The Priests Shall Be Holy
1 Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ‘A priest shall not defile himself for the dead among his people, 2 except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother, 3 and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. 4 He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. 5 “‘They shall not shave their heads or shave off the corners of their beards or make any cuttings in their flesh. 6 They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, the bread of their God. Therefore they shall be holy. 7 “‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. A priest shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. 8 Therefore you shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy. 9 “‘The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire. 10 “‘He who is the high priest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and who is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, or tear his clothes. 11 He must not go in to any dead body, or defile himself for his father or for his mother. 12 He shall not go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am Yahweh. 13 “‘He shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 He shall not marry a widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute. He shall take a virgin of his own people as a wife. 15 He shall not profane his offspring among his people, for I am Yahweh who sanctifies him.’” 16 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Say to Aaron, ‘None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a defect may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For whatever man he is that has a defect, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity, 19 or a man who has an injured foot, or an injured hand, 20 or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. 23 He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a defect; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.’” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.
The priesthood is held to stricter rules than anyone else, and a priest with a physical defect keeps his food and loses the altar.
The restrictions on priests are tighter versions of what applies to everyone, and the pattern is consistent: the closer a man stands, the narrower his freedom.
He may not make himself unclean for the dead except for his nearest relatives — mother, father, son, daughter, brother, and an unmarried sister Leviticus 21:2–3. The high priest may not do it even for his father or mother Leviticus 21:11, which is the rule Aaron was held to on the day his sons died Leviticus 10:6.
The reason given each time is the office rather than the man: he shall not profane himself... for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is on him Leviticus 21:12.
The marriage restrictions work the same way, and the phrase attached to them explains the whole chapter: he shall be holy to you; for I, Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy Leviticus 21:8. The priest's holiness is described as owed to the people — to you — because he acts on their behalf, and a compromised mediator is their loss as much as his.
Then the section that troubles a modern reader most: a descendant of Aaron who has a defect may not come near to offer the bread of his God Leviticus 21:17. A list follows — blindness, lameness, a disfigured face, a broken foot or hand, and others Leviticus 21:18–20.
Two things must be said about it, and the passage supplies both.
The first is that the exclusion is from the altar, not from the priesthood. He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy Leviticus 21:22. He remains a priest. He is supported by the offerings exactly as his brothers are, and he is not put outside anything except the act of officiating.
The second is that the same standard applies to the animals. Every offering must be without defect, and the requirement is stated as often for the victim as for the officiant. Nothing damaged goes on that altar, from either direction, and the rule about the priest is an extension of the rule about the lamb rather than a judgment on disability.
What the arrangement pictures is a service in which nothing marred appears, which is the same reason the New Testament describes its own high priest as holy, guiltless, undefiled Hebrews 7:26.
held with reason What this mark means