Holiness Required of Priests
The priests are forbidden to defile themselves for the dead, except in the case of their nearest blood relatives. Even grief is ordered by the holiness attached to their office.
T1hen the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people, 2except for his immediate family — his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother, 3or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband. 4He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself.
Priests must avoid mourning customs and marriages that would profane their holiness, and the people are told to regard them as holy. A priest’s daughter who prostitutes herself brings grave dishonor on her father’s office.
5Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies. 6They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the food offerings, the food of their God, they must be holy. 7A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy — I who set you apart. 9If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.
The high priest carries stricter rules still: he may not perform ordinary mourning rites, approach the dead even for parents, or marry outside narrow bounds. His consecration governs both sanctuary duty and family line.
10The 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. 11He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother. 12He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD. 13The woman he marries must be a virgin. 14He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people, 15so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”