1Korero ano a Ihowa ki a Mohi, i mea, 2Korero ki a Arona ratou ko ana tama kia wehea ratou i nga mea tapu a nga tama a Iharaira, e whakatapua ana e ratou maku kei noa toku ingoa tapu: ko Ihowa ahau. 3Mea atu ki a ratou, Ki te whakatata tetahi o o koutou uri katoa, puta noa i o koutou whakatupuranga, ki nga mea tapu e whakatapua ana e nga tama a Iharaira ma Ihowa, me te mau ano tona poke, ka hatepea atu taua wairua i toku aroaro: ko Ihowa ahau. 4Ki te mea he repera tetahi o nga uri o Arona, ki te mea ranei he rere tona; kei kainga e ia nga mea tapu; kia kore ra ano ona poke. Ki te pa hoki tetahi ki te mea i poke i te tupapaku, ki te tangata ranei kua paheke atu tona purapura moenga; 5Ki te pa ranei tetahi ki te mea ngoki, e poke ai ia, ki te tangata ranei e poke ai ia, ahakoa he aha ranei, he aha ranei, tona poke: 6Ka poke a ahiahi noa te tangata i pa ki taua mea, kaua ano hoki ia e kai i nga mea tapu, ki te kahore i horoia e ia tona kikokiko ki te wai. 7A, ka to te ra, ka kore ona poke; a muri iho, ka kai i nga mea tapu, no te mea ko tana kai tena: 8He mea mate maori, i haea ranei e te kirehe, kaua tena e kainga e ia, kei poke: ko Ihowa ahau. 9Ina, kia mau ratou ki taku i whakarite ai, kei whai hara, a ka mate ki te whakanoatia e ratou: ko Ihowa ahau te whakatapu nei i a ratou. 10Kaua tetahi manene e kai i te mea tapu: kaua te tangata e noho ana ki te tohunga, te kaimahi ranei, e kai i te mea tapu. 11Otiia ki te hokona tetahi tangata e te tohunga ki tana moni, e kai ano ia; me nga tangata ano i whanau ki tona whare, e kai ano ratou i tana kai. 12He tamahine hoki na te tohunga kua riro i te tangata iwi ke, kaua ia e kai i te whakahere poipoi o nga mea tapu. 13Otiia ki te mea he pouaru te tamahine a te tohunga, i whakarerea atu ranei, a kahore ana tamariki, kua hoki mai ano ki te whare o tona papa, kua pera me ia i tona taitamahinetanga, e kai ano ia i te kai a tona papa; kaua ia te tangata ke e kai. 14A ki te kai pohehe te tangata i te mea tapu, me tapiri e ia te whakarima o taua mea, a ka homai tahi me te mea tapu ki te tohunga. 15Kei whakanoatia e ratou nga mea tapu a nga tama a Iharaira, e whakaherea ana ma Ihowa; 16Kei meinga ratou kia whakawaha i te kino o te he, ina kai i a ratou mea tapu: ko Ihowa hoki ahau te whakatapu nei i a ratou. 17I korero ano a Ihowa ki a Mohi, i mea, 18Korero ki a Arona, ki ana tama, ki nga tama katoa ano a Iharaira, mea atu ki a ratou, Ko te tangata o te whare o Iharaira, o nga manene ranei i roto i a Iharaira, e mea ana ki te tapae i tana whakahere, he ki taurangi, he mea tuku noa ranei nana, ta ratou e tapae ai ki a Ihowa hei tahunga tinana; 19Kia manakohia ai koutou, ko ta koutou e tapae ai hei te toa kohakore, no roto i nga kau, i nga hipi ranei, i nga koati ranei. 20Kaua rawa ia e whakaherea tetahi mea he koha tona: no te mea e kore e manakohia hei mea ma koutou. 21Ki te whakaherea ano hoki e tetahi he patunga mo te pai ki a Ihowa, hei whakamana mo te ki taurangi, hei whakahere tuku noa ake ranei, he kau, he hipi ranei, hei te mea kohakore, kia manakohia ai: kei whai koha. 22He matapo, he whati, he kopa, kua whai puku, he papaka, he mea hakihaki ranei, kaua ena e whakaherea ma Ihowa, kaua ano e homai hei whakahere ahi ki runga ki te aata ma Ihowa. 23He puru, he reme ranei, e hira ake ana, kua kore ranei tetahi wahi ona, e whakaherea ano tena e koe hei whakahere noa ake; otiia e kore e manakohia mo te ki taurangi. 24Kaua e whakaherea ma Ihowa te mea i romia, te mea ranei i kurua, i unuhia ranei, i pokaia ranei; kaua ano hoki e pena i to koutou whenua. 25Kaua ano hoki tetahi o enei e tapaea hei kai ma to koutou Atua, ina homai e te tangata iwi ke; he whakahe hoki kei roto, he koha kei roto: e kore enei e manakohia hei mea ma koutou. 26I korero ano a Ihowa ki a Mohi, i mea, 27Ka whanau he kau, he hipi, he koati ranei, kia whitu nga ra e waiho, ai ki tona whaea; a i te waru o nga ra, i o muri iho hoki, ka manakohia hei whakahere ahi ma Ihowa. 28Otiia ahakoa he kau, he hipi ranei, kaua raua ko tana kuao e patua i te rangi kotahi. 29Ka patua ano e koutou he patunga whakawhetai ki a Ihowa, hei te patunga e manakohia ai koutou. 30Me kai i taua rangi ano; kaua e waiho tetahi wahi ki te ata: ko Ihowa ahau. 31Na, kia mau ki aku whakahau, mahia hoki; ko Ihowa ahau. 32Kaua ano e whakanoatia toku ingoa tapu; engari me whakatapu ahau i roto i nga tama a Iharaira: ko Ihowa ahau te whakatapu nei i a koutou, 33I whakaputa mai nei hoki i a koutou i te whenua o Ihipa, kia waiho ai hei Atua mo koutou: ko Ihowa ahau.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 2 THE PRIESTS IN THEIR UNCLEANNESS. (
Lev 22:1-
Lev 22:9)
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.
3 Whosoever he be . . . that goeth unto the holy things--The multitude of minute restrictions to which the priests, from accidental defilement, were subjected, by keeping them constantly on their guard lest they should be unfit for the sacred service, tended to preserve in full exercise the feeling of awe and submission to the authority of God. The ideas of sin and duty were awakened in their breasts by every case to which either an interdict or an injunction was applied. But why enact an express statute for priests disqualified by the leprosy or polluting touch of a carcass [
Lev 22:4], when a general law was already in force which excluded from society all persons in that condition? Because priests might be apt, from familiarity, to trifle with religion, and in committing irregularities or sins, to shelter themselves under the cloak of the sacred office. This law, therefore, was passed, specifying the chief forms of temporary defilement which excluded from the sanctuary, that priests might not deem themselves entitled to greater license than the rest of the people; and that so far from being in any degree exempted from the sanctions of the law, they were under greater obligations, by their priestly station, to observe it in its strict letter and its smallest enactments.
4 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.
8 dieth of itself--The feelings of nature revolt against such food. It might have been left to the discretion of the Hebrews, who it may be supposed (like the people of all civilized nations) would have abstained from the use of it without any positive interdict. But an express precept was necessary to show them that whatever died naturally or from disease, was prohibited to them by the operation of that law which forbade them the use of any meat with its blood.
10 WHO OF THE PRIESTS' HOUSE MAY EAT OF THEM. (
Lev 22:10-
Lev 22:16)
There shall no stranger eat the holy thing--The portion of the sacrifices assigned for the support of the officiating priests was restricted to the exclusive use of his own family. A temporary guest or a hired servant was not at liberty to eat of them; but an exception was made in favor of a bought or homeborn slave, because such was a stated member of his household. On the same principle, his own daughter, who married a husband not a priest, could not eat of them. However, if a widow and childless, she was reinstated in the privileges of her father's house as before her marriage. But if she had become a mother, as her children had no right to the privileges of the priesthood, she was under a necessity of finding support for them elsewhere than under her father's roof.
13 there shall no stranger eat thereof--The interdict recorded (
Lev 22:10) is repeated to show its stringency. All the Hebrews, even the nearest neighbors of the priest, the members of his family excepted, were considered strangers in this respect, so that they had no right to eat of things offered at the altar.
14 if a man eat of the holy thing unwittingly--A common Israelite might unconsciously partake of what had been offered as tithes, first-fruits, &c., and on discovering his unintentional error, he was not only to restore as much as he had used, but be fined in a fifth part more for the priests to carry into the sanctuary.
15 they shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel--There is some difficulty felt in determining to whom "they" refers. The subject of the preceding context being occupied about the priests, it is supposed by some that this relates to them also; and the meaning then is that the whole people would incur guilt through the fault of the priests, if they should defile the sacred offerings, which they would have done had they presented them while under any defilement [CALVIN]. According to others, "the children of Israel" is the nominative in the sentence; which thus signifies, the children of Israel shall not profane or defile their offerings, by touching them or reserving any part of them, lest they incur the guilt of eating what is divinely appointed to the priests alone [CALMET].
19 THE SACRIFICES MUST BE WITHOUT BLEMISH. (Lev. 22:17-33)
Ye shall offer at your own will--rather, to your being accepted.
a male without blemish--This law (
Lev 1:3) is founded on a sense of natural propriety, which required the greatest care to be taken in the selection of animals for sacrifice. The reason for this extreme caution is found in the fact that sacrifices are either an expression of praise to God for His goodness, or else they are the designed means of conciliating or retaining His favor. No victim that was not perfect in its kind could be deemed a fitting instrument for such purposes if we assume that the significance of sacrifices is derived entirely from their relation to Jehovah. Sacrifices may be likened to gifts made to a king by his subjects, and hence the reasonableness of God's strong remonstrance with the worldly-minded Jews (
Mal 1:8). If the tabernacle, and subsequently the temple, were considered the palace of the great King, then the sacrifices would answer to presents as offered to a monarch on various occasions by his subjects; and in this light they would be the appropriate expressions of their feelings towards their sovereign. When a subject wished to do honor to his sovereign, to acknowledge allegiance, to appease his anger, to supplicate forgiveness, or to intercede for another, he brought a present; and all the ideas involved in sacrifices correspond to these sentiments--those of gratitude, of worship, of prayer, of confession and atonement [BIB. SAC.].
23 that mayest thou offer, &c.--The passage should be rendered thus: "if thou offer it either for a freewill offering, or for a vow, it shall not be accepted." This sacrifice being required to be "without blemish" [
Lev 22:19], symbolically implied that the people of God were to dedicate themselves wholly with sincere purposes of heart, and its being required to be "perfect to be accepted" [
Lev 22:21], led them typically to Him without whom no sacrifice could be offered acceptable to God.
27 it shall be seven days under the dam--Animals were not considered perfect nor good for food till the eighth day. As sacrifices are called the bread or food of God (
Lev 22:25), to offer them immediately after birth, when they were unfit to be eaten, would have indicated a contempt of religion; and besides, this prohibition, as well as that contained in
Lev 22:28, inculcated a lesson of humanity or tenderness to the dam, as well as secured the sacrifices from all appearance of unfeeling cruelty.