Leviticus 21:12
Neither shall he go out of the holy places, lest he defile the sanctuary of the Lord, because the oil of the holy unction of his God is upon him. I am the Lord.
Open Leviticus 21:12 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Nec egredietur de sanctis, ne polluat sanctuarium Domini, quia oleum sanctæ unctionis Dei sui super eum est. Ego Dominus.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων οὐκ ἐξελεύσεται καὶ οὐ βεβηλώσει τὸ ἡγιασμένον τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὃτι τὸ ἅγιον ἔλαιον τὸ χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ· ἐγὼ Κύριος.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וּמִן הַמִּקְדָּשׁ֙ לֹ֣א יֵצֵ֔א וְלֹ֣א יְחַלֵּ֔ל אֵ֖ת מִקְדַּ֣שׁ אֱלֹהָ֑יו כִּ֡י נֵ֠זֶר שֶׁ֣מֶן מִשְׁחַ֧ת אֱלֹהָ֛יו עָלָ֖יו אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה
Haydock's commentary
Places. This is to be understood in the same sense. He must not leave his sacred functions to attend any corpse whatever. Having the honour of representing God, and being his first minister on earth, the utmost purity is required of him. Inferior priests may mourn on some occasions; and the Levites are not distinguished, in this respect, from the people; to shew that God requires sanctity in his officers, proportionate to their exaltation.
Oil. Hebrew, "He is the Nozor; or the crown of the anointing oil of," &c. Joseph has the title of Nazir, (Genesis xlix. 26,) which is borne by the prime ministers of the Eastern kings. Such is the high priest in the temple. Let Christian priests hence learn what sanctity will be required of them. But why is the pontiff forbidden to bury his father, since he obtains that dignity after his decease. St. Augustine (q. 83,) answers, that he was to be consecrated immediately after, that he might offer incense. Another might, however, perform that office. On some occasions, the high priest was deposed, or the dignity transferred to another family. Infirmities might also hinder him from performing the duty. (Calmet)
Priests must be detached, as much as possible, from all things which might divert them from their sacred offices. The greatest holiness is required of those who receive the body of Jesus Christ. (Du Hamel)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Jerome The Letters of St. Jerome, To Paula
I cannot adequately extol the mysteries of Scripture, nor sufficiently admire the spiritual meaning conveyed in its most simple words. We are told, for instance, that lamentation was made for Moses; yet when the funeral of Joshua is described no mention at all is made of weeping. The reason, of course, is that under Moses, that is under the old Law, all men were bound by the sentence passed on Adam’s sin, and when they descended into hell were rightly accompanied with tears. For, as the apostle says, “death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned.” But under Jesus, that is, under the Gospel of Christ, who has unlocked for us the gate of paradise, death is accompanied, not with sorrow, but with joy. The Jews go on weeping to this day; they make bare their feet, they crouch in sackcloth, they roll in ashes. …
St John Cassian The Conferences of John Cassian. Part II. Containing Conferences XI-XVII, Chapter X. How to embrace the system of true knowledge
You must then, if you want to get at the true knowledge of the Scriptures, endeavour first to secure steadfast humility of heart, to carry you on by the perfection of love not to the knowledge which puffeth up, but to that which enlightens. For it is an impossibility for an impure mind to gain the gift of spiritual knowledge. And therefore with every possible care avoid this, lest through your zeal for reading there arise in you not the light of knowledge nor the lasting glory which is promised through the light that comes from learning but only the instruments of your destruction from vain arrogance. …
Aphrahat Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations, Of Monks
14. Therefore, my beloved, we also have received of the Spirit of Christ, and Christ dwelleth in us , as it is written that the Spirit said this through the mouth of the Prophet: I will dwell in them and will walk in them . Therefore let us prepare our temples for the Spirit of Christ, and let us not grieve it that it may not depart from us. Remember the warning that the Apostle gives us: Grieve not the Holy Spirit whereby ye have been sealed unto the day of redemption. For from baptism do we receive the Spirit of Christ. For in that hour in which the priests invoke the Spirit, the heavens open and it descends and moves upon the waters . And those that are baptized are clothed in it; for the Spirit stays aloof from all that are born of the flesh, until they come to the new birth by water, and then they receive the Holy Spirit. …
The Fathers are given as they wrote. Where a passage lays the Passion on the Jewish people, the Church teaches that it cannot be charged against all the Jews then living, nor against the Jews of today, and that all sinners were its authors (CCC 597, 598).