Bible Strands
Leviticus 21:7
A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God delivers this directive to Moses regarding the conduct of Aaron’s descendants. The instruction functions as a boundary for priestly marriage within the broader Levitical holiness code.
The words — זֹנָה (zo.Nah) literally means prostitute, and גְּרוּשָׁה (ge.ru.Shah) literally means divorced. These terms specify the exact marital statuses that disqualify a woman from marrying a priest.
The thread — The restriction parallels Leviticus 21:13, which requires a priest to marry a virgin, and Ezekiel 44:22, which repeats the prohibition against marrying widows or divorced women. Leviticus 21:6 and 21:8 frame the rule by commanding priests to remain holy to God and to avoid profaning His name.
Why it lands — The text requires priests to maintain marital boundaries that preserve their consecrated status. It demands that readers accept personal conduct as a direct reflection of divine holiness.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
They shall not take a wife that is a whore, or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband: for he is holy unto his God.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 21:13 The woman he marries must be a virgin.
- Ezekiel 44:22 And they shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but must marry a virgin of the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow of a priest.
- Leviticus 21:8 You 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.
- 1 Timothy 3:11 In the same way, the women must be dignified, not slanderers, but temperate and faithful in all things.
- Deuteronomy 24:1 If a man marries a woman, but she becomes displeasing to him because he finds some indecency in her, he may write her a certificate of divorce, hand it to her, and send her away from his house.
- Isaiah 50:1 This is what the LORD says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of My creditors did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your iniquities, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.