Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 21:12
Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God [is] upon him: I [am] the LORD.
12. go out, etc.] lest, on returning to the sanctuary, he should pollute it. The words seem to imply that the sanctuary was his usual abode. Cp. 1Sa 1:9; 1Sa 3:2. But they may only mean that he was not to go out during the ceremonial.
crown ] R.V. mg. consecration. The former is the literal rendering, but the mg. gives the sense here. The oil was the symbol of his office, marking him out as a crowned one among his brethren. The original word is used elsewhere in the special sense of the consecration of a Nazirite (Num 6:7, etc.).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Go out of the sanctuary – i. e. not for the purpose to which reference is here made. The words do not mean, as some have imagined, that his abode was confined to the sanctuary.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. The crown of the anointing oil – is upon him] By his office the priest represented Christ in his sacrificial character; by his anointing, the prophetic influence; and by the crown, the regal dignity of our Lord.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Out of the sanctuary, to wit, to attend the funerals of any person; for upon other occasions he might and did commonly go out.
Nor profane the sanctuary; either by making the service thereof give place to the discharge of his passions, or the performance of a civility, or by entering into the sanctuary before the seven days allotted for his cleansing (Num 19:11) were expired.
The crown of the anointing oil, i.e. the anointing oil, which to him was instead of a crown, by which he was advanced not only above the rest of his brethren, but even above all the people, whose chief governor he was in the things of God, though subject 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 is called the holy crown, Exo 29:6, and
the anointing oil of his God are upon him. So there is only an ellipsis of the conjunction and, which is frequent, as Psa 144:9; Isa 63:11; Hab 3:11, &c. And these two things being most eminent, are put for the rest, and the sign is put for the thing signified, q.d. 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 anointing oil of the consecration, i.e. whereby he is consecrated, is upon him; i.e. though that action be past, yet the virtue of it remains still upon him; he is a sacred person in the highest degree, and therefore not to defile himself in any kind.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary,…. In the time of service, upon any occasion whatever; otherwise, when there was a necessity for it, he might go out from thence, though this was rarely done, and only in the night time: Maimonides m says he had a house prepared for him in the sanctuary, called the chamber of the high priest; and it was his honour and his glory to remain in the sanctuary all the day, and he did not go out, except to his own house, and that only in the night, or an hour or two in the day; and his house was in Jerusalem, and from thence he never removed: but this law respects him only in the case of his dead; as when any news was brought him of the death of his father, or of his mother, if in his service, he was not to quit it on any account; for we are told n, that an high priest might offer when mourning, though he might not eat in such a circumstance, whereas a common priest might neither offer nor eat; nor might an high priest go out of the sanctuary on such an occasion, if he was not in service, as to follow the dead corpse or bier, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it; at least, he was to go no further than the gate of the city; though even this is not allowed by others, who say o, if the dead were his, he might not go out after it; he might not go out of the door of his house, nor out of the sanctuary, and all the people were to come and comfort him at his own house:
nor profane the sanctuary of his God; by deserting the service of it, on any account, and particularly on account of the dead, by departing from it to go after them, and by entering into it again before the time, when so defiled:
for the crown of the anointing oil of his God [is] upon him; the anointing oil, which was a crown of glory, and gave him a superior dignity to others, which it became him to be careful not to debase by any of the above things: or “the crown and the anointing oil”, so some p supply the word “and”; both the golden plate or the holy crown, as it is sometimes called, and the anointing oil were upon him, which showed him to be a very dignified person, a sort of king as well as a priest, and so a type of Christ, who is a priest upon his throne, Zec 6:13;
I [am] the Lord: whose high priest he is, and who command him all these things, and expect to be obeyed in them.
m Cele Hamikdash, c. 5. sect. 7. n Misn. Horayot, c. 3. sect. 5. o Maimon. Cele Hamikdash, c. 5. sect. 5, 6. Vid. Misn. Sanhedrim, c. 2. sect. 1. p So Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(12) Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary.Better, and he shall not go out of the sanctuary as in Lev. 10:7. When the tidings of the death of a parent is brought to him during the service, he must not desist from the service and quit the sanctuary, lest it should appear that he has a greater regard for the dead than for the service of the living God. The difference between the ordinary priest and the high priest in this respect was, that when the former heard, during the service, of the death of any one of the seven relations for whom he had to mourn, he was obliged to discontinue the service, though he too could not leave the precincts of the sanctuary; whilst the former, under these circumstances, was bound to continue the service. The former, by becoming a mourner, profaned the service if he continued it; the latter never became a mourner, and hence profaned the service if he discontinued it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12. Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary During the time spent in the service in the tabernacle, he shall not interrupt, abridge, or postpone his service for the purpose of visiting the sick, dying, or dead. No possible event could occur in the camp which could justify the neglect of Jehovah’s honour. In this respect Jesus Christ was exercising the prerogative of the high priest when he said, “Let the dead bury their dead.”
Crown of the anointing A metaphorical expression denoting the excellency of the oil, and the dignity its use conferred. It symbolized the Holy Spirit, the crowning gift of the Father to the Son at his baptism: through Christ’s mediation it is bestowed upon all perfect believers, as the greatest gift that man can wish or Heaven can send. 1Jn 2:20 ; 1Jn 2:27. Dr. A. Clarke suggests that the regal dignity of our Lord is prefigured by this crown, his sacrificial character by his office, and his prophetic influence by his anointing. The Samaritan MS. has “crown of the excellency.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 21:12 Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God [is] upon him: I [am] the LORD.
Ver. 12. For the crown of the anointing. ] Noting thereby that Christ, now risen, is crowned with glory and honour; Heb 2:7 Zec 6:12 and so shall we with him. Heb 2:9-10 1Co 15:47-49
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
crown = consecration: i.e. = Nazariteship.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
go out: Lev 10:7
for the crown: Lev 8:9-12, Lev 8:30, Exo 28:36, Exo 29:6, Exo 29:7, Isa 61:1, Act 10:38
Reciprocal: Exo 25:8 – a sanctuary Lev 8:12 – General Lev 21:23 – profane Num 16:5 – who is holy Mat 8:21 – suffer
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 21:12. Out of the sanctuary To attend the funeral of any person: for upon other occasions he might, and did commonly go out. Nor profane the sanctuary Either by the performance of a civility, or by entering into the sanctuary before the seven days allotted for his cleansing (Num 19:11) were expired. The crown of the anointing oil Or, the crown, the golden plate, which is called the holy crown, (Exo 29:6,) and the anointing oil of his God are upon him. So there is only an ellipsis of the conjunction and, which is frequent. And these two things, being most eminent, are put for the rest, as the sign is put for the thing signified, as if he had said, For he is Gods high-priest. But the word , Nezer, which we render crown, more properly signifies separation, or consecration; and so the clause might here be rendered, The consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
21:12 Neither shall he go out of the {h} sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the {i} crown of the anointing oil of his God [is] upon him: I [am] the LORD.
(h) To go to the dead.
(i) For by his anointing he was preferred above the other priests and therefore could not lament the dead, least he should have polluted his holy anointing.