Leviticus21chapter 21

Chapter summary

Holiness of priests. Priests are not to be defiled for the dead except for the closest kin; not to mar their heads or beards; not to marry a harlot or a profane or divorced woman. The high priest, with higher consecration, must marry a virgin of his own people and not go in to any dead, not even father or mother. Physical blemishes (blind, lame, disfigured, crippled) disqualify from priestly service at the altar, though the priest still eats of the holy bread. The chapter insists that mediators represent the perfection of the holy God they serve. Hebrews 7:26 applies the chapter's logic to the great High Priest.

Drafted from Matthew Henry, Calvin, Gill, Clarke, JFB, and Barnes.