Leviticus 21:13

Women whom you priests marry must be virgins.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

And he shall take a wife in her virginity.

In Context

12He must not leave the Sacred Tent to join those who are mourning, because he would cause himself to become unfit for his work and would also defile/desecrate the Sacred Tent. He must not leave the Sacred Tent at that time, because by being anointed with olive oil he has been ◄appointed/set apart► to serve his God in the Sacred Tent. I, Yahweh, am the one who am commanding this.

14You priests must not marry widows or prostitutes or divorced women, because if you did that, if you later have sons, they would not be acceptable to be priests among your people. You must marry only virgins from among your own people. I am Yahweh, who sets priests apart to be holy.’”

Read all of Leviticus 21

Cross References

Leviticus 21:7You priests must not marry women who have been prostitutes or who have been divorced from their husbands, because you priests are ◄set apart for me/holy►.

2 Corinthians 11:2I really do care about what happens to you, just as God cares about what happens to you. Just like a father wants his daughter to be sexually pure when he presents her to the man she will marry [MET], I want you to belong to Christ alone and to no other. I want to present you to him as people who remain faithful to him only, and who have not believed the deceitful message of those who are teaching what is false.

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 21:11-16

10 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; 11 Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother; 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 . 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 A widow, or a… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Leviticus 21:13