Exodus 21
Leviticus 21 gives special holiness regulations for priests. Verses 1–9 address ordinary priests, verses 10–15 give stricter standards for the high priest, and verses 16–24 explain that descendants of Aaron with certain physical blemishes may eat the priestly portions but may not approach the altar to offer the food of God.
1verse“Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them:
2verse“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything.
3verseIf he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him.
4verseIf his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
5verseBut if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’
6versethen his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him forever.
7verse“If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do.
8verseIf she doesn’t please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt deceitfully with her.
9verseIf he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her as a daughter.
10verseIf he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights.
11verseIf he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.
12verse“One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death,
13versebut not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen; then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee.
14verseIf a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
15verse“Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.
16verse“Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
17verse“Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
18verse“If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed;
19verseif he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed.
20verse“If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, the man shall surely be punished.
21verseNotwithstanding, if his servant gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for the servant is his property.
22verse“If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow.
23verseBut if any harm follows, then you must take life for life,
24verseeye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25verseburning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.
26verse“If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.
27verseIf he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let the servant go free for his tooth’s sake.
28verse“If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its meat shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible.
29verseBut if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and this has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death.
30verseIf a ransom is imposed on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is imposed.
31verseWhether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him.
32verseIf the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned.
33verse“If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn’t cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it,
34versethe owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his.
35verse“If one man’s bull injures another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live bull, and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal.
36verseOr if it is known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall be his own.
Key Content and Meaning
- Limits on mourning (verses 1–6): Priests must avoid corpse impurity except for close family members, because they serve in a role that requires special ritual holiness.
- Marriage regulations (verses 7–9): The holiness of the priestly household matters because the priest represents God’s holiness before the people.
- Special regulations for the high priest (verses 10–15): The high priest is subject to stricter standards, including limits on mourning and marriage, because of his anointed office.
- Regulations regarding physical blemishes (verses 16–24): A priest with a listed blemish may still eat the holy food, but he may not perform altar service. The regulation symbolically reflects wholeness in sanctuary service without removing him from the priestly family.
Meditation Points
- The holiness required of God’s servants concerns not only their public role but also their personal conduct and influence on the community.
- These restrictions should be read as symbolic priestly regulations within Israel’s worship system, not as a license for contempt toward people with weakness or disability.
Try Applying It to Yourself
- Consider how I view the responsibilities entrusted to me and how I can practice holiness in that role.
- Pray about my posture before God and the effect my life has on others.
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