Chapter Twenty-Two

1–16. Uncleanness deprives a priest of the right to touch (and eat) the holy things; concerning the priest’s family members who may eat the holy things. 18–27. The quality (flawlessness) of sacrificial animals and their age. 28–33. Remark on sacrifices and the general requirement of holiness.

Leviticus 22:2. Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy things of the sons of Israel, and not to profane my holy name by what they dedicate to me. I am the Lord. Leviticus 22:3. Tell them: if anyone from all your descendants throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the sons of Israel dedicate to the Lord while having uncleanness on them, that person shall be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord [God of you all]. Leviticus 22:4. Anyone from Aaron’s offspring who is leprous, or has a discharge, shall not eat the holy things until he is cleansed; and whoever touches anything unclean from a dead body, or from whom there is an emission of seed, Leviticus 22:5. or whoever touches any creeping thing by which he becomes unclean, or a person from whom he becomes unclean by any kind of uncleanness – Leviticus 22:6. that person who touches it shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat the holy things unless he has washed his body with water; Leviticus 22:7. but when the sun sets and he is cleansed, then he may eat the holy things, for it is his food. Leviticus 22:8. He shall not eat carrion or what has been torn by beasts, lest he become unclean by it. I am the Lord. Leviticus 22:9. Let them keep my commandments so that they do not bear guilt and die for it when they violate this. I am the Lord [God], who sanctifies them. As an obstacle for priests eating from what is raised on the altar – from the great holy things and the holy things – first there is mentioned uncleanness in general (Lev 22:2-3), then particular kinds of uncleanness and defilement: leprosy (cf. Lev 13:2 and following), sexual discharge (Lev 15:2), contact with the dead (Lev 21:1 and others), with creeping things or with an unclean person (Lev 11:29), consumption of carrion and what has been torn by beasts (Lev 11:39). In all these cases the law prescribed cleansing, and only after that could the priest eat the holy things, which constituted his “bread.” Eating sacred foods while in a state of uncleanness was equivalent to irreverent profanation and denial of the holy things and the entire cult, and likewise of the holy Jehovah, who had established the cult and in it communed with his people; therefore a priest who permitted this, like a layman who ate the meat of a peace offering while unclean (Lev 7:20), was liable to “destruction” – without doubt to divine judgment (childlessness, early death, sickness, see 1 Cor 11:30), not to punishment from men, for whom sins of this kind mostly remained hidden.

Leviticus 22:10. No stranger shall eat the holy things; a resident of the priest and a hired worker shall not eat the holy things; Leviticus 22:11. but if a priest buys a person for himself with money, then that person may eat it; and his household servants may eat his bread. Leviticus 22:12. If a daughter of a priest is married to a stranger, she shall not eat the holy things brought as an offering; Leviticus 22:13. but when a daughter of a priest is a widow, or divorced, and has no children, and returns to her father’s house, as she was in her youth, then she may eat her father’s bread; but no stranger shall eat it. Leviticus 22:14. Whoever eats a holy thing by mistake shall give the priest the holy thing and add to it one-fifth of its value. Leviticus 22:15. The priests themselves shall not profane the holy things of the sons of Israel, which they bring to the Lord, Leviticus 22:16. and shall not bring guilt upon themselves for a transgression when they eat their holy things, for I am the Lord, who sanctifies them. The discourse is now about “the great holy things” (portions of guilt and sin offerings, see Lev 6:25-39), which could be eaten only by males of Aaron’s family (Lev 6:16-18), or simply about the holy things, that is, the remains of the peace offering that came to the priests. Several cases of prohibition and permission of eating these holy things by various persons standing in a certain relation to the holy things are described – cases very characteristic of the spirit of the law and theocracy of the Old Covenant. 1st case: the sojourner and hired worker of a priest, who did not receive circumcision, as one foreign (Heb. zar) to theocracy, could not eat the holy things; on the contrary a slave purchased with money – by circumcision having become a member of the family not only in domestic but also in religious and liturgical relations (Exod 12:44; see Gen 17:23) – could eat the “holy things” equally with the household members (Lev 22:10-11). 2nd case: the daughter of a priest – if married – has the right to eat the “holy things” only when married to a priest himself; while married to a stranger (Heb. isch zar, Vulg.: cuilibet ex populo nupta) – a layman, she lost this right, and only widowhood or divorce from him and return to her father-priest’s house, as it were to the status of a maiden (kineurejah, Vulg.: sicut puella) restored it to her. 3rd case: one bringing a peace offering could by error use for his own meal portions belonging to the priests; then, by the general rule concerning unintentional violations of the rights of the sanctuary, he (cf. Lev 5:14) returned what was wrongly taken, with an addition of 1/5.

Leviticus 22:15. The priests themselves shall not profane the holy things of the sons of Israel, which they bring to the Lord, Leviticus 22:16. and shall not bring guilt upon themselves for a transgression when they eat their holy things, for I am the Lord, who sanctifies them. A new exhortation to the priests regarding reverence toward the holy things (cf. Lev 22:2-3).

Leviticus 22:17. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Leviticus 22:18. Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them: If anyone from the house of Israel, or from the strangers [dwelling] among the Israelites, brings a sacrifice by a vow or by freewill offering, which they bring to the Lord as a burnt offering, The verses form a transition to the discourse on complete flawlessness of sacrificial animals – discourse addressed equally to both the priests and the worshippers, that is, to all Israelites. This requirement of flawlessness of sacrificial material corresponds to the prescription concerning the priests having no bodily defects (Lev 21:17-23): both the priest and the sacrifice were to express by their very appearance the idea of purity and cleansing. According to Blessed Theodoret (question 30), “God commands that animals with unbroken limbs be brought in sacrifice, thereby instructing those who bring offerings to have their active powers of the soul intact.” The rule of flawlessness of sacrifice applied also to foreigners, who by the Old Testament law were allowed into the outer court of the temple and had the right to bring sacrifices to the God of Israel (Lev 22:18; cf. Lev 16:29).

Leviticus 22:19. so that you may gain favor from God, the sacrifice must be without blemish, male, from large cattle, from sheep and from goats; Leviticus 22:20. no animal with a blemish shall you bring [to the Lord], for it will not gain you favor. God’s favor, which the worshipper sought, could not rest upon the worshipper who was not sufficiently reverent and attentive to the quality of the sacrifice.

Leviticus 22:21. And if anyone brings a peace offering to the Lord to fulfill a vow, or a freewill offering, [or on your appointed feasts,] from large or small cattle, the sacrifice must be without blemish to be acceptable to God: no blemish shall be on it; Leviticus 22:22. an animal that is blind, or maimed, or disfigured, or diseased, or mangy, or scabby – you shall not bring these to the Lord, and you shall not give them as an offering on the altar of the Lord; Leviticus 22:23. a bull or lamb with limbs that are disproportionately long or short you may bring as a freewill offering, but for a vow it will not be acceptable to God; Leviticus 22:24. an animal whose testicles are crushed, broken, torn out, or cut off you shall not bring to the Lord; and you shall not do this in your land; An enumeration of defects that make an animal unfit for sacrifice. One of the three kinds of peace offerings – the freewill offering (nedabah) – was for some reason considered lower than the other kinds: it was allowed to bring an animal that was not completely normally formed as a freewill offering.

Leviticus 22:24. an animal whose testicles are crushed, broken, torn out, or cut off you shall not bring to the Lord; and you shall not do this in your land; According to the rabbis, it forbids all castration (of people and animals).

Leviticus 22:26. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Leviticus 22:27. when a calf, lamb, or kid is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day onward it shall be acceptable as an offering in sacrifice to the Lord; Leviticus 22:28. but you shall not slaughter a cow or sheep together with its young on the same day. Leviticus 22:29. If you bring a thanksgiving sacrifice to the Lord, bring it so that it gains you favor; Leviticus 22:30. it must be eaten on that same day; you shall not leave any of it until morning. I am the Lord. These verses contain three rules concerning offerings to the sanctuary and sacrifices. First, regarding the offering to God of firstborn animals (cf. Exod 22:28-29). They were to be with their mother for seven days, until maturity, and then immediately to be brought to the sanctuary. According to Blessed Theodoret, “God knew the impiety and greed of some; he knew that if they saw a newborn animal full-grown and good-looking, they would keep it for themselves and bring another. Therefore he commanded that it be brought soon after birth” (question 31). The indicated age was the minimum for animals sacrificed in general. Second, a humane commandment not to slaughter a cow or sheep together with its young on the same day – a rule analogous to the prohibition Deut 22:6-7 of taking from a nest simultaneously the young birds and the mother (cf. also Exod 23:19: do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk; the latter passage, however, is understood differently). Third, a repetition (cf. Lev 7:15) of the law concerning the eating of the meat of a thanksgiving offering on the very day of the sacrifice.

Leviticus 22:31. So keep my commandments and do them. I am the Lord. Leviticus 22:32. Do not profane my holy name, so that I may be sanctified in the midst of the sons of Israel. I am the Lord, who sanctifies you, Leviticus 22:33. who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord. A final general exhortation (cf. Lev 8:30) to careful observance of the laws concerning sacrifices, for any violation of these laws, any arbitrary action in performing sacrifices, is a denial of the idea and principle of sacrifice – to serve as the means of sanctifying Israel from Jehovah, the God of revelation, who had historically revealed himself to the people of Israel in bringing them out of Egypt.