The Law · Chapter 21 of 27
Leviticus 21
God gives special holiness laws for the priests, the sons of Aaron. They must avoid ceremonial defilement from the dead except for closest kin, must not mourn like the surrounding nations, and must marry within careful bounds. The high priest is held to still stricter standards. Priests with any physical blemish may not approach the altar to offer, though they may still eat the holy bread.
What happens in Leviticus 21
The LORD tells the priests not to defile themselves for the dead among their people, except for the nearest relatives, and the high priest may not defile himself even for father or mother. Priests must not shave patterns of mourning into their heads or beards or cut their flesh, for they are holy to their God and offer the bread of God. They must not marry a prostitute or a divorced woman; the high priest must marry only a virgin of his own people.
A priest's daughter who becomes a harlot profanes her father. God then commands that no descendant of Aaron with a physical blemish, whether blind, lame, disfigured, or maimed, may come near to offer the offerings, though he may eat of the most holy and holy food. He must not go to the veil or the altar, lest he profane the sanctuaries, for the LORD sanctifies them. Moses tells all this to Aaron and Israel.
Leviticus 21 in context
Having addressed the holiness of the whole nation, Leviticus now intensifies the requirements for those who serve at the altar. The priests represent the people before God and God before the people, so their lives, marriages, and even bodies must display wholeness and separation.
The concern for unblemished priests parallels the earlier demand for unblemished sacrifices; both point to the perfection that approaching a holy God requires.
Main themes of Leviticus 21
Leviticus 21 (KJV)
1And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people: 2But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, 3And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled. 4But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. 5They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. 6They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy. 7They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God. 8Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy. 9And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire. 10And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes; 11Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother; 12Neither shall he 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 the LORD. 13And he shall take a wife in her virginity. 14A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife. 15Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the LORD do sanctify him. 16And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 17Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. 18For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, 19Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, 20Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; 21No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. 22He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy. 23Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them. 24And Moses told it unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel.
Verses to carry from Leviticus 21
“They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.”Leviticus 21:6
“Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.”Leviticus 21:8
“Speak unto Aaron, saying, Whosoever he be of thy seed in their generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God.”Leviticus 21:17
Christian typology
How Leviticus 21 points to Jesus
The demand for an unblemished priest reaches its fulfillment in Jesus, whom Hebrews calls a high priest holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. The earthly priest had to guard against every defilement of the dead; Christ touched the dead and raised them, undefiled by contact because life itself was in him. The earthly high priest could not even mourn his parents lest he be defiled; Christ wept at Lazarus's tomb and yet remained the holy one.
Where these priests could be disqualified by a blemish, Jesus is the flawless priest who is also the flawless offering, presenting not an animal without blemish but himself without spot to God. He fulfills both sides of Leviticus at once, the perfect priest and the perfect sacrifice, so that through him even the blemished and unclean are welcomed near.
Questions about Leviticus 21
Why were priests with physical blemishes barred from offering at the altar?
The restriction was symbolic, not a verdict on their dignity. As the sacrifices had to be without blemish, so the one presenting them pictured the wholeness that approaching a holy God requires. It was a shadow pointing to a perfection ceremonies could signify but not produce. Notably, the blemished priest still ate the holy food, remaining fed and belonging within the priestly family.
How does Jesus fulfill the picture of the unblemished priest?
Hebrews describes him as holy, undefiled, and separate from sinners, the perfect high priest these laws foreshadowed. Yet he is more, for he is also the unblemished offering, presenting himself without spot to God. Uniquely he is both priest and sacrifice. And in his perfection he does not exclude the blemished; he draws the unclean and imperfect near, welcoming those the old order would have kept at a distance.
Reflection
If you have ever felt disqualified, kept from serving by some flaw or wound, notice that even the blemished priest still ate at God's table. You are not cast out. And in Christ, the truly unblemished priest, your imperfection is not the last word. He draws near the very ones the law kept back.
A prayer from Leviticus 21
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