Levitikus 22:4 Kommentar

In this chapter we have divers laws concerning the priests and sacrifices all for the preserving of the honour of the sanctuary. I. That the priests should not eat the holy things in their uncleanness (Lev 22:1-9). II. That no stranger who did not belong to some family of the priests should eat of the holy things (Lev 22:10-13), and, if he did it unwittingly, he must make restitution, (Lev 22:14-16). III. That the sacrifices which were offered must be without blemish (Lev 22:17-25). IV. That they must be more than eight days old (Lev 22:26-28), and that the sacrifices of thanksgiving must be eaten the same day they were offered (Lev 22:29, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 22 In this chapter several laws are delivered out, forbidding the priests to eat of holy things, when in any uncleanness, or at any time what dies of itself, or is torn of beasts, Lev 22:1; also showing who belonging to the priests might or might not eat of the holy things, Lev 22:10; and others requiring that whatever offerings were brought by the children, of Israel, they should be perfect and without blemish, Lev 22:17; and also declaring what age a creature should be of when sacrificed, and the time when thank offerings were to be eaten, Lev 22:26; concluding with an exhortation to observe the commands of God, and sanctify him, and not profane his name, Lev 22:31.

What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper,.... A young, or an old man, as the Targum of Jonathan, and indeed man or woman; for the wives and daughters of the priests, if in this, and other circumstances following, might not eat of the holy things until cleansed, who otherwise might, see Lev 13:2, or hath a running issue; a gonorrhoea, whether man or woman, Lev 15:2, he shall not eat of the holy things until he be clean; he might eat of the tithes, but not of the wave breast, or heave shoulder: and whoso toucheth any that is unclean by the dead; not only that touched the dead, which made unclean, but that touched any person or thing that was made unclean by it: or a man whose seed goeth from him; involuntarily when asleep, in a dream, and through a lustful imagination; see Lev 15:16.

Of the uncleanness of the priests, by which they were prevented from ministering in holy things, Lev 22:1-5. How they should be cleansed, Lev 22:6, Lev 22:7. The priest must not eat of any animal that had died of itself, or was torn by wild beasts, but must keep God's ordinances, Lev 22:8, Lev 22:9. No stranger, sojourner, nor hired servant shall eat of the holy things, Lev 22:10. A servant bought with money may eat of them, Lev 22:11. Who of the priest's family may not eat of them, Lev 22:12, Lev 22:13. Of improper persons who partake of the holy things unknowingly, Lev 22:14-16. Freewill-offerings, and sacrifices in general, must be without blemish, Lev 22:17-25. The age at which different animals were to be offered to God, Lev 22:26, Lev 22:27. No animal and its young shall be offered on the same day, Lev 22:28. How the sacrifice of thanks-giving was to be offered, Lev 22:29, Lev 22:30. All God's testimonies to be observed, and the reason, Lev 22:31-33.

Is a leper, or hath a running issue - See the case of the leper treated at large in the notes on Leviticus 13 (note) and Leviticus 14 (note); and for other uncleannesses, see the notes on Leviticus 15 (note).

THE PRIESTS IN THEIR UNCLEANNESS. (Lev 22:1-9) Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things--"To separate" means, in the language of the Mosaic ritual, "to abstain"; and therefore the import of this injunction is that the priests should abstain from eating that part of the sacrifices which, though belonging to their order, was to be partaken of only by such of them as were free from legal impurities. that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me, &c.--that is, let them not, by their want of due reverence, give occasion to profane my holy name. A careless or irreverent use of things consecrated to God tends to dishonor the name and bring disrespect on the worship of God.

wash his flesh with water--Any Israelite who had contracted a defilement of such a nature as debarred him from the enjoyment of his wonted privileges, and had been legally cleansed from the disqualifying impurity, was bound to indicate his state of recovery by the immersion of his whole person in water. Although all ceremonial impurity formed a ground of exclusion, there were degrees of impurity which entailed a longer or shorter period of excommunication, and for the removal of which different rites required to be observed according to the trivial or the malignant nature of the case. A person who came inadvertently into contact with an unclean animal was rendered unclean for a specified period; and then, at the expiry of that term, he washed, in token of his recovered purity. But a leper was unclean so long as he remained subject to that disease, and on his convalescence, he also washed, not to cleanse himself, for the water was ineffectual for that purpose, but to signify that he was clean. Not a single case is recorded of a leper being restored to communion by the use of water; it served only as an outward and visible sign that such a restoration was to be made. The Book of Leviticus abounds with examples which show that in all the ceremonial washings, as uncleanness meant loss of privileges, so baptism with water indicated a restoration to those privileges. There was no exemption; for as the unclean Israelite was exiled from the congregation, so the unclean priest was disqualified from executing his sacred functions in the sanctuary; and in the case of both, the same observance was required--a formal intimation of their being readmitted to forfeited privileges was intimated by the appointed rite of baptism. If any one neglected or refused to perform the washing, he disobeyed a positive precept, and he remained in his uncleanness; he forbore to avail himself of this privilege, and was therefore said to be "cut off" from the presence of the Lord.