Bible Glide

Leviticus 21

Leviticus 21 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Leviticus 21 sets out strict standards for Aaron and his sons as priests. The chapter describes how they were to stay ceremonially holy, what kinds of family deaths they could grieve, whom they could marry, and who could approach the altar to offer sacrifices.

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What happens in Leviticus 21?

The LORD tells Moses to instruct the priests to avoid defilement through contact with the dead, with limited exceptions for immediate family. Priests are also told not to adopt mourning practices common among the nations, because they are set apart to serve before God. Special rules apply to the high priest, who must remain even more carefully separated in both mourning and marriage. The chapter then lists physical defects that prevent a descendant of Aaron from approaching the altar, while still allowing him to eat holy food. The passage ends with Moses passing these commands on to Aaron, his sons, and Israel.

This chapter continues the laws of holiness in Leviticus. After warnings to the whole nation in the previous chapter, the focus narrows to the priesthood, who represented the people in worship and sacrifice. The instructions highlight the extra care required of those who served at the sanctuary and helped maintain Israel's worship before the LORD.

Themes to notice

  • Priestly holinessThose who serve at God's altar are called to a higher level of outward and ceremonial purity.
  • Separation for serviceThe priests' family life, mourning, and public conduct are regulated because they belong to God's holy work.
  • Sanctuary accessOnly those qualified by the LORD's commands may approach the altar and present offerings.

Questions for Leviticus 21

  • Why does this chapter place stricter expectations on priests than on the rest of Israel?
  • What do the marriage and mourning rules show about the role of the priest in worship?
  • Why might the LORD allow a priest with a defect to eat holy food but not approach the altar?

Read the full text of Leviticus 21 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Leviticus 21

Holiness Required of Priests

1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people,2except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother,3or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband.4He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself.

5Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.6They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the offerings made by fire, the food of their God, they must be holy.

7A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.8You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart.

9If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.

10The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments.11He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother.12He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD.

13The woman he marries must be a virgin.14He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,15so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”

Restrictions against Those with Blemishes

16Then the LORD said to Moses,17“Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God.18No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed;19no man who has a broken foot or hand,20or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.21No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God.22He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food,23but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’”

24Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

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