But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.
The law forbids priests to defile themselves by taking part in the customs for disposing of the dead, with exception only for one of the immediate family. It forbids any outward show of mourning that would display failure to acquiesce fully in the judgment of the Lord. After the death of Nadab and Abihu even that family exception was suspended for Aaron and his remaining sons because of the heinousness of the offense. They were not to mourn, not to go out after those who carried the bodies out, and not to attend the funeral, since the holy oil upon them could not be associated with mourning, especially for those who had grossly desecrated the holy anointing. The dead priests were buried in their priestly robes because even the robes were polluted beyond further use, and relatives not of the priesthood were called to dispose of the dead.
It is one of the laws and regulations of Leviticus that emphasize the exceeding sinfulness of sin as a mighty object-lesson. It belongs to the yearly round of priestly service closing on the tenth day of the seventh month on the Day of Atonement, when sins remembered in the sanctuary day by day were brought out and placed upon the head of the scapegoat and sent away to a land of forgetfulness. That judgment-day was typical of the great final judgment where every soul not in living connection with God is cut off. It is to be read by seeing in it Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
The law forbids priests to defile themselves by taking part in the customs for disposing of the dead, with exception only for one of the immediate family. It forbids any outward show of mourning that would display failure to acquiesce fully in the judgment of the Lord. After the death of Nadab and Abihu even that family exception was suspended for Aaron and his remaining sons because of the heinousness of the offense. They were not to mourn, not to go out after those who carried the bodies out, and not to attend the funeral, since the holy oil upon them could not be associated with mourning, especially for those who had grossly desecrated the holy anointing. The dead priests were buried in their priestly robes because even the robes were polluted beyond further use, and relatives not of the priesthood were called to dispose of the dead.
It is one of the laws and regulations of Leviticus that emphasize the exceeding sinfulness of sin as a mighty object-lesson. It belongs to the yearly round of priestly service closing on the tenth day of the seventh month on the Day of Atonement, when sins remembered in the sanctuary day by day were brought out and placed upon the head of the scapegoat and sent away to a land of forgetfulness. That judgment-day was typical of the great final judgment where every soul not in living connection with God is cut off. It is to be read by seeing in it Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.