Who may eat the holy things: and what things may be offered.
VVho may eate of sanctified things. 17. And what things may be offered.
1And the Lord spoke to Moses saying:Parlò di nuovo il Signore a Mosè, e disse:OVR Lord also spake to Moyses, saying:Locutus quoque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 2Speak to Aaron and to his sons, that they beware of those things that are consecrated of the children of Israel: and defile not the name of the things sanctified to me, which they offer. I am the Lord.Di' ad Aronne, e a' suoi figliuoli, che si astengano dalle cose, le quali sono consacrate a me da' figliuoli d'Israele; e non profanino le cose santificate in onor mio, le quali eglino offeriscono. Io il Signore.Speake to Aaron and to his sonnes, that they beware of those that are the consecrated thinges of the children of Israel, and contaninate not the name of the thinges sanctified to me, which they offer. I the Lord.Loquere ad Aaron et ad filios ejus, ut caveant ab his quæ consecrata sunt filiorum Israël, et non contaminent nomen sanctificatorum mihi, quæ ipsi offerunt. Ego Dominus. 3Say to them and to their posterity: Every man of your race, that approacheth to those things that are consecrated, and which the children of Israel have offered to the Lord, in whom there is uncleanness, shall perish before the Lord. I am the Lord.Fa' sapere ad essi, e a' loro posteri, che qualunque uomo della loro stirpe, il quale essendo immondo si accosterà alle cose consacrate, e offerte dai figliuoli d'Israele al Signore, perirà dinanzi al Signore. Io sono il Signore.Say to them, and to their posteritie: Euerie man of your stocke, that approcheth to those thinges that are consecrated, and which the children of Israel haue offered to the Lord, in whom there is vncleanesse, shal perish before the Lord. I am the Lord.Dic ad eos, et ad posteros eorum: Omnis homo qui accesserit de stirpe vestra ad ea quæ consecrata sunt, et quæ obtulerunt filii Israël Domino, in quo est immunditia, peribit coram Domino. Ego sum Dominus. 4The man of the seed of Aaron, that is a leper, or that suffereth a running of the seed, shall not eat of those things that are sanctified to me, until he be healed. He that toucheth any thing unclean by occasion of the dead: and he whose seed goeth from him as in generation:Un uomo della stirpe d'Aronne, che sia lebbroso, o malato di gonorrea, non mangerà delle cose consacrate a me, fino a tanto ch'ei sia guarito. Chi toccherà un uomo, che è immondo per ragione d'un morto, o uno, che è soggetto a gonorrea,The man of the seede of Aaron, that is a leper, or hath a fluxe of seede, shal not eate of those thinges that are sanctified to me vntil he be healed. He that toucheth a thing vncleane by occasion of that is dead, and he from whom issueth seede as it were of copulation,Homo de semine Aaron, qui fuerit leprosus, aut patiens fluxum seminis, non vescetur de his quæ sanctificata sunt mihi, donec sanetur. Qui tetigerit immundum super mortuo, et ex quo egreditur semen quasi coitus,
5And he that toucheth a creeping thing, or any unclean thing, the touching of which is defiling:E chi toccherà un rettile, e qualunque cosa immonda, il toccamento della quale porta impurità,and he that toucheth a creeping beast, and whatsoeuer vncleane thing, the touching wherof is filthie,et qui tangit reptile, et quodlibet immundum cujus tactus est sordidus, 6Shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat those things that are sanctified. But when he hath washed his flesh with water,Sarà immondo fino alla sera, e non mangerà delle cose santificate; ma lavata che avrà la sua carne nell'acqua,shal be vncleane vntil euen, and shal not eate those thinges that are sanctified: but when he hath washed his flesh with water,immundus erit usque ad vesperum, et non vescetur his quæ sanctificata sunt: sed cum laverit carnem suam aqua, 7And the sun is down, then being purified, he shall eat of the sanctified things, because it is his meat.E tramontato il sole, allora essendo mondo mangerà delle cose santificate; perché elle sono suo cibo.and the sunne is downe, then being cleansed he shal eate of the sanctified thinges, because it is his meate.et occubuerit sol, tunc mundatus vescetur de sanctificatis, quia cibus illius est. 8That which dieth of itself, and that which was taken by a beast, they shall not eat, nor be defiled therewith. I am the Lord.Non mangeranno d'una bestia morta da sé, ovvero uccisa da un'altra bestia, e non si contamineranno con tali cose. Io sono il Signore.Carrien and that which was taken of a beast, they shal not eate, nor be polluted in them. I am the Lord.Morticinum et captum a bestia non comedent, nec polluentur in eis. Ego sum Dominus. 9Let them keep my precepts, that they may not fall into sin, and die in the sanctuary, when they shall have defiled it. I am the Lord who sanctify them.Osservino i miei comandamenti, affinché non cadano in peccato, e non muoiano nel santuario dopo d'averlo profanato. Io il Signore, che li santifico.Let them keepe my preceptes, that they be not subiect to sinne, and die in the Sanctuarie, when they shal haue polluted it. I the Lord that sanctifie them.Custodiant præcepta mea, ut non subjaceant peccato, et moriantur in sanctuario, cum polluerint illud. Ego Dominus qui sanctifico eos. 10No stranger shall eat of the sanctified things: a sojourner of the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of them.Nissun d'altra stirpe mangerà delle cose santificate; colui, che coabita col sacerdote, e il servo mercenario non ne mangeranno.No stranger shal eate of the sanctified thinges, the priestes guest, and hireling shal not eate of them.Omnis alienigena non comedet de sanctificatis; inquilinus sacerdotis et mercenarius non vescentur ex eis.
11But he whom the priest hath bought, and he that is his servant, born in his house, these shall eat of them.Ma il servo comprato dal sacerdote, e il servo nato in sua casa, questi ne mangeranno.But whom the priest hath bought, and he that is his seruant borne in his house, these shal eate of them.Quem autem sacerdos emerit, et qui vernaculus domus ejus fuerit, his comedent ex eis. 12If the daughter of a priest be married to any of the people, she shall not eat of those things that are sanctified nor of the firstfruits.Se la figlia del sacerdote sposa un uomo qualunque del popolo, non mangerà delle cose santificate, e delle primizie:If the daughter of a priest be maried to anie of the people: of those thinges that are sanctified, and of the first fruites she shal not eate.Si filia sacerdotis cuilibet ex populo nupta fuerit, de his quæ sanctificata sunt, et de primitiis non vescetur. 13But if she be a widow, or divorced, and having no children return to her father’s house, she shall eat of her father’s meats, as she was wont to do when she was a maid. No stranger hath leave to eat of them.Ma se divenuta vedova, ovvero ripudiata, e senza figliuoli, ella fa ritorno alla casa di suo padre, mangerà di quel che mangia suo padre, com'ella usava di far da fanciulla. Nissuno d'altra nazione ha potestà di mangiarne.But if she be a widow, or put away, and without children returne to her fathers house: as she was wont being a maide, she shal be fedde with her fathers meates. No stranger hath power to eate of them.Sin autem vidua, vel repudiata, et absque liberis reversa fuerit ad domum patris sui: sicut puella consueverat, aletur cibis patris sui. Omnis alienigena comedendi ex eis non habet potestatem. 14He that eateth of the sanctified things through ignorance, shall add the fifth part with that which he ate, and shall give it to the priest into the sanctuary.Chi per ignoranza avrà mangiato delle cose santificate, aggiungerà un quinto a quel che ha consumato, e darallo al sacerdote per uso del santuario.He that eateth of the sanctified thinges by ignorance, shal adde the fifth part with that which he did eate, and shal geue it to the priest into the Sanctuarie.Qui comederit de sanctificatis per ignorantiam, addet quintam partem cum eo quod comedit, et dabit sacerdoti in sanctuarium. 15And they shall not profane the sanctified things of the children of Israel, which they offer to the Lord:Guardinsi dal profanare le cose santificate, offerte dai figliuoli d'Israele al Signore:Neither shal they contaminate the sanctified thinges of the children of Israel, which they offer to the Lord:Nec contaminabunt sanctificata filiorum Israël, quæ offerunt Domino:
16Lest perhaps they bear the iniquity of their trespass, when they shall have eaten the sanctified things. I am the Lord who sanctify them.Affinché non abbiano a portar la pena del loro delitto, quando abbian mangiato delle cose santificate. Io il Signore, che li santifico.lest perhappes they sustaine the iniquitie of their offence, when they shal haue eaten the sanctified thinges. I the Lord that sanctifie them.ne forte sustineant iniquitatem delicti sui, cum sanctificata comederint. Ego Dominus qui sanctifico eos. 17And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:E il Signore parlò a Mosè, e disse:And our Lord spake to Moyses, saying:Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 18Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man of the house of Israel, and of the strangers who dwell with you, that offereth his oblation, either paying his vows, or offering of his own accord, whatsoever it be which he presenteth for a holocaust of the Lord,Parla ad Aronne, e ai suoi figliuoli, e a tutt'i figliuoli d'Israele, e di' loro: Qualunque uomo della casa d'Israele, o forestiero abitante tra voi, il quale faccia sua obblazione o per isciogliere un voto, o per libera elezione, qualunque sia la vittima, che egli presenta per farne olocausto al Signore per le mani vostre,Speake to Aaron, and to his sonnes, and to al the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man of the house of Israel, and of the strangers which dwel with you, that offereth his oblation, either paying his vowes, or offering of his owne accord, whatsoeuer that be which he presenteth for an holocaust of the Lord,Loquere ad Aaron et filios ejus, et ad omnes filios Israël, dicesque ad eos: Homo de domo Israël, et de advenis qui habitant apud vos, qui obtulerit oblationem suam, vel vota solvens, vel sponte offerens, quidquid illud obtulerit in holocaustum Domini, 19To be offered by you: it shall be a male without blemish of the beeves, or of the sheep, or of the goats.Ella sarà un maschio senza macchia, o bue, o agnello, o capro:to be offered by you, it shal be a male without spotte of beefes, and muttons, & of goates.ut offeratur per vos, masculus immaculatus erit ex bobus, et ovibus, et ex capris: 20If it have a blemish you shall not offer it: neither shall it be acceptable.Se avrà difetto, non l'offerirete, né sarà accettevole.If it haue a blemish, you shal not offer it, neither shal it be acceptable.si maculam habuerit, non offeretis, neque erit acceptabile.
21The man that offereth a victim of peace offerings to the Lord, either paying his vows, or offering of his own accord, whether of beeves or of sheep, shall offer it without blemish, that it may be acceptable. There shall be no blemish in it.Chi offerisce al Signore un'ostia pacifica, o per isciogliere un voto, o di libera elezione, sia ella di buoi, o di pecore, la offerirà immacolata, affinché ella sia accettevole: nissun difetto sarà in essa.The man that offereth a victime of pacifiques to the Lord, either paying his vowes, or offering of his owne accorde, aswel of beefes as of muttons, shal offer it without blemish that it may be acceptable: there shal be no blemish in it.Homo qui obtulerit victimam pacificorum Domino, vel vota solvens, vel sponte offerens, tam de bobus quam de ovibus, immaculatum offeret ut acceptabile sit: omnis macula non erit in eo. 22If it be blind, or broken, or have a scar or blisters, or a scab, or a dry scurf: you shall not offer them to the Lord, nor burn any thing of them upon the Lord’s altar.Se sarà cieca, se stroppiata, se con qualche cicatrice, se ha scrofole, o rogna, o scabbia, non l'offerirete al Signore, e non ne farete andare sull'altare del Signore.If it be blind, if it be broken, if it haue a scarre, if blisters, or a scabbe, or a drie scurfe: you shal not offer them to the Lord, nor burne of them vpon the Lordes altar.Si cæcum fuerit, si fractum, si cicatricem habens, si papulas, aut scabiem, aut impetiginem: non offeretis ea Domino, nec adolebitis ex eis super altare Domini. 23An ox or a sheep, that hath the ear and the tail cut off, thou mayst offer voluntarily: but a vow may not be paid with them.Il bue, o la pecora, a cui sia stato tagliato un orecchio, o la coda, tu puoi offerirla volontariamente; ma non puoi con essa sciogliere un voto.An oxe and a sheepe, hauing the eare and the taile cut of, thou maiest offer voluntarily but a vow can not be paied of them.Bovem et ovem, aure et cauda amputatis, voluntarie offerre potes, votum autem ex eis solvi non potest. 24you shall not offer to the Lord any beast that hath the testicles bruised, or crushed, or cut and taken away: neither shall you do any such things in your land.Non offerirete al Signore nissuno animale, a cui sieno stati ammaccati, o pestati, o tagliati, o strappati i testicoli, e non farete assolutamente tal cosa nel vostro paese.No beast that hath the stones bruised, or crushed, or cut and taken away, shal you offer to the Lord, and in your land make not this at al.Omne animal, quod vel contritis, vel tusis, vel sectis ablatisque testiculis est, non offeretis Domino, et in terra vestra hoc omnino ne faciatis.
25you shall not offer bread to your God, from the hand of a stranger, nor any other thing that he would give: because they are all corrupted, and defiled. You shall not receive them.Non offerirete al vostro Dio de' pani presentati a voi da uomo straniero, né qualunque altra cosa, che questi voglia dare, perocché tutte le cose loro sono contaminate: non le accettate.Of the hand of a stranger you shal not offer breades to your God, and what other thing soeuer he would geue: because they are al corrupted, and blemished: you shal not receiue them.De manu alienigenæ non offeretis panes Deo vestro, et quidquid aliud dare voluerit, quia corrupta, et maculata sunt omnia: non suscipietis ea. 26And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:E il Signore parlò a Mosè, e disse:And our Lord spake to Moyses, saying:Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 27When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, they shall be seven days under the udder of their dam: but the eighth day, and thenceforth, they may be offered to the Lord.Il vitello, la pecora, e la capra, nate che sieno, per sette giorni staranno alla mammella della madre: e l'ottavo giorno, e in appresso potranno offerirsi al Signore.An oxe, a sheepe, and a goate, when they are brought forth, shal be seuen daies vnder the vdder of their damme: but the eighr day, and so forward they may be offered to the Lord.Bos, ovis et capra, cum genita fuerint, septem diebus erunt sub ubere matris suæ: die autem octavo, et deinceps, offerri poterunt Domino. 28Whether it be a cow, or a sheep, they shall not be sacrificed the same day with their young ones.Sia vacca, sia pecora, non sarà immolata lo stesso dì coi suoi parti.Whether it be a beefe, or a sheepe, they shal not be immolated in one day with their young ones.Sive illa bos, sive ovis, non immolabuntur una die cum fœtibus suis. 29If you immolate a victim for thanksgiving to the Lord, that he may be favourable,Se immolate al Signore un'ostia in rendimento di grazie affinché egli vi sia propizio,If you immolate an hoste for thankes giuing to the Lord, that he may be placable,Si immolaveritis hostiam pro gratiarum actione Domino, ut possit esse placabilis, 30You shall eat it the same day. There shall not any of it remain until the morning of the next day. I am the Lord.Voi la mangerete lo stesso dì: non ne resterà nulla pella mattina del dì seguente. Io il Signore.the same day you shal eate it, there shal not ought remaine vntil the morning of the next day. I the Lord.eodem die comedetis eam: non remanebit quidquam in mane alterius diei. Ego Dominus.
31Keep my commandments, and do them. I am the Lord.Osservate i miei comandamenti, e mettetegli in pratica. Io il Signore.Keepe my commandementes, and doe them. I the Lord.Custodite mandata mea, et facite ea. Ego Dominus. 32Profane not my holy name, that I may be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel. I am the Lord who sanctify you:Non profanate il nome mio santo, affinché io sia glorificato dalla società de' figliuoli d'Israele. Io il Signore, che vi santifico,Pollute not my holie name, that I may be sanctified in the middes of the children of Israel. I the Lord that sanctifie you,Ne polluatis nomen meum sanctum, ut sanctificer in medio filiorum Israël. Ego Dominus qui sanctifico vos, 33And who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. I am the Lord.E vi ho tratti dalla terra d'Egitto per essere vostro Dio. Io il Signore.and brought you out of the Land of Aegypt, that I might be your God. I the Lord.et eduxi de terra Ægypti, ut essem vobis in Deum. Ego Dominus.
22:1
Year of the World 2514.
22:2
St. Basil
Offer. He does not speak of such things as fell to the share of the priests; (Menochius) but orders them to behave with great reverence when they perform their sacred offices, lest others should take occasion to treat the name of God and holy things with disrespect. Hebrew and Septuagint, "let them not profane my holy name, which they are bound to sanctify; or in what they consecrate to me." Such things must not be used for ordinary purposes. (St. Basil, ser. de Bapt. 2:2, and 3.)
22:3
Challoner
Approacheth, etc. This is to give us to understand, with what purity of soul we are to approach to the blessed sacrament, of which these meats that had been offered in sacrifice were a figure. (Challoner)
Such as were unclean, either fasted till the evening, or ate unconsecrated meats till they were purified.
Selden
Perish. The Rabbins say, by the hands of the other priests. The judges could only condemn him to be whipped. If his crime were secret, the punishment was left to God. (Selden, syn. 2:1.)
22:4
Calmet
And he, etc. Hence it is plain, even the Jewish priests were bound to observe continence during the time of their ministry. (Calmet)
Haydock
For the same reason, the priests of the new law, who may be called at any time to perform their more sacred functions, engage voluntarily in the state of perpetual celibacy. (Haydock)
22:5
Menochius
Or any. Hebrew, "or a man who may contaminate," as lepers, etc. (Menochius)
22:8
That. See Leviticus 17:15.
22:9
Calmet
In the sanctuary, is not found in Hebrew which is difficult to explain. "They shall observe my precepts, (or "watches," entering upon the ministry at 17; Josephus; Menochius) and not bear sin for it, and die in it, because they have profaned it;" which it, may be understood either of the consecrated food, (ver. 7,) or of the sanctuary. (Calmet)
22:10
Sojourner. "Guest," or friend, Syriac. None but priests could taste this meat, except they were going to remain in the family for ever. Hence servants and slaves of the Jewish nation, who would one day regain their liberty, are excluded.
22:13
Philo
Children. If she had any, she remained with them. (Philo, Monar. 2.)
22:14
He. A layman, who, through mistake, ate of any of the tithes, etc., was obliged to give the capital, and a fifth part besides, with a sacrifice, mentioned [in] Leviticus 5:15.
22:15
Calmet
They; the common people shall not profane, by touching them afterwards, or by retaining any part. (Calmet)
Haydock
The priests shall answer for the profanation, if it be committed through their neglect. (Haydock)
22:18
Strangers: proselytes of justice, or converts of the Jewish religion. See ver. 25.
22:19
Without blemish. To teach us to aim at perfection in all our offerings and performances.
22:22
Scar. Septuagint, "If its tongue be cut out, or slit." which was a blemish among the heathens. (Servius in Aeneid vi.; lectas de more bidentes.) They also required the victims to be perfect. The Egyptians had officers called Sealers, who were directed by many books how to choose the proper victims. The Hebrew priests had to examine such as were offered to them, with the utmost nicety. See the Misna of Babylon. The idea of God's perfection, has taught all nations to present to Him nothing but what is perfect, particularly when they offer victims.
22:23
Calmet
Ear....cut. Hebrew saruang, which is translated a crooked nose, Leviticus 21:18. The Septuagint and Syriac agree here with the Vulgate: but the moderns generally adopt the interpretation of the Rabbins, who say the word is applied to those animals whose double members, feet, ears, etc., are disproportionately long; as kolut, means too short. (Bochart) (Calmet)
Du Hamel
Voluntarily, for the use of the priests, but not for any sacrifice, ver. 21. (Du Hamel)
22:24
Bruised. Hebrew does not specify what part, no more than the Syriac or Arabic versions; but the Septuagint, Chaldean, Rabbins, and most commentators agree with us.
Josephus
Do any, etc. (faciatis.) You shall not sacrifice (Syriac) any thing that is rendered unfit to propagate its kind: neither shall you reduce either man or beast to that condition. (Josephus, contra Apion ii.; Rabbins)
22:25
Josephus
Bread, which always accompanies the sacrifices for sin. Holocausts might be offered by the Gentiles. (2 Machabees 3:3.; 1 Esdras 6:9.) (Josephus, Antiquities 18:7.; Selden, Jur. 3:4, 7.)
Calmet
Them. To reconcile this with ver. 18, we must understand because in the sense of in as much as; they are all corrupted, when contrary to these regulations. The strangers shall not be allowed to offer any blemished victim. Hebrew, "Neither from the hand of a stranger shall you offer the bread (or victims) of your God of any of these; because....blemishes are in them: they shall not be accepted (by God) for you (or them)." The Chaldean and other versions explain it in the same sense. Presents of gold, etc., were accepted, and kept in the temple. The family of Augustus shewed their generosity in this respect. (Philo, Legat.) (Calmet)
Tirinus
Strangers, or pagans, could not offer victims, but they might give money to purchase them. (Tirinus)
22:27
Tertullian
Lord. In this and the following verses, we are taught a lesson of humanity. (Tertullian)
Calmet
The Romans did not offer sheep or goats till they were eight days old: though the Jews were at liberty to sacrifice them after that term, they generally waited till they were thirty days old. (Calmet)
22:3
Approacheth, etc.... This is to give us to understand, with what purity of soul we are to approach to the blessed sacrament of which these meats that had been offered in sacrifice were a figure.
22:4
By these accidental vncleannes, was prefigured the censure of susspension in clergie men.
22:11
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 1.17
… but it “cometh of evil” on his part by whose infirmity you are compelled to swear. But no one learns, unless he has had experience, how difficult it is both to get rid of a habit of swearing, and never to do rashly what necessity sometimes compels him to do.
22:12
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 123.7
… If on the other hand they take other husbands they are to be kept apart both from their father and from the sacrifices and are to be counted as strangers.
22:13
Tertullian † AD 220 On Monogamy 7
… Meantime, so far as pertains to the law, the lines of argument drawn from it are more suitable for us (than for our opponents). In short, the same (law) prohibits priests from marrying a second time. The daughter also of a priest it bids, if widowed or repudiated, if she have had no seed, to return into her father’s home and be nourished from his bread.
22:14
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.28
xxii. 14 . Eating the hallowed things ignorantly; compared with 1 Cor. xi. 27, 28 , of careless participation in Sacrament.
22:19
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.94
94. I know also that not even bodily blemishes in either priests or victims
22:22
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 20
… Hence we must spy out the spots on our body upon every side. For if they that offered the sacrifices of old were bid to look on every side, and were not permitted to offer an animal “that hath anything superfluous or lacking, or is scurvy, or scabbed” (
22:2
Speak to Aaron and to his sons, that they beware (that they abstain; in Hebrew, that they separate themselves, namely when they themselves are unclean) from those things which are consecrated,—which are offered to God in any manner whatsoever. It was otherwise with those things which were offered bare, not to God in sacrifice, but to the Levites and priests for sustenance, such as tithes and first-fruits: for these were not offered to God with solemn rite, nor was their portion sacrificed to God; whence the Levites could eat them even when unclean, indeed they could sell them to laymen, and exchange them for other things. And let them not contaminate the name of those sanctified to me,—that is to say, Let them not contaminate my sacred things, let them not cast a stain of impurity upon things sanctified and offered to me: our Interpreter reads in the Hebrew קדשי kadascai, that is, of those sanctified to me: now others with different pointing read kodsci, that is, of my sanctity, that is to say, My holy name. But our Interpreter reads better kadascai, because it follows, which they offer to me; for these are things sanctified to God.
22:3
Say to them and to their posterity,—command that this law be observed among their descendants, especially because they alone will truly fulfill and execute it: for the present generation merely hears and receives it, but will not fulfill it. The reason is, because these ceremonial laws were not observed in the wilderness, both because in it there was no stable tabernacle or dwelling; and because in it they had no commerce with the Gentiles, so as to buy frankincense, wine, honey, animals and other things which God commanded to be offered and sacrificed to him: whence they lived there on manna alone for forty years. See what is said in the preceding chapter, verse 12. Every man who shall approach (for the purpose of eating) to those things which are consecrated, in whom there is uncleanness (which is explained in verse 4, namely if he be a leper, polluted with seed, if he have touched a dead body or a creeping thing, if he have eaten that which died of itself), shall perish before the Lord.—In Hebrew, that soul shall be cut off from before my face, that is, from me, as the Septuagint translates it. Note: God here ordains so gravely and severely that the unclean should not approach to sacred things and the flesh of sacrifices to eat them, partly on account of reverence for sacred things and his worship, partly allegorically to prefigure how strictly he would exact purity of soul in those receiving the communion of the body and blood of the Lord, which is the one sacrifice of the new law, shadowed forth by all these ancient things. Thus Abulensis, concerning whom see St. Basil, sermon 2 On Baptism, chapters II and III. Meritedly therefore God's vengeance has raged against impure priests and clergy. Hear examples. Gregory of Tours, book V of the History of the Franks, chapter V: When, he says, by the death of Sylvester the see of the Church of Langres was vacant, the people of Langres, seeking a Bishop, received Pappol, who had formerly been Archdeacon of Autun: who did many things, as they assert, that were wicked, which are passed over by us, lest we appear to be detractors of the brethren: yet I will not omit what kind of end he had. In the eighth year of his episcopate, while he was going around the dioceses and estates of the Church, one night as he slept there appeared to him Blessed Tetricus with a threatening countenance, to whom he said thus: "What are you doing here, Pappol, why do you pollute my see? why do you invade the Church? why do you so scatter the sheep entrusted to me? Yield the place, leave the see, depart far from the region." And saying this, he thrust the rod which he held in his hand against his breast with a mighty blow. At which he awoke, and while he was thinking what this might be, he became fixed in that place and was tormented with the greatest pain. He abhors food and drink, and awaits death now near at hand. What more? On the third day, as he was vomiting blood from his mouth, he expired. Thence he was carried to Langres and buried. Hear Peter Damian, Bishop of Ostia, in his letter to Hildebrand the Pope, volume III of the Library of the Holy Fathers: "This now comes to mind," he says, "that in the city of Benevento a Bishop was once appointed who at this time of the oblation observed this practice: he never completed it until he had seen a vision. And he was accustomed to speak certain words beforehand, and immediately a revelation was made to him. When therefore he had once spoken the words three times, no vision appeared to him. As he was grieving and praying that the cause might be made known to him, he first observes a deacon, who held the liturgical fan from the left. As he observed him, Epiphanius considers leprosy to appear on his forehead. But it was manifest to no one that the deacon was laboring under that disease; Epiphanius therefore extended his hand, and took up the liturgical instrument, saying to him kindly: Go, my son, to your house, and do not now partake of the divine mysteries. And he immediately went out, and went to his house, and Epiphanius gave the office to another deacon. Then he inquires of the former the cause; and when he said that he had slept with his wife that night, having summoned the whole sacred order, Epiphanius said to them kindly: Whoever, O sons, have been deemed worthy of the clergy, loose your sandals, that you may not enter in them, and that you may honor the holy man, who comes in secret. The priest therefore being asked if he had recently committed any crime, at first indeed shuddering, denies the deed; then, being conscious of evil and compelled by the authority of the prince, at length confesses that he had fallen the night before with a certain chambermaid of the same prince." Hear the same author in his epistle to the Bishop of Turin, and from him Baronius, vol. XI, in the year of Christ 1057: "When Pope Stephen, who emulated the zeal of Phinehas, commanded all the clergy of Rome, who had been incontinent after the interdict of Pope Leo, to depart from the assembly of clergy and the choir of the Church, so that although they might correct themselves through the lamentations of penance by abandoning women, nevertheless because they had been disobedient to the holy man, they should depart from the treasury for a time, and should not hope for permission to celebrate Mass henceforth. Near the Canonical church of St. Cecilia across the Tiber, a priest dwelt, who could in no way consent to cast off a woman, nor could he ever judge these statutes as anything but utterly vain and frivolous. On a certain day, while he was in good health, vigorous and strong, in the evening hours he composed himself to rest in bed, but was suddenly struck by the visitation of divine vengeance. In the morning his lifeless corpse was found. Immediately the religious of the aforesaid Canonical church sent two clerics to me, asking what they ought to do for such a dead man. We, if we understand the matter correctly, gave counsel that him indeed, because he had been a priest, they should bury near the church, but should render him no office either of hymns or of psalmody, so that terror might increase for the incontinent, and the glory of chastity might flourish more abundantly, and certainly he seemed worthy that the dead man (according to the Prophet) should possess the burial of an ass, who while living scorned to be bound by human law." St. Epiphanius (as Surius relates from the Metaphrast in his Life, chapter XVIII, on the 12th of May) "It happened that I heard in Constantia. The prince of that city cultivated a priest of holy conversation, and one constantly assiduous in divine offices and especially in the solemnity of Masses; who, when he daily reverently attended to the sacred mysteries, an angel of the Lord would come by custom, and in the sight of the prince would take the sacrament of the Lord's body from the hands of the offerer. But, O criminal and slippery and uncertain condition of this life! For he who enjoyed the service of angels suddenly fell into the abyss of foul lust. What more? The time for performing the sacred mystery arrived: custom requiring it outwardly, the priest is compelled, but inwardly his conscience torments him gravely; he adorns himself, approaches, trembles, palpitates, yet presumes to offer. Now behold the angel, as he was accustomed, comes, and in the sight of the prince wrung out a sponge infected with water upon his head, and poured back upon all his members all the filth and squalor which he had before contracted from his body. Seeing this the prince marveled and was astounded, and when he had inspected the priest with the Christian victim removed, and at the same time saw the Bishop dead lying on the ground, he roused other religious men, who carried away the Bishop's body from there and buried it in the field. in the Church preaches and says: "And having wives as though having them not." From hence therefore Epiphanius no longer ordained those who have a wife, but holy men, who practiced the monastic life, and proven widowed men; it was then truly possible to see the Church, as a beautiful bride adorned with priesthood. Hear William of Malmesbury, On the Deeds of the English, book II: "Henry the Emperor had a clerk in his court, who both his knowledge of letters and the elegance of his voice was marred by a bodily defect, in that he burned vehemently for a harlot of the village; with whom, rolling about on a solemn night, in the morning he stood before the Emperor's Mass with open countenance. The knowledge being dissimulated, Caesar commands him to prepare himself for the Gospel, which his melody would delight; for he was a deacon. He, on account of the consciousness of sin, attempts to escape by many pretexts; the Emperor on the contrary urges by messengers, that he might prove his constancy; at last, when he utterly refused: I, said Caesar, because you are unwilling to obey me in so easy a service, command you to be banished from all my land. The clerk embraced the sentence and departed immediately; messengers were sent to pursue him, so that, if he thought he should persevere, they might recall him already departed from the city. Thus slowly gathering all his things and composing them into bundles, already having set out, he was violently brought back and sustained the presence of Henry. Who, pleased and smiling: Well, said he, you have done, and I congratulate your probity, in that you value the fear of God more than your country, regard for heavenly wrath more than my threats: wherefore have the Bishopric, which first becomes vacant in my empire; only renounce this unseemly love." Finally, there is the well-known unhappy and terrible tragedy of Udo, Bishop of Marburg, which St. Antoninus, Nauclerus and Fulgosus relate at length: "When Udo the Bishop," they say, "not even being warned by signs and divine voices, did not restrain himself from impurity, religious men prayed to God that He would either correct the Bishop or remove him. Among them, when Frederick the Canon was engaged in such prayers by night in the church of St. Maurice, he perceived that all the lights which were in the temple were extinguished by a blast of violent wind; and not long after, two youths came bearing two candlesticks with lighted candles, and Christ with His mother and the Apostles followed. When the holy men whose bodies rested in the temple were called by them, Maurice was seen to come among them, who with a long and grave prayer accused Bishop Udo; whom not long after Christ ordered to be brought naked by two of them and condemned. But he, struck heavily in the middle of the loins by a blow from one of those who carried him, vomited forth the Christian victim which he had received in communion the day before, into the chalice, which was placed upon the altar, and when Udo was struck with an axe, the vision of all those things vanished. Wherefore Frederick, greatly terrified, approached the altar, and the chalice was in it."
22:4
He that toucheth the unclean upon the dead, — that is to say, He shall be unclean, who toucheth the unclean on account of the dead, or who hath touched the dead, namely some corpse, cared for it, buried it, or attended its funeral. For he was unclean, and he who thus touched the unclean became likewise unclean, so that it was not lawful for him to eat of the flesh sacrificed to God. The Septuagint translates: He that toucheth the uncleanness of a soul, that is of a corpse, that is, he that toucheth a corpse; whence some think that only those touching a corpse are here barred from eating of the sacred flesh, but not those who in turn touched these and were touched by them: for they did not transfer their uncleanness to others. But the former sense is required by our version, and to it incline the Hebrew and Chaldean, as Vatablus confesses; this is also favored by what follows:
22:5
He that toucheth a creeping thing and any unclean thing (in Hebrew, he that toucheth a creeping thing, and a man who can defile, such as a leper, a menstruating woman, one with an issue of seed), whose touch is filthy, — because he whom he touches, he pollutes and renders unclean, so that it is not lawful for him to eat of the sacred flesh.
22:7
Because his meat is, — that is, because it pertains to him to eat of the foods offered to God.
22:8
That which dieth by itself and that which is taken by a beast they shall not eat. — That which dieth by itself, says St. Jerome, is a body in which blood, that is the soul, dies, namely that which dies without the shedding of blood; for blood is called the soul, because it is the vehicle and sustenance of the soul: for this reason, therefore, things that die by themselves are reckoned unclean by this law, as also those torn by a beast.
22:9
Let them keep my precepts, that they may not be subject to sin, and die in the Sanctuary (lest they be slain by me in the sanctuary, as Nadab and Abihu were slain), when they have defiled it. — For by this very fact that they eat the flesh offered to God in the sanctuary against these laws, when they are unclean, they pollute and contaminate both the flesh itself and consequently the sanctuary itself in which that flesh was offered. I am the Lord who sanctify you, — who will and command that they be holy.
22:10
No stranger shall eat of the sanctified things. — For stranger, in Hebrew it is a foreigner, that is, one who is not of the priestly race; for it was lawful only for those who were of the line of Aaron, namely sons and daughters, and their servants and those born in their house, to eat the flesh offered to God, namely those which fell to the portion of the priests: for from the peace offering which for the most part fell to the offerer, any layman could eat with him. Note: Stranger is taken in three ways. First, a stranger is called one who is not of the race of the Jews. Second, one who is not of the tribe of Levi, Numbers XVIII, 4. Third, one who is not of the line of Aaron. Thus it is taken here. The sojourner of the priest and the hired servant shall not eat of them. — "The sojourner," in Hebrew תושב toscab, is called one who dwells with the priest, but is not of his line; he dwells, that is, as a guest, a hired servant or a stranger: he therefore could not eat of the sanctified things, because he did not belong to the line of the priest or his household, as did the servant and the one born in the house, that is the servant born in the master's house, who, since they are wholly their master's and their lord's, can eat of the sanctified things, as the master himself with his sons.
22:12
If the daughter of a priest be married to any of the people, she shall not eat of those things that are sanctified, and of the first-fruits, — because by marriage she has now passed into another common household; but the wife of a priest could eat of them, because she is reckoned as one flesh and one person with her husband the priest. Note, first-fruits are here called the first and choice things which are offered to God and sanctified, as is evident from the Hebrew; thus also this word is taken in Exodus XXV, 1.
22:13
But if a widow, or a woman put away, and without children shall have returned to her father's house, as she was accustomed when a girl, she shall be fed with the food of her father. — For such a woman put away, although she may have children, they nevertheless follow the father: for mothers in the old law did not succeed to the goods and inheritances of their parents: whence neither did the sons have the mother's goods, as being nonexistent; but only the father's: for to the father alone did they succeed; whence also it fell to the father to provide for their sustenance: and so when the mother put away returns to her father's house, she returns without children, and is to be fed by the father, just as she was fed when a girl before marriage. Tropologically, St. Cyril, book XII On Adoration, page 245. If the soul, he says, as one damnable and put away, shall have been destitute of a husband, that is of a spiritual spouse, and shall have no fruit from virtue, let it straightway return to its former state, and quickly return to the house of its father through repentance, and let it seek again that former kinship with God, and then indeed shall it be fed with his bread.
22:14
He that shall have eaten of the holy things through ignorance, shall add the fifth part, for the injury done to the tabernacle or to the priest: he ought also to give a ram to God in sacrifice, as it is said in chapter V, verse 15; together with that which he ate, and shall give to the priest in the Sanctuary, — that is to say, that it be brought into the sanctuary, for the uses either of the priest, or of the sanctuary: for if the holy things which he ate, offered by the offerer, were of those parts which fell to God, as if he had eaten of the blood, head, tail, in the victim for guilt, restitution was to be made to the sanctuary itself, that is to the priest for the uses of the sanctuary: but if he had eaten of those things which fell to the priest, restitution was to be made to the priest himself for his uses. Thus Abulensis.
22:15
Neither shall they defile the holy things, — by eating them, since they are not of the priestly race.
22:18
A man of the house of Israel, — of the stock and descendants of Jacob. See what is said in Exodus II, 1. Of the strangers that dwell with you, — of the proselytes, who from the Gentiles have migrated to you, that they may worship the true God with you, and therefore are circumcised and have become Jews. Whatsoever he shall offer in holocaust to the Lord, it shall be a male. — For he could offer another victim not in holocaust, but for sin, or a peace offering, even a female; but he who offered a victim in holocaust, ought to offer a male. If therefore anyone had vowed a female in holocaust, he ought to have given a male in its place, if indeed he had the intention of absolutely vowing a holocaust: then he ought to follow in his vow the determination of the law, which commands a male to be offered, not a female. But if he had vowed only this certain animal, namely a female, through ignorance in holocaust, and had not wished to vow another, then at most he would have been obliged to sell it, and from the price to buy a male for the holocaust. I say at most: for if he had vowed a female in holocaust, with such affection, that he wished a female specifically, because it was beautiful, or fat, to be offered in holocaust, so that he absolutely would not wish another, then he was bound to nothing — because his vow concerned a matter altogether illicit, and he did not wish to vow a licit one.
22:21
A man that shall offer a victim of peace offerings. — Here is described what kind the victim of peace offerings ought to be, as in verse 18 the victim of holocaust was described; the victim for sin is omitted here, because it was treated at length in chapter V, and it was prescribed what each one ought to offer. Without blemish it shall be, — that is, there shall be none. The tropology of these blemishes is the same as in the blemishes of priests in chapter XXI, verse 18. Thus Radulphus. If lame, — if it have broken feet, or loins, or eye.
22:22
If it have a scar. — Hebrew: if incised, that is, if it show an incision with a scar. The Septuagint: εί γλωσσότμητον, if the tongue be cut off. The more recent translators render: If it have a member cut off; but this is sufficiently forbidden by the preceding clause: for if lame is forbidden, therefore also cut off. If it have pustules, — that is, if it have warts. Thus Vatablus.
22:23
You may voluntarily offer an ox or sheep with ears and tail cut off. — For ears and tail cut off, the Chaldean and more recent translators render it, superfluous and diminished, that is, which has enormous and contracted members. But the Septuagint both here and in Leviticus XXI, 18, translates as our Vulgate does, ὠτίτμητος, ἢ κολοβόκερκος, that is, truncated in ear or tail. For the general meanings of Hebrew words are often determined by usage to signify something particular, as we have seen in chapter XXI, verse 18, where pisseach, that is, limping, signifies lame; dac, that is, tender, signifies blear-eyed; charum, that is, cut off, signifies snub-nosed, to whom the nose is as if cut; thus excrescens (if that Hebrew root, which is not found elsewhere, signifies this) can signify truncated in ears, to whom the head protrudes and appears as if growing out, or to whom the nose grows out, and who has a large or twisted nose, as our Vulgate translates in chapter XXI, verse 18; thus diminished is he who is small in tail: for thus the Septuagint and our Vulgate explain it. An ox and sheep, therefore, with ears and tail cut off, could be victims of voluntary or spontaneous sacrifice, but not of votive sacrifice, and consequently neither for sin, because a sacrifice for sin was not voluntary, but obligatory, as much as a votive one: I say the same of others to which the Hebrews were bound at a fixed time; for these were not spontaneous, but necessary and prescribed by law. The reason is, because there is greater obligation in votive and prescribed sacrifices than in spontaneous ones. Whence in these greater freedom is permitted than in those; in those also greater dignity was present; whence a purer and more complete victim is rightly required in them. Tropologically, in the ear obedience is signified, in the tail perseverance is signified: without these a free work and work of supererogation, namely the work of one who has not vowed the state of perfection, can please, but not the work of one who has vowed. Whence in vows, as there is greater guilt if they are not fulfilled in deed; so there will be greater crown if they are fulfilled, so that in both ways those who have vowed are constrained to progress: as Radulphus says. Most excellently St. Bernard, in the homily On the Two Disciples Going to Emmaus: "Patient, he says, in tribulation, and rejoicing in the labor of obedience, can be called mighty in work. Let someone see one frequently devoted in prayer, whose eyes are like pools in Heshbon, because of the multitude of tears, but he refuses to bear the yoke of obedience: he esteems himself to be offering his vow, offering a victim with ear cut off; he bewails his pride in prayer, but when the hour of compunction has passed, he is as proud as before, etc. Such seem mighty in speech, but not in work. In work and speech are mighty those who have honesty in morals, virtue in works, knowledge in speech, devotion in the assiduity of prayer, gravity in conversation, perseverance in love." Chilon rightly said that great matters are to be undertaken slowly; but once you have begun, you must persevere most constantly in action. For there is nothing so difficult and unusual that perseverance does not overcome it. "Perseverance is more efficacious by force, as Sertorious testifies, and many things which cannot be accomplished by one assault are completed gradually. For there is an invincible force of assiduity, which overcomes and destroys all power; and time, which brings much aid to those who prudently seize the opportunity, is the same most hostile to those who use untimely haste," says Plutarch in Sertorious. "It is shameful," says Seneca, "to yield to burden, and to struggle with the duty which you have once undertaken. He is not a brave and vigorous man who flees labor, nor does his spirit grow from the very difficulty of things." The same, epistle 1: "There is nothing, he says, which persistent work and attentive and diligent care does not overcome." And epistle 16: "One must persevere, and add strength by assiduous study, until a good mind is, which a good will is." And epistle 65: "In the heights is blessed life, but penetrable by perseverance."
22:24
Every animal which has testicles either bruised, or injured (thus it should be read with the Roman texts; not tunsis, as the Plantin editions read), or cut and removed, you shall not offer. Tropologically, by testicles is signified the faculty of generating and producing good works, whose father is reason, mother is will; which if it has been made sterile or unfruitful, is unfit for offering to the Lord. Thus Radulphus and Cyril, book XV On Adoration.
22:25
From the hand of a foreigner (a Gentile remaining in his superstition; for here in Hebrew he is called בן נכר ben nechar, that is, son of an alien) you shall not offer loaves to your God. — "Loaves," that is, sacrifices which are as it were bread, that is, food of God. Whence the Septuagint translates δῶρα, that is gifts: see what is said cap. XII, vers. 22; nor can the loaves of proposition be understood here, because the priests made them, not laymen, much less foreigners, as is evident cap. XXIV, vers. 5. And whatsoever else he shall desire to give, — a foreigner namely, so that it be offered immediately and burned to the Lord, such as frankincense, oil, wine; for these could not be accepted from him, but other things could be accepted. Whence it is not forbidden here that priests accept money from Gentiles to buy victims: for they then accepted them from others, and from Seleucus king of Asia, II Maccabees III, 3. Because all things are corrupted and defiled, — namely the gifts and victims of Gentiles, because those offering them are corrupted, that is idolaters. Again, because they themselves were reckoned unclean among the Jews; whence they were barred from sacred things, and could not enter the Sanctuary, because these were proper to the state of the Jews, to which they did not belong: just as now those who are not baptized are not admitted to holy communion, to the temples and sacrifices of Christians. Thus Abulensis.
22:27
An ox, a sheep and a goat, when they are born, shall be seven days under the udder of their mother; but on the eighth day and afterwards they may be offered to the Lord, — because in the first seven days the offspring is too tender. See what is said Exodus XXII, 30, where the same is said of the firstborn. Tropologically Radulphus: Seven days, that is, as long as anyone can think of nothing but the things of this world and temporal matters, so long let him be nourished with simple doctrine; but on the eighth day, that is, when he shall have become spiritual and renewed in spirit, he may be presented to the Lord. Allegorically, seven days of this life we are under the Church our mother; but on the eighth day of resurrection we shall be set before the Lord in glory. Thus Radulphus.
22:28
Whether it be an ox or a sheep, they shall not be slain on the same day with their young, — because this seems cruel. God wished by this law to teach the Jews humanity, so that namely in beasts premeditated humanity, in the refreshment of men might be trained, says Tertullian, lib. II Against Marcion. XVII. For the same reason Deut. XXII, 7, he who finds a nest is forbidden to take the mother with the young. Tropologically Radulphus: "The mother," he says, "is the will, which immolates her offspring to God, when in external acts whatever is contrary to the law of God, she slays as much as she can; but then around herself there is heavy labor for her, because the memory of pleasures to which she willingly subjected herself, when she strives to ascend to God, even unwilling and groaning she feels troublesome: let her not therefore be terrified, because it cannot happen that on the same day the mother be immolated with her young, that is, that the act be cut off together with the affection, inciting and hindering the act." For this happens gradually through exercise. Hence the Apostle says, I Timothy IV, 7: "Exercise thyself unto godliness." Those devoted to this exercise were called monks, Ascetes, that is, those exercising; whence St. Basil called his monastic constitutions Ascetica, that is, exercises. "For every thing," says St. Ambrose, lib. I On Duties, "is increased by its own and domestic exercises. How without exercise doctrine, or without use progress? He who wishes to attain the discipline of war, daily exercises himself with arms, and as if placed in readiness practices battle. And those who seek the crown in bodily strength and in legitimate wrestling contest, hardening their limbs by daily use of the gymnasium, nourishing patience, accustom themselves to labor." Aristotle said, "three things are required to acquire wisdom, nature, doctrine, exercise." The same is true of virtue, which is practical wisdom. Plato warned, "that we exercise neither body without soul, nor soul without body; that we have care of both equally. For one is the way of athletes, the other of the idle." Thus Laertius, lib. III. Hercules confirmed himself for the endurance of labors by daily exercises, being accustomed to pluck out and eradicate all thorns that sprouted in that place. Thus Pausanias, lib. VI. Lycurgus, when asked why he fatigued the bodies of maidens with running, wrestling, javelin-throwing: In order, he said, that they might accustom themselves to endure the pains of childbirth and others, and to fight for their country, if need be. Cato said, "the genius of man is like iron which shines from use, in idleness it is covered with rust; but it must be exercised by learning and virtue." So also Plutarch: "As bronze," he says, "shines from use, so the vigor of the mind shines forth when exercised in business, which is dulled and obscured by idleness." St. Chrysostom, homil. 3 on Matthew: "Just as," he says, "every craft is preserved and increased by bodily practice: so all grace is increased through exercise, and diminished through idleness." The Pontiff in an epistle: "Blind," he says, "is nature without discipline; each has little weight, if you take away exercise; but with these three completeness is obtained."
22:32
Do not pollute my name, — do not by disobedience and a disreputable life cause the Gentiles to blaspheme my name. I am the Lord who sanctify you, — who command you to be holy. See here how God impresses holiness upon priests and commands them to be holy. And this first, because they themselves represent the person of God on earth. They ought therefore to express and reflect God's holiness in themselves: this is what God says, Leviticus XX: "Be ye holy, because I am holy." For this reason the high priest wore inscribed on his tiara: "Holy to the Lord." Hence God himself says in Psalm CXXXI, 16: "I will clothe his priests with salvation, and his saints shall rejoice with exceeding great joy." Secondly, because priests are compared to angels, indeed they surpass them in office; for an angel cannot forgive sins or consecrate the body of Christ, as the priests of the new law can. "The lips of the priest," says Malachi chapter II, "shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth; because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts." Thirdly, because they themselves ought to sanctify all others. "You are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world," says Christ. Whence St. Dionysius teaches that priests ought to be like transparent and radiant crystal, into which the rays of the sun falling are reflected upon other things that are near; and St. Chrysostom says that a priest ought to excel others in virtue so much that he is as it were a man among beasts, a man among children, indeed as an angel among men. St. Hilary and Gregory assert that priests ought to be sowers of eternity. Fourthly, because they themselves are mediators between God and men, and therefore they eat and consume the sins of the people. Hence formerly the priest about to act with God wore upon his breast the rational with the names of the twelve tribes inscribed, together with the Urim and Thummim, that is, doctrine and truth. Deservedly therefore it is said to them: "You are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people." Fifthly, because their duties are most holy, namely to baptize, to absolve from sins, to sacrifice, to consecrate, to anoint, etc. "Fourfold," says St. Bernard in the Sentences, "is the office of the priesthood: first, to immolate living flesh, which is Levitical; secondly, to offer to God the chrisms of virtues, which is to burn aromatics, and belongs to the sons of Aaron; thirdly, to enter heaven with the fervor of martyrdom, which is to enter with blood into the Holy of Holies; fourthly, to send to heaven the vows of grace and prayers, which is to offer bread and wine to God." Most holy is the flesh and humanity of Christ, which priests consecrate with their mouth, touch with their hands, behold with their eyes, though veiled under the species of bread and wine. Whence St. Chrysostom, homily 60 to the People, thus concludes: "How therefore ought not he who partakes of such a sacrifice to be purer? how ought not his hand to shine with a brighter ray, dividing this flesh? his mouth filled with spiritual fire? his tongue reddened with blood so terrible?" Hence holy men have so greatly fled from the priesthood, as if unworthy of it. St. Francis never allowed himself to be made a priest, and used to say: If an angel should meet me on one side and a priest on the other, leaving the angel I would go to the priest and kiss his hands: for he ministers to me both bread and the words of life. The same, writing to the priests of his Order (which letter is found in volume V of the Library of the Holy Fathers, at the end): "See," he says, "the dignity of your priesthood, and be ye holy, because he himself is holy. Great misery, and miserable infirmity, when you have him thus present, and care for something else in the whole world. Let all men fear, let all the world tremble, and let heaven rejoice, when upon the altar in the hands of the priest is Christ the Son of the living God. O admirable height, O stupendous condescension, O humble sublimity, that the Lord of the universe, God and the Son of God, so humbles himself that for our salvation he hides himself under the small form of bread! See, brothers, the humility of God, and pour out your hearts before it, and humble yourselves, that you too may be exalted by him. Retain nothing therefore of yourselves for yourselves, that he who exhibits himself wholly to you may receive you wholly." St. Mark, not the Evangelist but an Anchorite, cut off his thumb so as not to become a priest; thus St. Anthony rejected the priesthood, St. Hilarion, and many thousands of monks, so much so that in many monasteries of Egypt not even one monk could be found who was a priest, as is evident from the Lives of the Fathers. Sixth, because the proper endowment of a priest is holiness: for indeed a priest is called thus, as it were sacred and holy; secondly, because by holy consecration he is consecrated and sanctified to God; thirdly, because other laypeople and profane persons are profane, but he is holy, and as it were divine, whom it is not lawful to touch and violate: hence again he ought to be holy, that is, whole and undefiled from every vice, especially of lust and gluttony. For holiness, says St. Dionysius, is free from all defilement, most uncontaminated and most perfect purity. And Origen: ἅγιος, he says, that is holy, is called as it were ἀγῆ, that is without earth, who namely is separated from earthly filth, pure, heavenly, and cleaving and devoted to God: let the priest be such, that his conversation be in heaven, with Angels and Saints. For this reason almost daily in the Canonical Hours, the holy and heroic deeds of some Martyr or Saint occurring on that day are read through by the Church, that she may imitate the same, even unto death and martyrdom. Let the priest therefore say with St. Augustine: Grant, O Lord, that I may be held there in mind, where it is most certain that true joys are had; hold my heart with thee, because without thee it is not snatched up to higher things. Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight: receive graciously my sacrifice and that of thy people, nay of thy Christ, continual. Grant that in the present life I receive no consolation, until I come to thy kingdom, where exulting I shall say: I am joined to him in heaven, whom on earth with all my strength I have loved.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
22:1
v. 4 « Locutus quoque est Dominus ad Moysen dicens » :
Arg. — Uti 21,17 sq., ita 22,2 generale principium praemittitur cuius v. 3-8 applicationes recensentur, adiecta clausula v. 9. Cui legi additur appendicula v. 10-16, et ipsa in brevem desinens clausulam ( « Ego Iahve etc. » ), agens d iis quibus, cum sacerdotes ipsi non sint, temporanee fas sit cum sacerdotibus comedere de sanctis. Cap. XXII
22:2
v. 9 « Loquere ad Aaron et ad filios eius, ut caveant » — ut se retrahant — « ab his, quae consecrata sunt filiorum Israel », — a sanctis et à fortiori a sanctis sanctorum, quae 21,22 Hebr. habet nosque ibidem * " . LI . 16,2; Ex. 14,2 — « et non contaminent nomen sanctificatorum mihi, quae ips) offerunt ». *z3p Gv uti 20,3 vertas nomen sanctum meum (LXX); ultimumque incisum quia 2pst consecrati sunt mihi. Principio 1 nQ"27jp25 2n "WN non est sententia relativa dependens ab immediate praecedentibus (Vulg.), quia nomen Dei sanctitatem accipit neque a sacerdotibus neque ab (a sanctis, LXX), quia intercedit sententia et nom contaminent etc., quae tum fere ut adiectitia erit expungenda; sed cum Syr. *9N sumendum est sensu causali et participium punctandum hophal : quia ipsi (sacerdotes) consecrati sunt mihi, ideoque non decet eos nomen meum contaminare, quando defectu aliquo ad tempus laborant. Enuntiato v. 2 prineipio debere aliquando eos quoque sacerdotes, qui permanenti defectu non laborent, a sacris se retrahere, v. 3 primum traditur generalis principii applicatio, ut quicumque immunditiam incurrerit se retrahat, postea gravissimae aliquae immunditiae cap. 21 monebamus, ultimam vocem propter suffixum trahendam esse ad sequentia, poniturque ea absolute : /n generationes vestras, supple : de populo sit idem atque iuribus et promissionibus Israelitarum excidere, perire de coram Domino est excidere privilegiis sacerdotum, quorum est adstare iugiter coram Domino (Dil/m.). « Ego sum Do- TAS ». | v. h « Homo de semine Aaron, qui fuerit leprosus aut patiens fluxum seminis , non vescetur de his, quae sanctificata sunt mihi, donec sanefur », i. e. mundetur ritu et conditionibus cap. 1^ sq. descriptis. Minores immunditiae intra diem absolvuntur : « Qui tetigerit àmmundum super mortuo » — xásqs àxa0xpcizc Vois, sive ipsum cadaver, aut aliquem aut aliquid cadaveris contactu inquinatum. An Vulg. pro 52 alio loco legebat 5v? v2: vero h. l. significare mortuum docet v. 5 de vivis agens — « et » ille, « ez quo egreditur semen [guas:]| coitus » (ef. 15,16. 18), v. B « et qui tangit reptile », quo inquinetur (cf. 11,29 sqq.), « et quodlibet immundum , cuius tactus est sordidus », — Sed Hebr. : aut hominem, quo inquinetur secundum omne inquinamentum etus, v. g. seminifluum — v. 6.« immundus erit usque ad vesperum et non vescetur his, quae sanctificata sunt. Sed. cum laverit carnem suam aqua »
22:7
v. 1 « et occubuerit sol, tunc mundatus vescetur de sanctifica- dis, quia cibus illius est ».
22:8
v. 8 « Morticinum et captum |a. bestia] non comedent, nec polluentur in eis ». Cf. Ez. 44,31 itemque Lev. 17,15 sq. « Ego sum Dominus ». Sequitur generalis sacerdotum adhortatio
22:9
v. 9 : « Custodiant praecepta mea, » (cf. 18,30; Gen. 26,5), « ut non subiaceant peccato et moriantur (in. sanctuario], cum polluerint illud. ». Nihil de sanctuario habet Heór., et LXX tria pronomina singularia referunt ad praecepta. Praecepta servata conferunt iustitiam et vitam, profanata peccatum et mortem. Quae mors infligetur a Deo, non necessario transgressoribus omnibus. Concluditur formula huius pericopae consueta (21,15; 22,16. 32) : « Ego Dominus, qui sanctifico eos ».
22:10
v. 10 « Omnis alienigena non comedet de sanctificatis ». Haec generalis praemittitur regula, mox applicanda et explicanda. « Inquiltauus sacerdotis » (Gen. 23,x), qui prope illum incolit, sed eadem non habet iura, « et mercenarius » (Lev. 19,13; Ex. 22,15) « non vescentur ez eis ».. Non enim sunt de sacerdotis familia.
"^ aliemus varie pro contextu applicatur. Designat hominem non hebraeum Ex. 30,33, non sacerdotem (h. 1l. et Ex. 29,33; Num. 3,10. 38; 18,7), non levitam (Num. 4,51; 18,4), non consanguineum (Deut. 25,5). Ignis (10,1; Num. 3,4; 26,61) et thymiama (Ex. 30,9) non sacra vocantur aliena. Porro h. l. alienigenae non intelliguntur non hebraei, quos de sanctis non participare evidens erat, sed hebraei non :ssacerdotes (Cai.).
22:11
v. 11 « Quem autem sacerdos emerit » pretio argenti, « et qui vernaculus domus eius fuerit » (Gen. 15,11; 17,12 sq. 23. 21), i. e. servus in. domo eius natus, « Ai comedent ez eis » : servi tam emptitii quam nati.
22:12
v. 12 « S2 filia sacer-- «lotis cuilibei ex populo » — Hebr. viro alieno, sensu supra explicato — « nupta, fuerit, de his, quae sanctificata sunt, [et de primitiis] non pescetur ». Pertinet ipsa iam ad familiam laicam.
22:13
v. 13 « Szn autem eidua vel repudiata et absque liberis reversa fuerit ad domum patris sut, sicul puella consueverat, aletur cibis patris sut ». Repetitur porro regula generalis : « Omn2s alienigena comedendi ez eis non habet potestatem ». Mulcta statuitur in eos, qui inadvertenter de his comederint,
22:14
v. 14 : « Qu? comederit de sanctificatis per ignorantiam » (cf. 4,9), « addet quintam partem cum eo, [quod comedit] », (cf. 5,16), « et dabit sacerdoti in sanctuarium ». 5,15 dandus praecipitur prae-- terea aries : sc. ibi agebatur de parte sanctorum Deo, hic de parte sacerdotibus reservata (Tost.); et erat aequum, hic leviorem infligi mulctam.
22:15
v. 15 « Nec contaminabunt » sacerdotes, aliqua harum reiularum neglecta, « sanctificata. filiorum Israel, quae offerunt Domüno », Y.
22:16
16 « ne forte sustineant iniquitatem. delicti sui», — Hebr. : ne faciant eos, sc. populum sacerdotes, portare nefas delicti, ne eos delicto implicent — « cum sanctificata comederint. Ego Do- Arg. — Indieata v. 18 legis materia, agitur de requisitis in victimis v. 18-20 holocaustorum, v. 21-25 pacificorum; de victimis |pro peccato et pro delicto ENS
22:17
v. 17 « Locutusque est Dominus ad uM dicens » :
22:18
v. 18 « Loquere ad Aaron et filios etus et ad omnes filios Israel, dicesque ad eos : Homo de domo Israel et de advenis, qui habitant apud vos, qui obtulerit oblationem suam, vel vota solvens vel sponte offerens » (Lev. 1,16 ; Ex. 35,29) : — sed aliter. Hebr. qui profert donum suum, 335p, qua voce generali sacrificia omnia includuntur; nullumque eorum excipi produnt sequentia verba : usque ad omnia quae ex voto, et omnia quae spontanee offerunt. Quo anacolutho postquam expressum est agi de omnibus quorumvis hostiis, ad primam hostiarum classem descenditur — « Quidquid |?lud| obtulerit n holocaustum Domini »,
22:19
v. 19 « ut offeratur per vos », — sed Hebr. : ut sit acceptabile pro vobis, quae sc. defectu laborant hostiae, non sunt aeceptabiles — « masculus immaculatus erit ez bobus et ovibus et ex capris ». Cf. Lev.
22:20
1. v. 90 « Si maculam habuerit , non offeretis, neque erit acceptabile » vobis. Agitur porro de victimis pacificorum :
22:21
v. 21 « Homo, qui obtulerit victimam pacificorum Domino , vel vota solvens vel sponte offerens », — constructio non est eadem atque v. 18 — « tam de bobus quam de ovibus, immaculatum offeret », sed non necessario marem (Lev. 3), « «t acceptabile si£ - omnis dors non erit in eo ». Sequuntur defectus, qui ab omni victima tam holocausti quam pacificorum abesse dones habens », seu potius scissuram, vulnus, — minus feliciter LXX ad linguam et Ps. Ion. ad supercilia expressionem restrinxere — « $2 pa- ^sybysvo», & radice 52 fluere (?), explicant esse w/cera, quo revocari potest Vulg. Uleus in animali facile deteges, non vero pustulas et verrueas — « aut scabiem, aut impetiginem » (cf. 91,20), « non offeretis ea Domino, nec adolebztis ez eis super altare Domini ». Adduntur defectus duo, quibus animal ab holocausto quidem aut voti solutione, non vero a voluntaria oblatione arcetur,
22:23
v. 983 : « Bovem et ovem, aure et cauda amputatis, voluntarie offerre potes; votum autem ea eis solvi non potest ». Cum vvv ex 21,18 sit monstruosum , pronum est vel contritis vel tusis vel sectis ablatisque Utesticulis] est, non. offeretis Domino », — excluditur castratio quomodovis effecta : per compressionem, contusionem, avulsionem vel abscissione m — « e£ ?n terra vestra hoc omnzno ne faciatis ».
22:25
v. 95 « De manu alieni genae non offeretis panes Deo vestro », — panem «1. e. sacrificium » (Vat.), nam quaevis vietima dicitur panis seu cibus Dei; et sequens incisum apud Hebr. Xa sonat : secundum omnes istas res. Ergo : neque ab alienigena, quo affectum — « [et] quidquid [aliud] dare [volue rit], quia corrupta et maculata sunt |omnia| » propter talem defectum : « non. susctptietis €Q », seu verius : non erunt acceptabilia vobis. Ultimum v. 24 incisum Vulg. ad verbum reddidit , et Ps. Ion. illud facere interpretatus est castrare. At ea generalis castrationis prohibitio proprium locum non habet in elencho defectuum victimarum, videtur animalium castrationem de se non inutilem proscribere, at pro Chanaanitide tantum, non pro deserto. Verum nWy etiam sensum induit sacrificandi : Ex. 29,36. 38. 39. 41; Lev. 9,7; 15,15; 16,9; Iud. 6,19; Os. 2,8 (10), Eundem sensum habet Chald. Syr. 339. Ergo melius Vat., Malv., Calm. : et in terra vestra non sacrificabitis. Et melius etiam Hesych. incisum iungi t versui 25 : neque in terra vestra, i. e. inter vos, sacrificabitis, neque de manu alienigenae offeretis victimam Domino affectam aliquo ex defectibus recensitis. Est haec igitur generalis aliqua ante dictorum v. 18-24 clausula, qua etiam implicite conceditur alienigenis proferre victimas Domino, quae nullo defectu laborent. Adduntur quaedam de victimis, quae non earum defectus , sed alias quasdam circumstantias respiciunt.
22:26
v. 26 « Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen dicens » : v. 9'1 « Bos, ovis et capra, cum genita fuerint, septem diebus erunt sub ubere matris suae, die autem octavo et deinceps offerri poterunt Domno ». Ct. Ex. 92,30. « Cum ea, pecora recens nata necdum sint apta ad cibum, nec ea decet Deo in sacrifieium, quod convivii quamdam speciem habet, offerri » (Bonfr.).
22:28
v. 28 « Sive illa bos sive ovis », — Hebr. ea utitur voce, quae praeter ovem etiam capram designet — « non immolabuntur una die cum foetibus suis », ut excludatur « crudelitatis species » (Ca?.). Similes leges, non easdem, habes Ex. 23,19; Deut. 22,6 sq.
22:29
v. 29 « S? tmmolaveritis hostiam pro gratiarum actione Domino , ut possit esse placabilis »,
22:30
v. 80 « eodem die comedetis eam , non remanebit quidquam in mane alterius diei ». Lex eadem atque 7,15 ; non plane eadem atque 19,5 ; et cf. quae ib. diximus. Sequitur elausula pro cap. 21 sq., triplici « Ego Dominus » insigenita; praeterea consueta 91,8. 15. 23; 992,9. 16 clausula extremo v. 32 illustrior redditur adseripto
22:33
v. 33. « Ego Dominus ». v. 34 « Custodite mandata mea et facite ea. Ego Dominus ». v. 39 « Ne polluatis nomen meum sanctum, wt. sanctificer àin. medio filiorum Israel. Ego Dominus, qui sanctifico vos », v. 33 « et eduxi de terra Aegypti, ut essem vobis in Deum. Ego Dominus ». Festa omnia (v. 3. 7. 21. 24 sq. 27 sq. 35 sq.) labore vacant suntque vp 'Npm5, convocationes sacrae, de qua expressione diximus ad Ex. 12,16. Non edicit ea plane idem atque 3n, quod festum dicit adnexam habens peregrinationem ad sanctuarium. Nulla igitur in eo est contradictio, h. l. recenseri sex convocationes, Ex. 23,14-17 vero tria festa adnexam habentia peregrinationem. Porro convocationes illae sunt sabbatum v. 1-3, Phase v. 4-8, pentecoste v. 9-22, novilunium septimi mensis v. 23-25, dies expiationis v. 26-32, festum tabernaculorum v. 33-&^4. Singulae pericopae inchoantur phrasi « Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen dicens », excepta secunda. Praeterea catalogus v. 9 inchoatur formula « Haee sunt festa Domini, quae proclamabitis convocationes sacras », eadem concluditur v. 37; sed eadem item repetitur v. ^ ante secundum festum , eo ipso loca ubi desideratur formula v. 1. Cuius anomaliae rationem explicat v. 38 asserens, catalogum non agere de sabbatis, uti neque de voluntariis oblationibus : ergo v. 3 primitus in catalogo non erat, sed post v. 1 sq. immediate sequebatur v. 5. Aliquis vero Moyse recentior inseruit v. 3 expressionibus iisdem fere, quibus alibi sabbatum celebratur, adscripto nomine Vp *N?p7, quod secus sabbato non tribuitur. Idem v. h repetiit formulam v. 2, sed de repetenda phrasi v. 1 non cogitavit. Alia anomalia in eo cernitur, clausulam v. 37 sq. non extremae, ; sed mediae pericopae, quae de festo tabernaculorum agat, adscribi. Crediderim id festum in deserto sacrificiis potissimum (v. 36) esse ce- - lebratum; licet enim Sinaitis Moysis tempore florentior esset, quam nunc est, at morem decerpendorum ramorum et frondium (v. 39 sqq.) crediderim nonnisi in terra sancta postmodum observari potuisse. Reapse appendix v. 39-43 supponit v. 39 populum iam incolentem terram suam ibique annuas colligentem segetes. v. 43 umbracula instituuntur, ut sint memorialia tabernaculorum, quae Hebraei in deserto incolebant : at memorialibus opus non erat, quamdiu ipsa tabernacula perdurabant. Ergo ea appendix nonnisi in terra sancta tandem observanda adseribitur ideoque a priore legis parte v. 34-36 v. 37 sq. discernitur. Aliquae pericopae brevissime tamquam res notae absolvuntur; praeter illam, quae de sabbato irrepsit, pericopae de Phase, de septimi mensis novilunio, de die expiationis; dum ritus in pentecoste et tabernaculorum festo observandus fusius describitur. Formula item « Ego Iahve Deus vester » non a diicitur iis festis, quae antea iam fuerant instituta (Phase, novilunio septimi mensis, diei expiationis), sed iis quorum h. l. prima habetur mentio, pentecoste (v. 22) et festo tabernaculorum (v. ^3). Cap. XXIII
22:2
From the special purpose of Leviticus, tending to provide the ministers of worship (Lev. 17:2; 21:2; 22:2 etc.) with the detailed code of their state and their functions, it is explained how the prescriptions of a moral order that at least, for example, Deuteronomy contains, here appear …
22:13
… she had brought with her upon marrying and to what her husband had given her. If she remarried, she did not take with her the property of her deceased husband (cf. I Sam. 25, 42); if she did not remarry, she could return to her father's house (cf. Lev. 22, 13) or remain with one of the
22:27
… Judaism (Dan. 8, 11-13; 11, 31; Mishnah); this rite is prescribed in Ex. 29, 38-42 and Num. 28, 3-4. 6. 8. As in these passages, hēbhes is often accompanied by the qualification ben-šanāh "[son] of a year": that is, more than 7 days old (Ex. 22, 30; Lev. 22, 27) and not more than a year. …
22:28
of non-sacrificial animals, the precepts concerning slaughtering, the dietary precepts, the prohibitions against slaughtering sick animals or animals destined for pagan worship, the precept of Lev. 22, 28 and of Ex. 23, 19; 34, 26; Deut. 14, 21 and Deut. 22, 6. d) Bēkhōrōth "first-born", in 9 chapters: it concerns the precepts of Ex. 13, 2.12 f.; 34, 19 f.; Lev. 27, 26 f.; Num. 8, 16 …
22:30
… The first Christians used the norms of the Old Testament (Lev. 7, 15; 22, 30; Ex. 12, 20...). The Hosts not destined for viaticum were consumed during or after Mass; those for viaticum were renewed first every day, then every three days or more. …
22:32
… Moreover, for some petitions of the P. the parallels with the Old Testament hold good (for the Name of God: Lev. 22, 32; Is. 29, 23; Ez. 36, 23; for the Kingdom: Ps. 21, 29; 103, 19; Abd. 21; Tob. 13, 1, etc.), from which likewise descend, mingled with much dross, the rare felicitous expressions of the rabbinic texts.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.