Instructions for Priests

(Leviticus 21:1 - 22:33)

Jehovah told Moses to give the following instructions to the priests: "A priest must not make himself ritually impure by touching the dead body of a relative.  Exceptions are made for family members, a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or a spinster sister whom he supports because she has no husband.  However, he should not make himself ritually impure on account of someone who is only a relative by marriage.

"Priests should not shave their heads, shape the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their flesh.  They must set themselves apart as holy for their god and not profane his name.  They are the ones who make the sacrifices of food to Jehovah, sustenance for their god, and they, therefore, must remain holy. 

"Because they are holy to their god, priests must not marry a woman who has defiled herself by being sexually promiscuous or who has been divorced from her husband.  Treat the priests as holy because they furnish the food for your god.  Consider them holy, for I, Jehovah am holy.  It is I who makes you holy.  If the daughter of a priest defiles herself by being promiscuous, she has defiled her father's holiness and should be burned to death.

"The High Priest, the leader among his fellow priests, the one who has had the anointing oil poured over his head and who has been consecrated to don the sacred vestments, must not, during mourning, leave his hair disheveled or wear tattered clothing.  He should not make himself ritually impure by attending to a dead body, even if it be that of his mother or father.  He should not leave the Tabernacle compound for this purpose (and, therefore, defile it), for he has been made holy by the anointing oil of his god.  Thus says Jehovah. 

“The High Priest may marry only a virgin and never a woman who has been widowed or divorced, or one who has defiled herself by being promiscuous.  The virgin he marries should be from his own tribe, so that his offspring will not be disrespected by it.  Thus says Jehovah, who has sanctified him." 

Jehovah also instructed Moses to tell Aaron, "None of your successors down through the generations may present food sacrifices to Jehovah if he has any kind of defect.  No one who has a defect should approach the altar, that is, someone who is blind or lame, who has a disfigured face or a deformed limb, a broken arm or leg, who is a hunchback or a dwarf, who has an eye disease, skin sores or scabs, or has damaged testicles.  No successor of Aaron the priest who is to present food offerings to Jehovah should have any defect.  If he has a defect, then he must not come near the food offerings to his god.  He may, however, eat the sacrificed food, even the most holy offerings.  Yet, because of his defect, he may not enter the Inner Sanctum or approach the altar, for that would profane my holy places.  Thus says Jehovah, who makes them holy."

Moses conveyed these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel.

Jehovah also told Moses to instruct Aaron and his sons, "Take care in handling the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me so as not to profane my holy name.  Thus says Jehovah.

“Tell them that if any of your successors down through the generations touches these sacred offerings that the Israelites have consecrated to me while he is ritually impure, that person should be removed from the priesthood.  Thus says Jehovah.  None of Aaron' successors who is infected with tzaraath or has any bodily discharge that renders him ritually impure should eat of the sacred offerings until he has been declared ritually pure.   Also, if he becomes ritually impure by touching a dead body or by having an emission of semen, or by touching bugs or vermin that might make him impure, or by being exposed to a person who has, for any reason, become ritually impure, then that person will be ritually impure until evening.  He may not eat from the sacred offering until he has taken a bath.  After sunset he will be ritually pure again and may eat from the sacred offerings, for this is his food.  But he must not eat anything that has been found dead or has been killed by wild animals, and so become ritually impure because of it.  Thus says Jehovah.

"The priests are to officiate in such a way that they do not violate my instructions.  They will be killed if they are guilty of treating them with contempt.  Thus says Jehovah, who has made them holy. 

"No one not belonging to the priest's family may partake of the sacred offerings.  Even guests or hired workers in the priest's household may not do so.  However, slaves purchased by the priest or slaves born in the priest's household may eat his food.  If the daughter of a priest marries someone other than a priest then she may no longer eat from the sacred offerings.  But if she becomes a widow or is divorced and has no son to support her and returns to live in her father's home as she did when she was young, then she may eat her father's food again. Otherwise, no one outside the priest's household is allowed to eat it.

"If a man unintentional eats a sacred offering, he must make restitution to the priests for it, plus an additional 20%.  The priests should not allow the sacred offerings presented to Jehovah by the people of Israel to be defiled by being eaten by unauthorized persons, bringing guilt upon them and requiring them to pay compensation.  Thus says Jehovah, who makes them holy."

Jehovah told Moses to speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and toinstruct them, "If any of you, whether an Israelite or a resident alien, makes a sacrifice of a burnt offering to Jehovah, either to fulfill a vow or voluntarily, to be accepted the sacrifice must be of a male animal without defect,  a bull, a ram, or a billy goat. Don't offer an animal that has any defect, because it won't be accepted on your behalf.  When anyone brings from the herd or the flock a peace offering, whether to fulfill a vow or voluntarily, the animal offered for sacrifice must be perfect; it must have no defect of any kind.  You must not offer an animal that is blind, crippled, or injured, or which has warts, sores, or scabs.  Such animal must never be offered as a burnt sacrifice to Jehovah.  You may, however, as a voluntary offering, present cattle or sheep that are deformed or stunted, but not in fulfillment of a vow.  If an animal has been castrated or has damaged testicles, you should not offer it to Jehovah.  You must never do this in your own country and you must not accept such animals from a foreigner to offer as a sacrifice to your god.   Such animals will not be accepted on your behalf, since they are defective and deformed."

Jehovah told Moses, "When a calf, a lamb, or a kid is born it should remain with its mother for seven days.  By the eighth day it will acceptable as a food sacrifice for Jehovah.  However, whether it be an animal from the herd or the flock, an animal and its mother should not be slaughtered on the same day. 

"When you make a thanksgiving offering to Jehovah, be sure that the sacrifice is properly conducted so that it will accepted on your behalf.  You must eat all of it on the day it is made and not leave any till morning.  Thus says Jehovah.

"Honor all my commandments and follow them.  Do not profane my holy name so that I may be regarded as holy among the Israelites.  I am the god that makes you holy.  I brought you out of Egypt so that I might be your god.  Thus says Jehovah.   

Notes
1.  This excerpt from the priest's rule book is illuminating in several ways.  Firstly, there is a reiteration of the concepts of ritually purity which were, one would have thought, already exhaustively elucidated.  The High Priest must observe higher standards than the ordinary priest, that is, he must never allow himself to become ritually pure.  For instance, unlike a common priest, he is forbidden to attend the dead body of his father, because to do so would made him ritually impure.

2. Illness and injury, defect and deformity not only subtract from the worthiness or ritual purity of a priest they render an animal ineligible for sacrifice in most cases.  While it is understandable that Jehovah wants the best and that his people should want to give him the best, there is a suggestion here that physical imperfection is connected to or caused by moral failings.  The impression is given that in Hebrew society the disabled were looked upon with disfavor and discriminated against.  Indeed, many Christian societies believed that disabilities are punishments from God.

3.  It is interesting that a priest's slave could partake of the sacred food of his master when guests or hired workers were not allowed to do so.  At least the slave had some perks, even if he was only considered property.

4. Another interesting point is that priests are to marry only within their own tribe (Levi).  If they do not do so the children will disgrace the tribe simply because they are partly of some other extraction.   And the “mixed race” children would apparently not be accepted by the tribe.  Racial purity seemed to have been as important to Jehovah as it was to the Nazis.

5.  Priests of Jehovah are not allowed to shave their heads or shape their beards, this being to distinguish them from Egyptian and Canaanite priests.  There is probably no other reason for such a grooming code.  As is seen throughout the books of Old Testament, Jehovah is ever intent upon separating himself from other gods and establishing ceremonies and customs of worship that will set his people apart from their neighbors.  He has a bone to pick with his fellow gods.  He resents them and is in competition with them and does all he can to show them up.  He strives to create a system of worship and a priesthood that will be superior to those of these rival gods.

6.  An animal and his its mother should not be slaughtered on the same day - a respectful piece of etiquette to be sure, perhaps a sop to ancient animal rights advocates.  It’s nice the Israelites placed some limits on the wanton killing of animals for religious purposes.

6. Jehovah here claims legitimacy as Israel's god based on his releasing the Israelites from their bondage and bringing them out of Egypt (into the desert!), and not referring to his earlier relations with Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, etc. (Probably because that Jehovah was a different chap altogether!)  The statement is very suggestive.  It's as if he was not a god before that time, but merely claimed the position after he had, in his eyes, earned it.  Jehovah is rather like a white man who goes to live with a primitive tribe and, after wowing the people by performing some wonders made possible by the knowledge he has and the technology he has access to, sets himself up as a god and lays down laws for his worship.