantage of a more strictly religious education, and had eaten of the holy things in her father's house; all which were aggravations of her crime, and made it the more scandalous and reproachful to her: some render it, "when she begins to play the whore" {b}; as soon as ever it is discovered in her, and she is taken in it; even for the first that she commits, she is not to be spared, but put to death:



she profaneth her father: which is another aggravation of her sin; she brings him under disgrace, disparages his office, and exposes him to censure, reproach, and ridicule, as not having taken care of her education, and taught her better, and kept her under restraints; men will upbraid him with it, saying, this is a priest's daughter that has committed this lewdness; nor will say of him, as Jarchi observes, cursed be he that begat her, and cursed be he that brought her up:



she shall be burnt with fire; not with hot melted lead poured down her mouth, but with faggots set about her; See Gill on "Le 20:14"; no punishment is here fixed for the person that lay with her, but, according to the Jewish canons {c}, she was to be strangled.



{b} twnzl lxt yk "cum coepit fornicari", Pagninus, Montanus; so Tigurine version. {c} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 10. sect. 1. Maimon. Issure Biah, c. 1. sect. 6.





Leviticus 21:10



Ver. 10. And [he that is] the high priest among his brethren,.... Either among his brethren, the priests, being in office above them; or among his brethren the Israelites, among and over whom he is high priest; or, as others render it, "the priest who is greater than his brethren" {d}, in an higher office; the Jews say {e} the high priest was to be greater than his brethren, in beauty, in strength, in wisdom, and in riches; and if he had not money enough, all the priests were to give him of theirs, everyone according to his riches, until he became the richest among them all:



upon whose head the anointing oil was poured; as it was poured upon Aaron at his consecration, and those that succeeded him, Ex 29:7 Le 8:12;



and that is consecrated to put on the garments; the eight garments with which the high priest was clothed at the time of his consecration, Le 8:7; and in which he and his sons are said to be consecrated,

Ex 29:29; in order to which he was "to fill his hand"; as the phrase here is, that is, with the fat and right shoulder of the ram of consecration, and with the loaf of bread, and cake of oiled bread, and wafer, Ex 29:23; in all which he was a type of Christ, the great High Priest, as he is often called, who is greater than his brethren in all the above things, the high priest exceeded his brethren, except in worldly riches; and yet the earth also is his, and the fulness thereof, well as he is fairer than the children of men, stronger than the strong man armed, and the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid in him; he is anointed also with the oil of gladness above his fellows; and all his garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia, and is consecrated an high priest for evermore: of the high priest it is said, he



shall not uncover his head: that is, on account of the dead; not take off his mitre, or in any such way express mourning for the dead; or shall not nourish his hair or let it grow, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; and so Jarchi interprets it, he shall not let the hair grow for mourning; and what is nourishing of the hair? when it is let grow more than thirty days:



nor rend his clothes; that is, on the same account, and therefore Jonathan adds, in the hour of distress, or mourning for the dead; otherwise, in case of blasphemy, he might rend his clothes, see

Mt 26:65; and indeed, according to the Jewish canons, he might rend his clothes in mourning, only in a different manner from common priests; for so they say {f},



"he may not rend for the dead, as other priests,''



as it is said: "nor rend his clothes"; and if he rends he is to be beaten, but he may rend below over against (or near) his feet; and so in the Misnah {g}, an high priest rends below, and a common priest above; See Gill on "Le 10:6".



{d} So Pagninus, Ainsworth, and others. {e} T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 18. 1. Horayot, fol. 9. 1. Cholin, fol. 134. 2. Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 5. sect. 1. & in Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 3. & Bartenora in ib. {f} Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 5. sect. 6. {g} Horayot, c. 3. sect. 5.





Leviticus 21:11



Ver. 11. Neither shall he go in to any dead body,.... That is, into a tent or house where any dead body lies, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it, for whoever went into such a place was unclean seven days; and so long therefore an high priest, should he enter there, would be prevented doing the duty of his office, see Nu 19:14; this was aped and followed by the Heathens in later times; so among the Romans, the "Flamen Dialis", or high priest of Jupiter, might not go into a place where a dead body was burnt or buried, nor touch any {h}; and it was a custom with them, as Servius {i} tells us, to put a branch of cypress at the door of a house where a dead body was, that an high priest might not enter through ignorance, and be defiled:



nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother; by entering into the tent or house where they lay dead, or by touching them, or attending the funeral of them, or by concerning himself about it; and there was no need to mention his son or his daughter, his brother or his sister; for if he was not to defile himself for any of his parents, much less for any of those which are excepted in the case of a common priest, Le 21:2; the Jews do indeed make one exception in the case of an high priest, and that is, that if he meets with a dead body in the way, he was obliged to defile himself for it and bury it {k}; and so among the Romans, though it was a crime for an high priest to look upon a dead body, yet it was reckoned a greater, if, when he saw it, he left it unburied {l}.



{h} Massurius Sabinus, apud A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l. 10. c. 15. {i} In Virgil. Aeneid. l. 3. ver. 64. "atraque cupresso". {k} Maimon. Hilchot Ebel, c. 3. sect. 8. {l} Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. l. 6. ad ver. "praecipue pius Aeneas", &c.





Leviticus 21:12



Ver. 12. Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary,.... In the time of service, upon any occasion whatever; otherwise, when there was a necessity for it, he might go out from thence, though this was rarely done, and only in the night time: Maimonides {m} says he had a house prepared for him in the sanctuary, called the chamber of the high priest; and it was his honour and his glory to remain in the sanctuary all the day, and he did not go out, except to his own house, and that only in the night, or an hour or two in the day; and his house was in Jerusalem, and from thence he never removed: but this law respects him only in the case of his dead; as when any news was brought him of the death of his father, or of his mother, if in his service, he was not to quit it on any account; for we are told {n}, that an high priest might offer when mourning, though he might not eat in such a circumstance, whereas a common priest might neither offer nor eat; nor might an high priest go out of the sanctuary on such an occasion, if he was not in service, as to follow the dead corpse or bier, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it; at least, he was to go no further than the gate of the city; though even this is not allowed by others, who say {o}, if the dead were his, he might not go out after it; he might not go out of the door of his house, nor out of the sanctuary, and all the people were to come and comfort him at his own house:



nor profane the sanctuary of his God; by deserting the service of it, on any account, and particularly on account of the dead, by departing from it to go after them, and by entering into it again before the time, when so defiled:



for the crown of the anointing oil of his God [is] upon him; the anointing oil, which was a crown of glory, and gave him a superior dignity to others, which it became him to be careful not to debase by any of the above things: or "the crown and the anointing oil", so some {p} supply the word "and"; both the golden plate or the holy crown, as it is sometimes called, and the anointing oil were upon him, which showed him to be a very dignified person, a sort of king as well as a priest, and so a type of Christ, who is a priest upon his throne, Zec 6:13;



I [am] the Lord: whose high priest he is, and who command him all these things, and expect to be obeyed in them.



{m} Cele Hamikdash, c. 5. sect. 7. {n} Misn. Horayot, c. 3. sect. 5. {o} Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 5. sect. 5, 6. Vid. Misn. Sanhedrim, c. 2. sect. 1. {p} So Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.





Leviticus 21:13



Ver. 13. And he shall take a wife in her virginity. One, and not two, or more, as Ben Gersom observes; and so Maimonides says {q}, an high priest might never take two women together; for it is said, "a wife", or "woman", one, and not two; and so it is explained in the Talmud {r}; for though polygamy was practised by the Israelites, and even by the common priests, yet these writers suppose it was by no means allowed to an high priest: among the Egyptians, though they took as many wives as they pleased, their priests, married but one {s}; and so a minister of the New Testament is to be the husband of one wife, 1Ti 3:2; and this wife the high priest was to take was to be a "virgin", one that not only had never known a man, but that was never betrothed to any; yea, according to the Talmudists {t}, who was not quite ripe for marriage, or the time of her puberty not fully completed, which was the age of twelve years; within, or somewhat before that time, the high priest was to marry her, that it might be out of all doubt that she was a pure virgin; since it is said, "in her virginity", within the time of her puberty, before it was quite up; this, by many, is thought to be an emblem of Christ and his church; as he was typified by the high priest, so the church by the virgin he married, which is espoused to Christ as a chaste virgin, 2Co 11:2.



{q} Hilchot Issure Biah, c. 17. sect. 13. {r} T. Bab. Yebamot, fol. 59. 1. {s} Diodor. Sicul. l. 1. p. 72. {t} T. Bab. Yebamot, ibid. Maimon. ut supra. (Cele Hamikdash, c. 5. sect. 5, 6.)





Leviticus 21:14



Ver. 14. A widow,.... The high priest might not marry, whether the widow of a priest or of an Israelite, as Aben Ezra, that is, of any Israelite that was not of the priesthood; and this, whether a widow after espousals, or after marriage, as runs the Jewish canon {u}; the meaning is, that if she was betrothed to a man, and that man died before he married her, and so was a virgin; yet being betrothed to him was reckoned as his widow; and such an one the high priest might not marry, any more than one that had been left a widow, having being married: though, according to the same constitutions, if he had betrothed a widow, and after that was appointed an high priest, he might marry her, and an instance of it is given in Joshua the son of Gamla: and in the same it is observed, that an high priest, when his brother dies, must suffer his shoe to be plucked off, and not marry his brother's widow; which, in other cases, when there was no issue, was required:



or a divorced woman; whether by a priest, or a common Israelite; and indeed, if a common priest might not marry such a person, much less an high priest: or profane anyone born of those that were not fit for priests to marry, as the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi;

See Gill on "Le 21:7";



[or] an harlot; a common prostitute:



those shall he not take any or either of them, to be his wife; which are forbid in order to maintain the dignity of his office, and a reverence of it: there seems to be a gradation in these instances, he might not marry a widow, which was forbidden no other man; and if not such an one, much less a divorced woman, still less a profane person, and least of all an harlot;



but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife; which phrase, "of his own people", did not limit him to his own tribe, and to the fraternity of priests in it, as if he was to marry only in it, or the daughter of a priest; for the priests and Levites being scattered in the several tribes, and having no inheritances in them, were not restrained from marrying into other tribes, as the rest of the tribes were; and so an high priest sometimes married into another tribe, though he took care not to debase himself, by marrying into a mean family: so Jehoiada, the high priest, married Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, 2Ch 22:11; but by this law he was forbid to marry a virgin of another nation, even though a proselytess and one that was made free, as Gersom observes; a captive virgin, and one that was become a Jewess, as Aben Ezra says, he was not allowed to marry.



{u} Misn. Yebamot, c. 6. sect. 4.





Leviticus 21:15



Ver. 15. Neither shall he profane his seed among his people,.... By marrying any such persons, whereby his children, born of them, would lie under disgrace, and be unfit to succeed him in the priesthood, or by marrying among mean persons, or by marrying them to such as were unlawful, and would be a disparagement to them:



for I the Lord do sanctify him; separate him from all others, to the high and sacred office of the high priesthood, and am concerned for his honour and holiness; and therefore it became him to observe these laws and rules, and abstain from such disagreeable marriages.





Leviticus 21:16



Ver. 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.





Leviticus 21:17



Ver. 17. Speak unto Aaron, saying,.... Who being the high priest, it was incumbent on him, at least at this time, to see that the laws and rules relating to the priesthood were observed; and particularly to examine carefully who were and who were not to be admitted to serve in it:



whosoever [he be] of thy seed in their generations; or, "a man of thy seed" {w}, for this only respected his male seed, females of his seed had no concern in the following laws; but his sons, in all successive ages and generations, to the coming of the Messiah, had, whether high priests or common priests:



that hath [any] blemish; in any part of his body, particularly such as are after mentioned:



let him not approach to offer the bread of his God; neither go into the holy place, to set the shewbread in order there, nor to offer any sacrifice upon the altar; so Josephus {x} explains this law; that a priest should be perfect, and if he laboured under any defect, should not ascend the altar, nor enter into the temple: this was imitated by the Heathens: Romulus ordered that such as were weak and feeble in any part of the body should not be made priests {y}: the Jewish priests were types of Christ, who is holy, harmless, without spot and blemish; and through whose blood and righteousness all who are made priests by him are unblamable, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; and a Gospel minister, bishop, or pastor, ought to be unblemished in his life and conversation, Tit 1:6; and there are some who think that the blemishes of the mind and of the life are rather here meant than those of the body.



{w} Kerzm vya "vir de semine tuo", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. {x} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 12. sect. 2. {y} Pompon. Laet. de Sacerdot. c. 6. de Vestalibus.





Leviticus 21:18



Ver. 18. For whatsoever man [he be] that hath a blemish,.... Let him be otherwise ever so well qualified for his office, as with respect to his parentage, against which no objection lies; or, as to his character and abilities, being a man of knowledge and of good manners; and whether these blemishes be, as the Jews {z} call them, fixed, settled ones, which have attended them ever since they were born, and are likely to attend them as long as they live; or are transient ones, only for the present, and perhaps, in a short time, wilt be removed; yet it matters not, while these blemishes are on them,



he shall not approach; to the altar to offer sacrifice, or do any part of the priestly office, for this phrase is expressive of a sacerdotal act: the particular blemishes unfitting a man for such service follow:



a blind man, or a lame; that is blind of one eye, or of both; and is lame of one leg, or of both:



or he that hath a flat nose; which Jarchi explains, whose nose is sunk between his two eyes, whose nose is short, and crooked, or mutilated:



or anything superfluous; more members than usual, as six fingers on an hand, or two gristles in an ear, as Ben Gersom; or whose members are not proportionate, as one eye large and the other small, or one thigh or leg longer than the other, so Jarchi; the Targum of Jonathan is,



"whose thigh (or thigh bone) is out of joint;''



and so a man draws his foot after him, which is the sense of the Rabbins, as observed by Kimchi {a}, and Ben Melech from him; and so such are not fit to be called the priests of the Lord, and much less ministers of his word, who are blind as to the knowledge of divine and spiritual things, and walk not as becomes the Gospel of Christ; or halt between two opinions, or savour not the things of God, and lay not aside all superfluity of naughtiness.



{z} Misn. Zebachim, c. 12. sect 1. & Becorot, c. 7. sect. 1. {a} Sepher Shorash. rad. erv.





Leviticus 21:19



Ver. 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



Ver. 20. Or crookbackt,.... That has a protuberance, or bunch upon his back, one that we commonly call "hunchbacked"; the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it,



"whose eyebrows lying cover his eyes;''



and so Jarchi, interprets it, the hair of whose eyebrows is long and lying; and so other Jewish writers understand it of some deformity about the eyes, the hair of the eyebrows being thick and heavy over them, and so hinder the sight, at least it makes the person not so sightly and graceful; it is said {b}, he that hath no eyebrows, or but one eyebrow, is the "Gibben" (the word here used) spoken of in the law,

Le 21:20:



or a dwarf; one of a small stature, as Aben Ezra, as generally hunchbacked persons are, and so unfit to attend the altar, being scarce able to reach up to it, and do the business of it, as well as must make a very mean appearance; but the above Targums understand this also of some blemish about the eyes, paraphrasing it



"or he that has no hair on his eyebrows,''



just the reverse of the former; Jarchi seems to understand it of a thin small film upon the eye; though something of that kind seems to be intended in the next clause:



or that hath a blemish in his eye; a mixture, a confusion, or rather a suffusion in it, as the above Targum; in which, as one of them says, the white is mixed with the black, and with which agrees what is said in the Misnah {c}, where it is asked, what is the confusion or suffusion? the white which spreads in the his, and enters into the black of the eye; it seems to be a white speck in the pupil of the eye, and so Jarchi, Kimchi {d}, and others interpret it:



or be scurvy or scabbed; both these were kinds of ulcers, according to the Jewish writers, particularly Jarchi, who says of the first, that it is a dry scab within and without; and of the other, that it is the Egyptian scab, which is moist without and dry with it; and so the Targum of Jonathan:



or hath his stones broken; this is differently interpreted in the Misnah {e}, and by other Jewish writers; some say it signifies one that has no testicles, or only one; so the Septuagint and the Jerusalem Targum: others, whose testicles are broken or bruised, so Jarchi: or are inflated, so Akiba, Aben Ezra, and the Targum of Jonathan; some understand it of an "hernia" or rupture, when a man is burstened: all which may in a moral and mystical sense signify either some defect in the understanding, or vices in the heart or life, which render unfit for public service in the sanctuary.



{b} Becorot, c. 7. sect. 2. {c} Ib. c. 6. sect. 2. {d} Ut supra, (Sepher Shorash.) rad. llb. {e} Becorot, c. 7. sect. 5.





Leviticus 21:21



Ver. 21. No man that hath a blemish, of the seed of Aaron the priest,.... Whether an high priest or a common priest that lies on him anyone of the above blemishes; and which the Jewish writers {f} make to amount to the number of one hundred and forty, and which they reckon, so many in one part of the booty and so many in another, till they make up the said number; and whoever had any might not



come nigh to offer up the sacrifices of the Lord made by fire; the burnt offerings on the altar, to which he might not approach, and the meat offerings, and the fat, and the incense:



he hath a blemish; in one part of him or another; and though but one,



he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God: this is repeated for the confirmation of it, and to show how determined the Lord was in this matter; and how much he should resent it in any that should be found guilty of the breach of those rules, and so it is designed to deter from attempting: it.



{f} Maimon. Biath Hamikdash, c. 8. sect. 17.





Leviticus 21:22



Ver. 22. He shall eat the bread of his God,.... That part of the sacrifices which was appropriated by the Lord to the priests, for the maintenance of them and their families; for though their natural infirmities disqualified them for service, yet they did not become hereby impure, either in a moral nor ceremonial sense, and might eat of the sacrifices, which impure persons might not; and so the tradition is, blemished persons, whether their blemishes are fixed or transient, may divide and eat, but not offer {g}; these being priests, and having no inheritance, nor any way of getting their livelihood, provision is made for them that they might not perish through their defects in nature, which were not voluntary and brought upon them by themselves, but by the providence of God; and such were allowed to eat



[both] of the most holy and of the holy; there were things the priests eat of, which were most holy, as what remained of the meat offerings, and of the sin offerings, and of the trespass offerings, which only the males of the priest's family might eat of, and that only in the holy place; and there were others less holy, the lighter holy things, as the Jews call them, as the wave breast, and heave shoulder, and the tithes and firstfruits, which were eaten of by all in their families, their daughters as well as their sons, and in their own houses; now of each of these might the blemished priests eat; see Nu 18:9, &c.



{g} Misn. Zebachim, c. 12. sect. 1.





Leviticus 21:23



Ver. 23. Only he shall not go in unto the vail,.... So far as to the vail, which divided between the holy and the holy of holies; that is, he shall not go into the holy place which was before the vail; not to set the shewbread upon the table there, nor to light and him the lamps in the candlestick, nor to offer incense on the altar of incense, which stood in it: some render it "within the vail" {h}, where only the high priest might enter once a year; but if he had any blemish on him he might not, nor might such an one be an high priest; Aben Ezra seems to have some respect to this in his note,



"to the vail he shall not come, that he may be an high priest:''



nor come nigh unto the altar; as not to the altar of incense in the holy place, so neither to the altar of burnt offering in the court of the tabernacle, that is, so as to officiate there: but though they might not be employed in such sacred service, the Jews in later times have found business for them to employ them in, and that was worming the wood, or searching the wood for worms, which was used in the burning of the sacrifices; for we are told {i}, that at the northeast corner (of the court of the women) was the wood room, where the priests that had blemishes wormed the wood; and whatsoever wood in which a worm was found, was rejected from being laid upon the altar: the reason why he might not go into either place before mentioned is repeated,



because he hath a blemish; either fixed or transient; one of those particularly expressed, or any other; for the Jews suppose there are others implied besides those expressed, which disqualified for service:



that he profane not my sanctuaries; if an high priest, the holy of holies, if a common priest, the holy place, and the court of the tabernacle:



for I the Lord do sanctify them; the vail, to which blemished priests might not go: and the altar, to which they might not come nigh: or rather, the sanctuaries or holy places, where they might not officiate, which God had separated and devoted for sacred uses, and were not to be defiled by any; though Ben Gersom observes, that this has no respect to the sanctuary, for if it had it would have been said, "I am the Lord, that sanctify it"; but since a plural word is used before, I see not but that with great propriety it is expressed, and with reference thereunto, "sanctify them"; which he would have understood of holy things, but what he means is not easy to say, unless the holy things such persons might eat of, Le 21:22, which is fetched.



{h} tkrph la "intra velum", V. L. {i} Misn. Middot, c. 2. sect. 5.





Leviticus 21:24



Ver. 24. And Moses told [it] to Aaron, and to his sons,.... What God had said to him concerning the priests defiling themselves for the dead, both common priests and high priest, and concerning their marriages and their blemishes; that they might be careful not to transgress the laws and rules given them concerning those things:



and to all the children of Israel; to the heads of the tribes and elders of the people, and by them to the whole, that they might know who were fit, and who not, to put their sacrifice into their hands, to offer for them: Jarchi thinks this was to warn the sanhedrim concerning the priests, whose business it was to examine and judge who were fit for service and who not; for so we are told {k}, that in the chamber Gazith, or of hewn stone, the great sanhedrim of Israel sat and judged the priests, and rejected some and received others.



{k} Misn. Middot, c. 5. sect. 3.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Leviticus 22:1



INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 22



In this chapter several laws are delivered out, forbidding the priests to eat of holy things, when in any uncleanness, or at any time what dies of itself, or is torn of beasts, Le 22:1; also showing who belonging to the priests might or might not eat of the holy things,

Le 22:10; and others requiring that whatever offerings were brought by the children, of Israel, they should be perfect and without blemish, Le 22:17; and also declaring what age a creature should be of when sacrificed, and the time when thank offerings were to be eaten, Le 22:26; concluding with an exhortation to observe the commands of God, and sanctify him, and not profane his name,

Le 22:31.



Ver. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Immediately after he had spoken concerning blemishes in priests, and in a continued discourse signifying, that though priests that had blemishes might eat of the holy things, yet neither they, nor even such who had not any, if they were under legal impurity, might eat of them:



saying; as follows.





Leviticus 22:2



Ver. 2. Speak unto Aaron and to his sons,.... The priests; the children of Israel or the common people are not mentioned, as having no concern in the following laws about eating holy things:



that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel; both from offering their lawful sacrifices, which was the business of their office when pure, and chiefly from eating that part of them which was their due, and was allowed them; neither of these they were to do, particularly the latter, when they were in any uncleanness, as the following words show:



and that, they profane not my holy name [in those things] which they hallow unto me; which the children of Israel set apart and devoted to his service; which they would do, by eating their part of them when unclean, and thereby show little reverence to that holy name to which they were devoted; or which the priests themselves sanctified, by offering them to him; for Jarchi says, this takes in the holiness of the priests themselves; but the former seems best, and is confirmed in

Le 22:3:



I [am] the Lord; who is holy himself, and whose holy things these are, and will be sanctified by those that draw nigh unto him.





Leviticus 22:3



Ver. 3. Say unto them, whosoever [he be] of all your seed among your generations,.... Whether male or female, in all succeeding ages, as long as the ceremonial law lasted; for females as well as males of the families of the priests ate of the holy things, provided they had no uncleanness on them, but if they had, they might not:



that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the Lord: that approaches to any of the sacrifices which the children of Israel have devoted to the Lord, either to offer them, or even to touch them, and particularly to eat of them; and so Jarchi and Ben Gersom observe, that this going or drawing near is no other than eating; for touching only, a man was not guilty of cutting off:



having his uncleanness upon him; through a leprosy, or running issue, or touching any unclean person or thing, as the following words explain it:



that soul shall be cut off from my presence; excluded from the sanctuary, and the service of it, where the presence of God was; or be removed out of the world by death, either by the civil magistrate, or by the hand of God, by an immediate death, by the pestilence, as the Targum of Jonathan:



I [am] the Lord; that will avenge the breach of such a law, able to inflict such punishment, and faithful to accomplish every word of his, whether in a way of threatening or promise.





Leviticus 22:4



Ver. 4. What man soever of the seed of Aaron [is] a leper,.... A young, or an old man, as the Targum of Jonathan, and indeed man or woman; for the wives and daughters of the priests, if in this, and other circumstances following, might not eat of the holy things until cleansed, who otherwise might, see Le 13:2;



or hath a running issue; a gonorrhoea, whether man or woman,

Le 15:2;



he shall not eat of the holy things until he be clean; he might eat of the tithes, but not of the wave breast, or heave shoulder:



and whoso toucheth any [that is] unclean [by] the dead; not only that touched the dead, which made unclean, but that touched any person or thing that was made unclean by it:



or a man whose seed goeth from him; involuntarily when asleep, in a dream, and through a lustful imagination; see Le 15:16.





Leviticus 22:5



Ver. 5. Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean,.... Jarchi thinks this respects the measure or quantity of what is touched, as if but the quantity of a lentil or small pea, see Le 11:31;



or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath; as of a leper, a profluvious, or a dead man; Jarchi interprets it of the latter, and of the quantity which defiles, which is that of an olive; who also observes, that the phrase, "whatsoever uncleanness", includes touching a profluvious man or woman, a menstruous woman, and a new mother.





Leviticus 22:6



Ver. 6. The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even,.... Which is the time fixed by the several laws for such uncleannesses, see Le 11:31;



and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water; in forty seahs of water, as the Targum of Jonathan; yea, when the evening is come, he may not eat of the heave or wave offerings, until he has dipped himself all over in water; nor should any eat of the Lord's supper under the New Testament, but such as are first baptized in water.





Leviticus 22:7



Ver. 7. And when the sun is down he shall be clean,.... Having washed himself in water, otherwise not, though the sun may be set:



and shall afterwards eat of the holy things; the families of the priests lived upon:



because it [is] his food: his common food, his ordinary diet, that by which he subsists, having nothing else to live upon; this being the ordination of God, that he which ministered about holy things should live on them; and these being his only substance, in compassion to him they were detained from him no longer than the evening; and this was done, to make him careful how he defiled himself, since thereby he was debarred of his ordinary meals.





Leviticus 22:8



Ver. 8. That which dieth of itself, or is torn [with beasts],.... Whether fowls or beasts, and even clean ones, which, had they been killed in a proper manner, were fit to cut, but dying of themselves, or torn to pieces by other birds or beasts of prey, might not, see

Eze 44:31;



he shall not eat, to defile himself therewith; being impure food, at least in a ceremonial sense, and not fit to be eaten; these things were forbid a common Israelite, and much less might a priest eat of them, see Le 17:15;



I [am] the Lord; who enjoin this, and expect to be obeyed.





Leviticus 22:9



Ver. 9. They shall therefore keep mine ordinance,.... The observance of my word, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, of his word of command; either respecting the not eating of such creatures that died of themselves, or were torn by beasts; or else the not eating holy things in uncleanness, so Jarchi and Gersom; but Aben Ezra thinks the sanctuary is referred to, which was to be kept by the priests, and which seems to agree with what follows:



lest they bear sin for it: the sanctuary, by neglecting it, and so be charged with the guilt of sin, and be obliged to bear the punishment of it:



and die therefore if they profane it; by going into it in their uncleanness, and eating of the most holy things there when in such circumstances, and die by the hand of God, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom interpret it, as Nadab and Abihu did, and even in like manner, by fire,

Le 10:1; and so the Targum of Jonathan,



"lest they die by flaming fire:''



I the Lord do sanctify them; the priests, who were separated from others, and devoted to his service, and therefore ought to be holy; or the holy things separated for the use of the priests, but not to be eaten in their uncleanness; the Arabic version renders it, "do sanctify that", the sanctuary, and therefore it should not be profaned, but be kept pure and holy.





Leviticus 22:10



Ver. 10. There shall no stranger eat [of] the holy thing,.... Any one of the holy things, as the heave shoulder, wave breast, &c. by a "stranger" is not meant one of another nation; though indeed all such were called strangers, and might not eat of these things, Eph 2:12; but one that was not of the family of a priest, though he might be an Israelite, and even a Levite; anyone that was not of the seed of Aaron, as Aben Ezra; any common man or laic, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, excepting those after mentioned:



a sojourner of the priests, or an hired servant, shall not eat [of] the holy thing: by the former is not intended an Heathen, a proselyte of the gate, one that has renounced idolatry, and so permitted to live among the Israelites, of it uncircumcised, who is often understood by one that sojourneth in the gate, but here an Israelitish sojourner; and so the Targum of Jonathan expressly has it,



"a son of an Israelite, who is a sojourner of the priests;''



not that is a guest for a short time, or a boarder with him; for if he may not eat of the holy things, what must he live on while with him? but one that dwells in some part of his house: and by the latter is meant anyone that is hired by the day, or week, or year, and when the time is expired is at his liberty; though the Jewish writers commonly, and particularly Jarchi, interpret the sojourner of the servant that has his ear bored, and is bought with money, until the year of jubilee, and serves for ever; and the hireling of one that is purchased for years, and goes out in the sixth year; but the above objection will lie against these.





Leviticus 22:11



Ver. 11. But if the priest buy [any] soul with his money, he shall eat of it,.... Whether any of his own nation, who sometimes, when become poor, were obliged to sell themselves; or a stranger, as the Targum of Jonathan; one of another nation, a Canaanitish servant, as Jarchi. Now these being his own purchase, and always to abide with him, became part of his family, and so might eat of the provisions of it; and it is from hence the Jews gather, as Jarchi and Gersom, that his wife might eat of the holy things, because bought with his money; but there is a better reason to be given for that, for of whatever family she was before, whether of the priests or not, by marriage she became a part, yea, a principal of his family, being one flesh with him, bearing the same name, and entitled to all the privileges of his house. This is extended by some Jewish writers {l} to cattle, for by any soul they understood also the soul of a beast, which being bought by the priest's money, might eat of the offerings of the tithes:



and he that is born in his house; they shall eat of his meat; whether male or female, as Aben Ezra; these are children of handmaids, as Jarchi, that were bought with his money; and these children being born of them, became his property, and part of his family, and so had a right to the provisions of his house. All this may teach us, that the holy ordinances of the Gospel are not to be administered to strangers, persons destitute of the grace of God, nor to such as are not of the family or church of God, but to such as are bought and redeemed with the blood of Christ, the high priest, and are born again of his Spirit and grace.



{l} Misn. Trumot, c. 11. sect. 9. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. Hilchot Trumot, c. 6. sect. 1.





Leviticus 22:12



Ver. 12. If the priest's daughter also be [married] to a stranger,.... Not to an Heathen, but to any Israelite, that is, a common man, or a layman, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, one that is not a priest; but is married either to a Levite, or an Israelite, as Jarchi:



she may not eat of an offering of the holy things; the heave shoulder or wave breast, &c. being removed into another family by marriage, she is not reckoned of her father's family, and so had no more a right to eat of the holy things.





Leviticus 22:13



Ver. 13. But if the priest's daughter be a widow or divorced,.... If her husband be dead, or if living, and she is put away by him, whether a Levite, or an Israelite:



and have no child: by him, as the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi add, nor is with child by him:



and is returned to her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat; not of all, or any part, only of some, of the heave offering, but not of the shoulder or breast, which is the tradition of the wise men, as Maimonides {m} relates. There are two cases in this affair excepted by them, which they suppose are implied in this clause; the one is, if she is detained and reserved for her husband's brother, according to the law in De 25:5; she being without children; and so the Targum of Jonathan adds,



"and is not kept or reserved for her husband's brother,''



which is implied by her being returned to her father's house; and the other is, if she is with child; for though she had no children by her husband, yet if she is pregnant, that made her unlawful to eat of the holy things; for then she is not as in her youth {n}. The Jewish canon concerning such a person runs thus {o}; the daughter of a priest, married to an Israelite, may not eat of the heave offering; if he dies, and she has a son by him, she may not eat of the heave offering; if she is married to a Levite, she may eat of the tithes: if he dies, and she has a son by him, she may eat of the tithes: if she is married to a priest, she may eat of the heave offering; if he dies, and she has a son by him, she may eat of the heave offering; if her son by the priest dies, she may not eat of the heave offering; if her son by the Levite dies, she may not eat of the tithes; if her son by an Israelite, she may return to her father's house, as it is said Le 22:13;



but there shall no stranger eat thereof; as not anyone of another nation, so not anyone of another family beside the priest's, no, not the son of a priest's daughter by an Israelite, which some think is principally intended; and so Aben Ezra remarks this is said of a son, if she had any, and upon whose account she herself might not eat.



{m} In Misn. Yebamot, c. 9. sect. 6. {n} Misn Yebamot, c. 7. sect. 4. & Bartenora in ib. {o} Misn. Yebamot, c. 9. sect. 6.





Leviticus 22:14



Ver. 14. And if a man eat [of] the holy thing unwittingly,.... Either not knowing that it is an holy thing, or the heave offering, or any thing of that kind; or else is ignorant of the punishment of such an action, as Gersom observes; and this is to be understood of any man that was not a priest, or was not of the priest's family, even any common Israelite; so the Targum of Jonathan, a man of Israel, or an Israelite, one of the common people:



then he shall put a fifth part thereof unto it; a fifth part of the value of what he has eaten, to an equivalent for the whole, that is, he shall pay the full value for what he has eaten, and a fifth part besides:



and shall give [it] to the priest with the holy thing; the meaning is, that he shall give the fifth part to the priest, with the equivalent for what he has eaten; for he could not give the holy thing itself, but a compensation for it; according to Gersom, he was to give the principal to the priest, whose the holy thing was he ate of, and the fifth part he might give to what priest he would. The Jewish canon, concerning this matter, runs thus; he that ignorantly eats the heave offering pays the principal, and the fifth part; and the same, either he that eats, or drinks, or anoints; and whether the heave offering be clean or unclean, he pays the fifth, and the fifth of the fifth; and he does not pay the heave offering but of common things, rightly ordered, and they become an heave offering, and the compensation of it; and if the priest would forgive, he may not {p}.



{p} Misn. Trumot, c. 6. sect. 1.





Leviticus 22:15



Ver. 15. And they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer unto the Lord. By causing or suffering strangers to eat of them; so Jarchi, referring the words to the priests, who should be careful that strangers ate not of sacred things; or by the strangers themselves eating them, whereby they were profaned and used as common things.





Leviticus 22:16



Ver. 16. Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass,.... The punishment of sin: either the strangers,



when they eat their holy things; the holy things belonging to the priests, which they permitting them to do, suffer them to be liable to the punishment incurred thereby, or else the priests themselves; so the Septuagint version renders the word "themselves"; and in like manner Jarchi interprets it; and then the sense may be, according to the Targums of Jonathan and Onkelos, that the priests shall bear the punishment of their sins,



"when they shall eat the holy things in uncleanness,''



which is what is forbidden them in the former part of the chapter; but this seems to be too remote; rather the former sense is best:



for I the Lord do sanctify them; both the priests, to whom the holy things belong, and the holy things for their use, and the use of their families, and them only.





Leviticus 22:17



Ver. 17. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time; for having said many things concerning the holiness of priests, whose business it was to offer sacrifices, he adds various things concerning the nature, condition, and circumstances of the sacrifices they were to offer:



saying, as follows.





Leviticus 22:18



Ver. 18. Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons,.... The priests, whose work it was to offer sacrifices, and therefore it behoved them to know what kind and sort were to be offered by them, when brought to them:



and unto all the children of Israel: who were to bring the sacrifices, and for whom they were to be offered, and therefore should be acquainted with the nature and kind of what would be acceptable to God, and what not:



and say unto them, whatsoever [he be] of the house of Israel; this phrase includes women and servants, and even Gentiles, as say the Jewish writers {q}, who may vow vows, and make voluntary gifts, as well as the Israelites:



or of the strangers in Israel: those of other nations that dwelt there, either proselytes of the gate, or proselytes of righteousness, so Ben Gersom; and Aben Ezra observes, that the text speaks of the stranger, because there is some reason in the vows and freewill offerings of an Israelite and stranger, as follows:



that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the Lord for a burnt offering; the wise men, as Aben Ezra observes, distinguish between a vow and a freewill offering; every vow is a freewill offering, but every freewill offering is not a vow; and though these were both of them sorts of peace offerings, yet they were not received from Gentiles under that notion, but as burnt offerings, because they were offered in devotion to God, and not to be eaten by Israelites; so Maimonides {r} says, they do not receive from Gentiles but burnt offerings only, as it is said

Le 22:25, "neither from a stranger's hand", &c. even burnt offerings of fowls they receive from a Gentile, though he be an idolater; but they do not receive of them peace offerings, nor meat offerings, nor sin offerings, nor trespass offerings; and so burnt offerings, which do not come by way of a vow, or a freewill offering, they do not receive from Gentiles, as the burnt offering of a new mother and the like unto it; a Gentile that brings peace offerings, they offer them as burnt offerings, because the heart of the Gentile is towards heaven.



{q} T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 13. 2. Bartenora in Misn. Shekalim, c. 1. sect. 5. {r} Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 3. sect. 2, 3.





Leviticus 22:19



Ver. 19. Ye shall offer at your own will,.... For vows and freewill offerings were at their own option, and depended on their own will and pleasure, and when offered should be with a willing mind, and from their whole heart: or "for good will to you"; as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; or for gracious, acceptation, that is, that they might be well pleasing to God, and acceptable in his sight, so Jarchi; in order to which the following direction was strictly to be observed:



a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, and of the goats; bullocks, sheep, and goats, were the only sorts of beasts, out of which sacrifices were taken, and those that were for burnt offerings were always to be males, and unblemished, see Le 1:3; but for other offerings, as peace offerings and sin offerings, females might be used, see Le 3:1. Fowls are not mentioned, though burnt offerings were of them, because it was not required in them, only of beasts, that they should be males, and without blemish; for, as Jarchi observes, these were not rejected on account of a blemish, only for want of a member.





Leviticus 22:20



Ver. 20. For whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer,.... Which is the general rule, the particulars of which are after given, and which has been imitated by the Heathens. The Egyptians, as they only sacrificed the males of beeves, so they were very curious in examining them, that they might be entirely pure and perfect {s}; and it was a custom among the Romans, that such sheep should be chosen for sacrifice, in which there was nothing wanting {t}; and so, among the Grecians, Homer {u} speaks of perfect goats offered in sacrifice to appease the gods:



for it shall not be acceptable for you; be grateful to God, and accepted by him on their account, if blemished; see Mal 1:13.



{s} Heredot. Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 38. {t} Servius in Virgil. Aeneid. l. 4. {u} Iliad. 1. ver. 66.





Leviticus 22:21



Ver. 21. And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offering unto the Lord,.... This, as Ben Gersom observes, is distinguished from a burnt offering; for though it was to be perfect, and without blemish, yet not obliged to be a male as that, Le 3:1. This was either by way of thanksgiving for mercies received, Le 7:12, or



to accomplish [his] vow; made in any distress, that if God would deliver him, then he would offer such a sacrifice:



or a freewill offering; either on account of favours received, or in order to obtain them: which sacrifice, whether



in beeves or sheep; whether in bullocks or sheep, under which are comprehended goats, both being of the flock, Le 22:19;



it shall be perfect to be accepted; perfect in all its parts, not only in those that are without and obvious to view, but in those that are within: wherefore the Jewish writers say {w}, if it had but one kidney, or the spleen was consumed, it was unfit for the altar; wherefore, in order to be an acceptable sacrifice to God, it was to be complete in all respects:



there shall be no blemish therein; which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and that it might be observed. Such sacrifices were typical of Christ, the immaculate Lamb of God, who offered himself without spot to him, 1Pe 1:19; and shows that no sacrifice of man's can be so acceptable to God as to atone for him, since none of theirs are perfect, and without blemish.



{w} Maimon. Hilchot Issure Mizbeach, c. 2. sect. 11.





Leviticus 22:22



Ver. 22. Blind, or broken, or maimed,.... Which is "blind" of one eye, or both: and so the Egyptians, as they would not sacrifice any of their oxen that had any blemishes on them, and were of a different colour, or changed in their form, so likewise such that were deprived of either of their eyes {x}. Some, as Aben Ezra observes, restrain that which is "broken" to its being broken in the head; but others interpret it of any fracture of the foot, as well as the head, and even of the tail, side, or rib; though others think, that such fractures as were not open and visible are excepted, as that of the rib; so Gersom; and with the Heathens, as Pliny {y} would have remarked, as they were not used to sacrifice calves, brought on men's shoulders, so neither anything that halted: that which is maimed some understand of that whose foot is broken, as Aben Ezra also remarks; but the word is by the Septuagint rendered, "cut in the tongue"; and the Targum of Jonathan, "whose eyebrows are smitten"; and Jarchi seems to take in both, interpreting it the eyebrow which is cut or broken, and so the lip, which is cut or broken: but it is rather to be understood more generally of its being maimed or mutilated in any part of it; so with the Heathens, as Porphyry {z} affirms, beasts that were mutilated were not to be sacrificed; and in the Comedian {a}, a sacrifice is objected to, because it had no tail; upon which the Scholiast observes, that whatever was mutilated was not offered in sacred services, nor was any thing imperfect or unsound sacrificed to the gods; and particularly Servius {b} remarks, if their tongues were cut or slit; which illustrates the Septuagint version, which is observed by Grotius:



or having a wen: or full of warts, as others; the Targum of Jonathan is, whose eyes are smitten with a mixture of white and black; and so Gersom interprets it of a like defect in the eye, in the white of the eye; for he says, if it was in the black or pupil of the eye, the eye would be blind:



or scurvy or scabbed: the same of those in men;

See Gill on "Le 21:20":



ye shall not offer these unto the Lord; any creatures defective in any of these instances; three times this is said, as Jarchi observes, to make them careful concerning the sanctification of them, and concerning the slaying of them, and concerning the sprinkling of their blood:



nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the Lord; a burnt offering on the altar of burnt offering, or burn the fat of them upon it.



{x} Chaeremon. apud Porphyr. de Abstinentia, l. 4. sect. 7. {y} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 45. {z} De Abstinentia, l. 2. sect. 23. {a} Aristoph. Acharnens. ver. 784. {b} In Virgil. Aeneid. l. 6.





Leviticus 22:23



Ver. 23. Either a bullock, or a lamb that hath anything superfluous,

or lacking in its parts,.... That has either more members than it should have, as five feet, or two gristles in an ear, as Gersom says, or has fewer than it should have; or, as Jarchi, that has one member longer or shorter than another, as the leg or thigh; according to the Targum of Jonathan, that is redundant in its testicles, or deficient therein; the Septuagint version is, that hath its ear or its tail cut; and so the Vulgate Latin version:



that mayest thou offer [for] a freewill offering: for the repair of the sanctuary or temple, as Jarchi and Gersom; money, or the value of the sacrifices, might be given to the priests for that use, but according to them might not be offered upon the altar: but it rather seems to be an exception to the above law, and allows of the sacrifice of them for freewill offering, though not for a vow, as it follows



but for a vow it shall not be accepted; because the other was according to a man's will and pleasure, and he might bring what he would on that account; but when he made a vow that he would offer such a sacrifice, it must be of creatures that were perfect, and without blemish.





Leviticus 22:24



Ver. 24. Ye shall not offer unto the Lord that which bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut,.... The Targum of Jonathan is, whose testicles are pressed and bruised, and whose nerves are corrupted and bruised, and so most Jewish writers interpret it:



neither shall you make [any offering thereof] in your land; any offering of any sort, either burnt offering or peace offering, or any other; or ye shall not do, that is, any such thing as here suggested, not bruise, or crush, or break, or cut the testicles of any creature; so the above writers.





Leviticus 22:25



Ver. 25. Neither from a stranger's hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these,.... That is, from a Gentile, a proselyte of the gate, who had renounced idolatry, and was willing to offer sacrifice to the true God; but what had such defects and blemishes in them as before described the priest might not take of his hands, and offer on the altar of God; and this is the rather observed, because on the one hand the Gentile might think such sacrifices would be acceptable, since he might have been used to offer such to idols; and on the other hand, the priest might think such would do well enough for Gentiles, though not for Israelites:



because their corruption [is] in them; or they are corrupt through being bruised, crushed, broken, or cut:



[and] blemishes [be] in them; which seems to be added to explain the former, and may have respect to all the blemishes before named, and whatsoever is included in them; for though there are but here mentioned, the Jews reckon no less than fifty {c}:



they shall not be accepted for you; to make atonement for you; Jarchi says, or "from you", the priests; they shall not be accepted of the Lord from their hands, and so be of no avail to the offerers, nor to those for whom they are offered.



{c} Maimon. Hilchot Biath Hamikdash, c. 7. sect. 1, &c.





Leviticus 22:26



Ver. 26. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time, as before, in a continued discourse, the subject being of the same kind, relating to sacrifices:



saying, as follows.





Leviticus 22:27



Ver. 27. When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth,.... Those three are only mentioned, because they were only made use of in sacrifice, to which this law refers:



then it shall be seven days under the dam; whether a calf, or a lamb, or a kid of the goats; it was not to be taken from its dam and killed, either for food or sacrifice, before it was seven days old: Fagius says, the Hebrews give two reasons why a creature might not be offered before the eighth day; one is, that a sabbath might pass over it, nothing being perfect and consistent without it, that giving, as they say {d} perfection and consistence to all the things of the world; and the other, as the heavens and the earth being perfected in seven days, a creature which lives so long seems to be, as it were, perfect; but he observes, if we inquire after the mystical sense of it, a better reason is to be given, namely, that Christ, the type of all the sacrifices, was not to be offered, or suffer death in his infancy, which Herod contrived, but at man's estate; and to show that no man is fit to be a propitiatory sacrifice, through weakness and inability, being unable to stand before the justice of God, only Christ, in whom is perfection of strength:



and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the Lord; become an acceptable burnt offering to God; so Pliny {e} says, that the young of sheep are fit for sacrifice on the eighth day, and of an ox on the thirtieth day; see

Ex 22:30.



{d} Tzerer Hammor, fol. 104. 2. {e} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 51.





Leviticus 22:28



Ver. 28. And [whether it be] cow or ewe,.... Or "an ox or sheep" {f}, for this law, as Aben Ezra says, respects both male and female, and neither the one nor the other with their young might be slain; though Jarchi says, the custom is concerning the female, for it is forbidden to slay the dam and its son, or daughter; but it is not the custom concerning males, wherefore it is lawful to slay the father and the son:



ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day; or, "it and its son" {g}, the young, whether of a cow or ewe, and whether it be male or female; though Gersom observes, that this law takes place only in the dam and its female young, and not in the father and the son; for it is not manifest, in many animals, who is their father, wherefore he is not guilty of stripes, if the father and his son are slain in one day, even though it is known it is its father: the reason of the law seems to be, to encourage mercy and pity, and to discourage cruelty: hence the Targum of Jonathan is,



"and my people, the children of Israel, as our Father is merciful in heaven, so be ye merciful on earth: a cow, or a sheep, &c.''



{f} hv wa rwv "bovem vel pecus", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. {g} wnb taw wta "ipsum et filium ejus", Pagninus, Montanus, &c.





Leviticus 22:29



Ver. 29. And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the Lord,.... Which was a sort of peace offering, distinct from freewill offerings and vows before spoken of:



offer [it] at your own will; just what they pleased, whether a bullock, a sheep, or a goat, and whether a male or female; these were left to their own option, or for acceptation to you, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi; that is, it was right in them, and they ought to be careful to offer it in such manner, that it might be acceptable to God, by observing the rules given concerning it, particularly what follows.





Leviticus 22:30



Ver. 30. On the same day it shall be eaten up,.... Which is the law concerning it; See Gill on "Le 7:15":



ye shall leave none of it till the morning; of another day, as the Vulgate Latin version adds, and much less the fat of them, and the most holy things, as Ben Gersom observes, the one being to be burnt upon the altar, the other to be eaten by the priests



I [am] the Lord; who has made this law, and expect it will be observed.





Leviticus 22:31



Ver. 31. Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them,.... Both priests and people, even all the commandments delivered at this time, as well as all others; these they were to observe and take notice of, and keep them in memory, and put them in practice:



I [am] the Lord; See Gill on "Le 22:30".





Leviticus 22:32



Ver. 32. Neither shall ye profane my holy name,.... By transgressing the laws of God, particularly by offering blemished sacrifices, or before the proper tithe; or by slaying the dam and its young on one day; for, as Aben Ezra observes, this is said to the sons of Aaron:



but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel; by his priests among them, and by themselves, conforming to all the precepts, and particularly the last mentioned, which respects them, and their eating up the peace offerings the same day:



I [am] the Lord which hallowed you; had separated them from all other people, and had given them holy laws to walk by, through the observance of which they would be at least externally holy.





Leviticus 22:33



Ver. 33. That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God,.... Whereby he showed himself to be their covenant God and Father, who had a kind and gracious regard unto them, and which laid them under obligation to fear, serve, and worship him as their God:



I [am] the Lord; that hath sovereign right unto them, and claim upon them, and therefore they ought to be subject to his will, and observe his laws ordinances.

 

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