Leviticus 21:11

Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
in	יָבֹ֑א ya.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
dead	מֵ֖ת met	H4191	to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
body	נַפְשֹׁ֥ת naf.Shot	H5315	properly · noun, common feminine plural construct
defile	יִטַּמָּֽא yi.ta.Ma'	H2930	to be foul · verb, hithpael imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
father	לְאָבִ֥יו le.'a.Viv	H1	father · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
mother	וּלְאִמּ֖וֹ u.le.'i.Mo	H517	a mother (as the bond of the family) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Numbers 19:14 This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
Leviticus 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
Leviticus 21:1-2 And 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 hi…
Numbers 6:7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die: because the consecra…
Matthew 8:21-22 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Matthew 12:46-50 While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.
Luke 9:59-60 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, h…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 21:10-15

More was expected from a priest than from other people, but more from the high priest than from other priests, because upon his head the anointing oil was poured, and he was consecrated to put on the garments (Lev 21:10), both which were typical of the anointing and adorning of the Lord Jesus, with all the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, which he received without measure. It is called the crown of the anointing oil of his God (Lev 21:12); for the anointing of the Spirit is, to all that have it, a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty. The high priest being thus dignified, I. He must not defile himself at all for the dead, no, nor for his nearest relations, his father or his mother, muc…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 21:10

he that is the high priest among his brethren . . . shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes--The indulgence in the excepted cases of family bereavement, mentioned above [Lev 21:2-3], which was granted to the common priests, was denied to him; for his absence from the sanctuary for the removal of any contracted defilement could not have been dispensed with, neither could he have acted as intercessor for the people, unless ceremonially clean. Moreover, the high dignity of his office demanded a corresponding superiority in personal holiness, and stringent rules were prescribed for the purpose of upholding the suitable dignity of his station and family. The same rules are extended to th…

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Adam Clarke on Leviticus 21:10

He that is the high priest - This is the first place where this title is introduced; the title is very emphatic, הכהן הגדול haccohen haggadol, that priest, the great one. For the meaning of כהן cohen, see the note on Gen 14:18. As the chief or high priest was a representative of our blessed Lord, therefore he was required to be especially holy; and he is represented as God's king among the people.

John Gill on Leviticus 21:11

The Church Fathers

In relation to the fact that the high priest is prohibited from approaching the body of his father, he may wonder how he could already be a high priest if his father had not yet died, when the Scripture orders the high priests to succeed their parents. Because the incense, which had to be placed daily by the high priest, was always on, it was necessary that the priest be immediately replaced, even though the previous high priest was not buried. Although the question of the illness of the high priest still remains, if we think he could be sick a few days before dying. Unless this is also resolved by saying that the chief priests used to die suddenly, without pre-dating an illness, as the Scripture says about Aaron (Cf Nm 20,26-29).
— Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON LEVITICUS, Q. 83 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Hair — (1.) The Egyptians let the hair of their head and beard grow only when they were in mourning, shaving it off at other times. “So particular were they on this point that to have neglected it was a…
Nazarite — (Heb. form Nazirite), the name of such Israelites as took on them the vow prescribed in Num. 6:2-21. The word denotes generally one who is separated from others and consecrated to God. Although there…
Purification — The process by which a person unclean, according to the Levitical law, and thereby cut off from the sanctuary and the festivals, was restored to the enjoyment of all these privileges. The great…
Dead, The · High priest in no case to mourn for — High priest in no case to mourn for
Defilement · Priests: Specially required to avoid — Priests: Specially required to avoid
High Priest, The · Forbidden to mourn for any — Forbidden to mourn for any
Mourning · Priests prohibited, except for the nearest of kin — Priests prohibited, except for the nearest of kin
Priest · .Marriage of — .Marriage of
Sanctification · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Uncleanness · (Ceremonially speaking) — (Ceremonially speaking)

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Leviticus 21:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 21:10-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 21:10

Adam Clarke on Leviticus 21:10

John Gill on Leviticus 21:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Leviticus 21:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 21:10-15

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 21:10

Adam Clarke on Leviticus 21:10

John Gill on Leviticus 21:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Leviticus 21:1-15

Keil & Delitzsch on Leviticus 21:10-12

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Leviticus 21:10-15

Rashi on Leviticus 21:11