Biblical Verses Prohibiting Priestly Marriage in Leviticus
The book of Leviticus, particularly chapters 21 and 22, outlines specific regulations concerning the marital eligibility of priests in ancient Israel. These regulations do not prohibit priestly marriage in general, but rather restrict the types of women priests could marry to maintain their ritual purity and the sanctity of their office [3, 5].
For ordinary priests, Leviticus 21:7 states, "They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God" [2]. This injunction aimed to ensure that the priest's domestic life reflected his holy calling and that his family maintained an unblemished reputation [3, 5]. Marrying a woman of notoriously immoral life, such as a prostitute or a "fallen woman," would be irreconcilable with the holiness required of the priesthood [5]. Similarly, a divorced woman was prohibited, as such a union could be seen as profaning the priest's status [4].
The high priest faced even stricter marital requirements. Leviticus 21:14 specifies that he "shall not marry a widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry: but a virgin of his own people shall he take as a wife" [1]. This meant the high priest was permitted to marry only a virgin [6, 7]. The prohibition against marrying a widow was unique to the high priest under Mosaic law [8]. These stringent rules were intended to prevent the high priest from "profaning his seed (posterity) among his people" by contracting a marriage inconsistent with his elevated holy rank [4].
The overall purpose of these regulations was to uphold the sanctity of the priesthood. The priests were consecrated to God, and their personal lives, including their marriages, were expected to reflect this holiness [3, 5]. The laws ensured that the priests and their families maintained a high standard of moral and ritual purity, distinguishing them from the general populace [3].
Sources
- Leviticus “A widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry: but a virgin of his own people shall he take as a wife. -- Leviticus 21:14”
- Leviticus ““‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. -- Leviticus 21:7”
- Leviticus (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Leviticus 21:7: They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane--Private individuals might form several connections, which were forbidden as inexpedient or improper in priests. The respectability of their office, and the honor of religion, required unblemished sanctity in their families as well as themselves, and departures from it in their case were visited with severer punishment than in that of others.”
- Leviticus (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Leviticus 21:15: "Neither shall he profane his seed (posterity) among his people," sc., by contracting a marriage that was not in keeping with the holiness of his rank.”
- Leviticus (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Leviticus 21:7: Their marriage and their domestic life were also to be in keeping with their holy calling. They were not to marry a whore (i.e., a public prostitute), or a fallen woman, or a woman put away (divorced) from her husband, that is to say, any person of notoriously immoral life, for this would be irreconcilable with the holiness of the priesthood, but (as may be seen from this in comparison with Lev 21:14) only a virgin or widow of irreproachable character. She need not be an Israelite, but might be the daughter of a stranger living among the Israelites; only she”
- Leviticus (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Leviticus 21:14: A widow,.... The high priest might not marry, whether the widow of a priest or of an Israelite, as Aben Ezra, that is, of any Israelite that was not of the priesthood; and this, whether a widow after espousals, or after marriage, as runs the Jewish canon (u); the meaning is, that if she was betrothed to a man, and that man died before he married her, and so was a virgin; yet being betrothed to him was reckoned as his widow; and such an one the high priest might not marry, any more than one that had been left a widow, having being married: though, according to the ”
- Leviticus (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Leviticus 21 (introduction): The priests shall not mourn for the dead, except for near relatives, such as mother, father, son, daughter, and sister if a virgin, Lev 21:1-4. They shall not shave their heads nor beards, nor make any cuttings in the flesh, because they are holy unto God, Lev 21:5, Lev 21:6. A priest shall not marry a woman who is a whore, profane, or divorced from her husband, Lev 21:7, Lev 21:8. Of the priest's daughter who profanes herself, Lev 21:9. The high priest shall not uncover his head, or rend his clothes, Lev 21:10; nor go in unto a dead body, Lev 21:11;”
- Ezekiel (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Ezekiel 44:22: Neither shall they take for their wives a widow - This was prohibited to the high priest only, by Moses, Lev 21:13, Lev 21:14.”