” Chap. XXI.
* Exod: 28: 36. | Or. 97»
ſecrati on,
or ſepara-- ti0n, Numb:
6: 7-
FOr,food,
_*Chap;
22, 23,
_ or ccookedne(s of it, Bug according 30 others,
u_Levit. 8: 12. Which was only ſprinkled upon inferiour Prieſts, blood alſo being mixed with it, Lev: 8; 3o. - x To wit, thoſe holy garments which were peculiar to him, as well as thoſe common to others. » This being then the poſture of mourners Lev: 10: 6. tho 4frerwards the cuſtom was changed and mourners covered their heads,2 Sam:15:30. E#6:6.12. Or if this cuſtom was now in uſe,the meaning may be,he ſhall nor pur off the Prieſtly covering or mitre, which was neceſſary for him to do if he had pur on the mourners co- vering upon his head,otherwiſe the holy covering had been defiled,
but he ſhall continue in the exerciſe ofhis office, which is ſignified by ,
keeping on his Prieſtly garments.z Anotherexprethon of mourning. 1x Neither ſhall he-go in @ to any dead body, nor defile himſelf for his father b or for his mother. _
a To wit, into the chamber or howſe where they lie. This and divers other rites here preſcrived were from hence tranſlated by ti-< Heathens into their uſe, whoſe Prieſts were put under the ſame obli- gacions.b Becauſe upon his fathers death he was aftually High-prieſt, having been conſecrated to this office in his Fathers life-time.
12 Neither {ball ye g9 out of the ſanctuary c, nor profane the ſanctuary 4 of his God : for * che || crown of the anointing oyl e of his God is upon him : I aw the LORD.
c To wit, to attend the funeralls of any perſon : for upon other oecaſions he might and did commonly go out. 4 Either by making the ſervice thereof give place to the diſcharge of his paſſions,or the performance of a civility, or by entring into the SanCtuary before
the ſeven days alloted for his cleanſing, Numb: 19:11. were expired.
e (i. e.) The anointing oil, which to him was in ſtead of a crown,by which he was advanced not only above the reft of his brethren, bur even above all the people, whoſe chief Governour he was in the things of God, tho' ſubje& and accountable to the civil Magiſtrate, by which alſo he was made an eminent type of Chriſt who was to be King and Prieſt. Or, the crown, to wit, the golden plate,which 1s Called the holy crown, Exod: 29: 6: and the anointing oyl of his God are upon him. So there is only an Ellipſis of the conjunCtion, and,which is frequent, as Pſal: 33: 2: and 144: 9 1/a: 63: 11. Hab: 3: 11, ©s. And theſe twothings, being moſt eminent, are put for the reſt, and the ſign is put for the thing lignified,9:4:for he is Gods High-prieſt. Or, the conſecration ( for ſo nezer ſignifies ) of the anointing oil, which by an Hypallage may be put for the anoint:ug oil of the conſecration,i: e: whereby he is conſecrated,zs upon him,i:e: though that aCtion be pat,
yet the vertue of it remains ſtill upon him, he is a ſacred perſon in |
the higheſt degree, and therefore not to detile himſelf in any kind,
12 And he ſhall take a wife in her virginity f.
f Or, a Virgin, partly for the decency of the type, becauſe as he was a type'of Chriſt, ſo his wife was a type of tlie Church, which is compared to a Virgin, 2 Cor: 11: 2. Rev: 14: 4« and partly for greater caution and aſſurance that his wife was not a defiled or defloured perſon. This and the follo:ving rule belong nor to all the Prieſts, for then this were a groſs tautology, the'e iame things or moſt of them being expreſly forbidden to them wv.7. bur only to the High-prieſt, to ſhew that he alſo and he eſpecially is obliged to the ſame cautions. :
14 A widow g, or a divorced woman, or profage, or an harlot, theſe ſhall he nor take : but he (hall take a virgin of his own people h to wife.
g Except ſhe were the widow of his predeceſſor, which ſome ga- ther from Ezek- 44. 22. But that place ſpeaks only of the common Prieſt, not of the High-prieſt. þ (:.e.) Eirhzr r. of his own tribe, which is confuted by the examples of holy men. See 2 Chron: 22.11. Or 2. of the feed of Jae, as it is explained, Ezek: 44: 22.
I5 Neither ſhall he. profane his ſeed ; among his people : for I the LORD do ſandtihe him &.
; By mixing it with forbidden kinds, whereby the children would
be diſparaged and rendred unfit for their Prieſtly fun&ion. & (+. e.) have ſeparated him from all other ſorts of men for my eſpecial and * qo ſervice, and therefore will not have that race cor- rupted. "6 And the LORD ſpake unto Moſes, ſaying, 17 Speak unto Aaron, ſaying, Whoſoever he he of thy ſeed / in their generations m,that hath any blemith =,
let him not approach to offer the Þ+ bread os of his God. I Whether the high-prieſt, or the inferiour ones m2 In all ſuc- ceſſive ages, as long as your Prieſthood and polity i Any defe& or exceſs of parts, any notorious deformity or imper- fe&tion in his body. The reaſon hereof is partly typical, that he ight more fully repreſent Chriſt, the great High-prieſt, who was ypified both by the prieſt and ſacrifice, and therefore both were to be without blemiſh ; partly moral to teach all Chriſtians and e- ſpecially Miniſters of holy things, whar purity and| perfe&ion of heart and life they ſhould labour after, and that n-torious blemi- ſhes in the mind or converſation render a man unfit for the Mini-
ſtery of the Goſpel, and partly prudential, becauſe fuch blemiſhes ; am preſent, which commonly is were apt to breed contempt of the perſon, and co Rqwently, of i
his funCtion, and of the holy things wherein he miniſtred. For which reaſon, ſome conceive, that ſtill ſuch perſons as have noto- r10us defeQts or deformities which render them contemprible, are not fit for the Miniſtery, Which may be true in the general, ex- cept where there are eminent gifts and graces, which are ſufficient to vindicate a man from the contempribleneſs of his bodily pre- ſence. The particular defe&s here mentioned, I ſhall nor enlarge
upon becauſe ſome of the Hebrew words are diverſly interpreted,
and becauſc the uſe of theſe things being aboliſhed, the knowledge of them is not very neceſſary. o Either the ſhew-bread, one emi- nent part being named for the whole : or the food, 3. e. all the ob-