Leviticus 21:13

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Leviticus 21:13 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And he shall take a wife in her virginity.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
Leviticus 21:13 — American Standard Version

Context — Leviticus 21

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
13And he shall take a wife in her virginity.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And he shall take a wife in her virginity.] One, and not two, or more, as Ben Gersom observes; and so Maimonides says f758, an high priest might never take two women together; for it is said, “a wife”, or “woman”, one, and not two; and so it is explained in the Talmud f759; for though polygamy was practised by the Israelites, and even by the common priests, yet these writers suppose it was by no means allowed to an high priest: among the Egyptians, though they took as many wives as they pleased, their priests, married but one f760; and so a minister of the New Testament is to be the husband of one wife, (<540302>1 Timothy 3:2); and this wife the high priest was to take was to be a “virgin”,…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“In her virginity - Or, a virgin, partly because as he was a type of Christ, so his wife was a type of the church, which is compared to a virgin, and partly for greater caution and assurance that his wife was not a defiled or deflowered person. Most of these things are forbidden to all the priests; and here to the high - priest, to shew that he also, and he especially is obliged to the same cautions. Leviticus 21:15”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Lev 21:7; Eze 44:22; Co2 11:2; Rev 14:4 Leviticus 21:15”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“He was only to marry a woman in her virginity, not a widow, a woman put away, or a fallen woman, a whore (זונה without a copulative is in apposition to חללה a fallen girl, who was to be the same to him as a whore), but "a virgin of his own people," that is to say, only an Israelitish woman. Leviticus 21:15”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification