Leviticus 22:1

This chapter concludes the long Third Section of Leviticus that began back with Leviticus 11. The general subject of this part of Leviticus is, "Uncleanness and Its Putting Away."[2]

Leviticus 22:1-9: Priestly laws relative to temporary uncleanness; animals killed by other animals, or which died naturally, forbidden.

Leviticus 22:10-16: Rules for priests' families and who may eat of the dues; hired servants and guests forbidden to eat; slaves allowed to eat; rule on the childless widow; penalty upon those who ate unlawfully.

Leviticus 22:17-25: Conditions to be satisfied in the offerings for certain sacrifices; priests responsible for examining animals thus offered; malformations allowed in some offerings, denied in others; castrated animals unfit for any type of sacrifice.

Leviticus 22:26-33: Rules directed to all Israel; age at which animals could be offered; animal and its offspring not to be offered on same day; necessity of observing all the rules in offering sacrifices; emphasis upon the holiness of all the people.

"And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they hallow unto me, and that they profane not my holy name: I am Jehovah. Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed throughout your generations, that approacheth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto Jehovah, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from before me: I am Jehovah. What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath an issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him; or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath; the soul that toucheth any such shall be unclean until the even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his flesh in water. And when the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread. That which dieth of itself, or is torn of beasts, he shall not eat, to defile himself therewith: I am Jehovah. They shall therefore keep my charge, lest they bear sin for it, and die therein, if they profane it: I am Jehovah, who sanctifieth them."

The motivation for strict obedience of these commandments is simply the oft-repeated, "I am Jehovah" (Leviticus 22:1,2,8,9). The teaching is that even the consecrated priests while suffering uncleanness from: (1) diseases; (2) discharges; (3) contact with dead men or animals, were NOT allowed to eat of the holy food or to perform any of their customary sacred duties UNTIL their ceremonial cleansing had occurred, which ceremony included bathing and waiting until the beginning of a new day at sunset. The prospect of a leper's recovery which was allowed in Leviticus 22:4 shows that "leprosy," as used in Leviticus, included less serious skin diseases than true leprosy.

"Separate themselves from ..." (Leviticus 22:2). "This expression is misleading, and is better rendered: `Be scrupulous about' handling the sacred items of the tabernacle."[3] The Septuagint (LXX) has "give heed to"; and Gordon followed the New English Bible: "Be careful in the handling of"[4] the sacred articles of divine service.

"Shall be cut off from before me ..." (Leviticus 22:3). Clements gave the meaning of this as, "banishment from the priesthood for any infringement of this rule."[5] In a nutshell, this paragraph simply means that even the priests otherwise qualified, but ceremonially unclean, could not eat of the holy food until the cause of their uncleanness ceased and ceremonial cleansing had taken place.