The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘He who is the high priest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, or tear his clothes.
- KJV And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;
- NKJV ‘He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes;
- NASB ‘The priest who is highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes;
- NLT “The high priest has the highest rank of all the priests. The anointing oil has been poured on his head, and he has been ordained to wear the priestly garments. He must never leave his hair uncombed or tear his clothing.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The high priest, anointed and consecrated, must not loosen his hair or tear his clothes in mourning. His supreme office required the strictest holiness.
Overview
Set apart by the anointing oil and the sacred garments, the high priest could not even display ordinary signs of grief. His unique consecration to God superseded personal mourning. This points to Christ, the great High Priest anointed by the Spirit, whose perfect consecration to His Father qualifies Him to bring us to God (Heb. 4:14-15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Lev 10:6–7Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become disheveled and do not tear your garments, or else you will die, and the LORD will be angry with the whole congregation. But your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may mourn on account of the fire that the LORD has ignited.
- Lev 16:32The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest shall make atonement. He will put on the sacred linen garments
- Matt 26:65At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “He has blasphemed! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.
- Num 35:25The assembly is to protect the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
- Lev 8:12He also poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him.
- Exod 29:29–30The holy garments that belong to Aaron will belong to his sons after him, so they can be anointed and ordained in them.
- Exod 28:2–4Make holy garments for your brother Aaron, to give him glory and splendor.
- Esth 6:12Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.
- Lev 13:45A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’
- Gen 37:34Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
- Lev 8:7–9He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him. He tied the woven band of the ephod around him and fastened it to him.
- 2 Sam 15:30But David continued up the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went up. His head was covered, and he was walking barefoot. And all the people with him covered their heads and went up, weeping as they went.
- Ps 133:2It is like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down Aaron’s beard over the collar of his robes.
- Job 1:20Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 21:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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