Holiness Required of Priests
Then 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, Ezk 44:25Lev 10:6-7Lev 19:28Lev 21:11Num 19:14Num 19:16Hos 5:1Mal 2:1 except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother, 1Th 4:13Lev 18:6 or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband. He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself. Ezk 24:16-17
Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies. Deu 14:1Ezk 44:20Lev 19:27-28Amo 8:10Isa 15:2Isa 22:12Jer 16:6Jer 48:37 They 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. Lev 18:21Lev 3:111Pe 2:9Exo 28:36Exo 29:44Ezk 44:7Ezr 8:28Isa 52:11
A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. Lev 21:13-14Ezk 44:221Ti 3:11Lev 21:8Deu 24:1-4Isa 50:1 You 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. Lev 20:7-8Lev 11:44-45Lev 19:2Lev 21:6Heb 7:26Jhn 17:19Exo 19:10Exo 19:14 If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire. Gen 38:24Lev 19:291Sa 2:171Sa 2:341Sa 3:13-141Ti 3:4-5Ezk 9:6Isa 33:14
The 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 1or tear his garments. Lev 10:6-7Lev 16:32Mat 26:65Exo 29:29-30Lev 8:12Num 35:252Sa 15:30Est 6:12 He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother. Num 19:14Lev 19:28Lev 21:1-2Num 6:72Co 5:16Luk 14:26Luk 9:59-60Mat 12:46-50 He 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. Lev 10:7Exo 28:36Exo 29:6-7Lev 8:9-12Act 10:38Isa 61:1Lev 8:30
The woman he marries must be a virgin. 2Co 11:2Ezk 44:22Lev 21:7Rev 14:4 He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people, Lev 21:7Ezk 44:22 so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.” 1Co 7:14Rom 11:16Ezr 2:62Ezr 9:2Gen 18:19Lev 21:8Mal 2:11Mal 2:15
Restrictions against Those with Blemishes
Then the LORD said to Moses, “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. Lev 10:3Num 16:5Psa 65:41Th 2:101Ti 3:2Heb 7:26Lev 21:21Lev 21:6
No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed; 1Ti 3:2-3Lev 22:19-251Ti 3:7Isa 56:10Mat 23:16-17Mat 23:19Tit 1:10Tit 1:7 no man who has a broken foot or hand, or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle. Deu 23:1Isa 56:3
No 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. Lev 21:6Lev 21:17Lev 21:8 He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food, Lev 2:31Co 9:13Lev 2:10Lev 22:10-13Lev 24:8-9Lev 6:16-17Lev 7:1Num 18:19 but 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.’” Lev 21:12Exo 30:6-8Exo 40:26-27Ezk 44:9-14Lev 15:31
Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites. 1Ti 1:182Ti 2:2Col 4:17Mal 2:1-7