Holly Bible - KJV with Concise Commentaries by Z Selam - HTML preview
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whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;
As to the design of this law we may observe,
1. This obliged the priests carefully to preserve their purity, and to dread every thing that would defile them. The holy things were their livelihood; if they might not eat of them, how must they subsist? The more we have to lose of comfort and honour by our defilement, the more careful we should be to preserve our purity.
2. This impressed the people with a reverence for the holy things, when they saw the priests themselves separated from them (as the expression is, Le 22:2) so long as they were in their uncleanness. He is doubtless a God of infinite purity who kept his immediate attendants under so strict a discipline.
3. This teaches us carefully to watch against all moral pollutions, because by them we are unfitted to receive the comfort of God's sanctuary. Though we labour not under habitual deformities, yet actual defilements deprive us of the pleasure of communion with God; and therefore he that is washed needeth to wash his feet (Joh 13:10), to wash his hands, and so to compass the altar, Ps 26:6. Herein we have need to be jealous over ourselves, lest (as it is observably expressed here) we profane God's holy name in those things which we hallow unto him, Le 22:2. If we affront God in those very performances wherein we pretend to honour him, and provoke him instead of pleasing him, we shall make up but a bad account shortly; yet thus we do if we profane God's name, by doing that in our uncleanness which pretends to be hallowed to him.
5 or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may
be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;