The Lord spoke to Moses with precision. The priests, the sons of Aaron, were not to defile themselves for the dead among their people. This was not a general prohibition. The law allowed mourning for the closest kin: mother, father, son, daughter, brother, and an unmarried sister. For these, a priest could touch a corpse and become unclean. But for no one else. The priest was a chief man among his people, and he was not to profane himself by ordinary grief.
The restrictions did not stop at death. The priests were forbidden to shave bald patches on their heads, to trim the edges of their beards, or to cut their flesh. These were mourning customs among the nations, but Israel's priests were to be different. They were holy to their God. The reason was concrete: they offered the offerings of the Lord made by fire, the bread of their God. That duty required a separation from the common practices of the dead.
Marriage also fell under the Lord's command. A priest could not take a woman who was a harlot or profane. He could not marry a woman divorced from her husband. The priest was holy to his God. The people were commanded to sanctify him because he offered the bread of God. The holiness of the priest was not a private matter; it was a public requirement. The Lord who sanctified Israel was holy, and the priest was to reflect that holiness.
The chapter then turned to the high priest. The one upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, who was consecrated to wear the sacred garments, faced even stricter rules. He could not let his hair hang loose or tear his clothes in mourning. He could not go near any dead body at all, not even for his father or mother. He was not to leave the sanctuary or profane it, because the crown of the anointing oil of his God was upon him. The Lord's own presence was tied to the high priest's conduct.
The high priest's marriage was also bound by stricter standards. He could only take a wife in her virginity. A widow, a divorced woman, a profane woman, or a harlot were all forbidden. The reason was clear: he was not to profane his seed among his people. The Lord who sanctified him demanded that his lineage remain undefiled. The holiness of the high priest extended to his household and his descendants.
The Lord then spoke to Moses again, this time about physical blemishes among Aaron's descendants. No man of Aaron's seed who had a blemish could approach to offer the bread of his God. The list was specific: a blind man, a lame man, a man with a flat nose, or anything superfluous. A broken foot, a broken hand, a crooked back, dwarfism, a blemish in the eye, scurvy, scabs, or crushed testicles—all disqualified a man from offering the offerings of the Lord made by fire.
But the disqualification was not total exclusion. The man with a blemish could still eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy portions. He simply could not go in to the veil or come near the altar. The reason was that he might profane the sanctuaries. The Lord who sanctified them set the boundary. The blemish was not a moral judgment; it was a ritual standard for approaching the holy place.
The chapter closes with Moses speaking to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the children of Israel. The commands were not whispered in private. They were delivered to the whole congregation. The holiness of the priesthood was a matter for the entire community to know and uphold. The Lord's sanctuary required a standard that distinguished the priests from the people and the high priest from the ordinary priests. Every boundary, every restriction, every prohibition served one purpose: the holiness of the Lord's dwelling place among His people.