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. read more
Verse 1 1.And the Lord spake unto Moses. Moses here treats of the accidents whereby pollution is contracted, although a man may be by nature pure and sound. If any labored under natural defects, Moses prohibited them from exercising the sacerdotal office; now, if any extrinsic pollution may have affected a priest, he commands him to abstain from his duties until he shall have been purified. He had already commanded that any unclean person should be separated from the people lest their contagion... read more
In the previous chapter, the priests have been commanded to avoid occasions of ceremonial defilement, but there are times in which they must be unclean. At these times they are here instructed that they must abstain from their priestly functions, and not even eat of the priests' portions until they have been cleansed. The command to Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel , in Leviticus 22:2 , must be read in the light of the... read more
The eating of the holy things. We have seen, in the preceding chapter, that blemishes which precluded a priest from ministering at the altar did not hinder him from eating of the holy things. The ordinary Israelite, therefore, would not, by similar blemishes, be debarred from the privileges of his religion. There are, however, other things which would disqualify. These are now brought under our notice, together with the provisions by which they might be removed. Consider— I. ... read more
Holiness of priests and sacrifices. While much that appertained only to a temporary dispensation, still great principles included in the formal regulations, as— I. RELIGION SANCTIFIES , preserves, and perfects the whole humanity of man. 1 . It preserves the true order—God first, the creature subject to the Creator. 2 . It utilizes the central power of human nature, the moral and spiritual The mind is the man, and the mind is not mere intellect, but moral consciousness and... read more
Priestly disqualifications. cf. Matthew 25:31-46 . We saw that inherited infirmity, such as is mentioned in Matthew 25:18-21 of last chapter, while it excludes from office, does not exclude from sustenance. We now come across a disqualification sufficient to exclude from both office and support, and this is contracted defilement. Any priest venturing before God with uncleanness upon him will be cut off from his presence. We are taught hereby— I. THAT IT IS CONTRACTED , ... read more
Leviticus 22:1. The foregoing rules relate to the personal qualifications of priests: here follow several cautions relating to the privileges which they and their families had of eating their share of the sacrifices, from Lev 22:1 to Leviticus 22:17, which cautions served to remind them of that reverence and moral purity wherewith their worship ought to be paid to God. read more
Rules concerning priests (21:1-22:16)Priests carried a heavy responsibility in acting on the people’s behalf in offering their sacrifices, and therefore they had to guard against ceremonial uncleanness. They were to have nothing to do with the burial of the dead, except in the case of close relatives, and were not to make public show of their sorrow by disfiguring themselves. They and their families were to be blameless in all things moral (21:1-9).Rules for the high priest were even stricter... read more
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 . spake. See note on Leviticus 5:14 . read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 22:1-9
Those that had a natural blemish, though they were forbidden to do the priests? work, were yet allowed to eat of the holy things: and the Jewish writers say that ?to keep them from idleness they were employed in the wood-room, to pick out that which was worm-eaten, that it might not be used in the fire upon the altar; they might also be employed in the judgment of leprosy:? but, I. Those that were under any ceremonial uncleanness, which possibly they contracted by their own fault, might no so... read more