Leviticus 21:3

Priests are also permitted to touch the corpse of a sister if she is not married, because she has no husband to bury her body.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.

In Context

2‘You priests must not cause yourselves to become unfit to do my work by touching corpses. Priests are permitted to touch only the corpses of close relatives, such as the priest’s mother or father or his son or daughter or his brother.

4Priests must not cause themselves to become unfit to do my work [DOU] by touching corpses of people who were married to one of their close relatives.

Read all of Leviticus 21

Cross References

Leviticus 22:12If a priest’s daughter marries a man who is not a priest, she no longer is permitted to eat the sacred food.

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 21:2-10

Laws Concerning the Priests. ( b. c. 1490.) 1 And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them, There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people: 2 But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother, 3 And for his sister a virgin, that is nigh unto him, which hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled. 4 But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his… Read the whole commentary →

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