To the priests: men held to a higher standard because they have a special privilege of being the authoritative teachers of Torah. Defiled for the soul: in this context, touching the body of a dead person (as is more explicit in v. 11, and the Aramaic interprets it this way), but the word for soul in Hebrew very often connotes "life", not death. Because this wording does allow it, we could also read this as saying we should not let the affairs of ordinary life interfere with our service to YHWH. Y'shua referred to this as losing our lives for his sake (Mat. 10:39) and letting the dead bury their own dead. (Luk. 9:59-62; cf. 1 Kings 19:19-21; see also 2 Timothy 2:4) However, there are exceptions for the very closest relatives only; YHWH does not normally want religious duties to take precedence over our true responsibilities to our own families. (Mark 7:11)

The priests are the ones to whom judgment is given when questions arise. (Y'hezq'el 44:24) They must be especially unimpeachable. Leader: literally, master or husband--one who has to be faithful to and love the entire community, so he may not allow anything to contaminate him, so he can be there for them any time they need him. His people: even among Israel (a set-apart people) or more specifically, among the Levites, he is never to be "one of the sheep"; he is a shepherd, and is not to be involved in civilian affairs. (Compare 2 Tim. 2:4.) The Levites were substituted for the firstborn (Numbers 3:12), and both Israel as a whole (Ex. 4:22) and Efrayim in particular are called YHWH's firstborn (Yirmeyahu 31:9), so they are a picture of what Efrayim is called to be. We too must be careful not to partake of anything that stunts us spiritually or keeps us from always being ready when it is time to serve Israel.

Make their heads bald: LXX, "You shall not shave your head for the dead with a baldness on the top." Edge: corner, side, or extremity; LXX, "the face of the beard". The general population is not to "mar" the edge of the beard (19:27); the priest is particularly told not to shave it. Personal taste or creativity had no say here. He must continue to look like a complete man, and the beard of any Israelite is already to be distinctive in being unmarred. But in this particular context, these practices were pagan mourning rituals. Recall that these priests had grown up in Egypt, where preparation for death consumed the greatest energies of one’s life, especially among leaders, as proven by the thousands of mummified bodies found there in the past century of archaeology. But Israel is not to be a people that focuses on death, but on the Torah, which is life. (Deut. 32:47)

Profane: pierce, puncture, or "wound the Name": to misuse it, to represent Him wrongly, or to render His name of no effect by not using it at all, but always substituting euphemisms or translations for His actual name, YHWH. Fire and bread: They also tend the oil, the blood, etc.; why are only these two things mentioned? Fire represents YHWH's presence, and the bread from heaven (which Y'shua identified with Himself, Yochanan 6:50) was to be gathered "a word a day". (Ex. 16:4) So bread is linked with YHWH's word (Deut. 8:3), and symbolizes the Body of Messiah--His community. They symbolically bring the unity of Israel into YHWH's presence, and teach the unity of YHWH to the people. As Moshe himself learned, there is no margin of error for the keepers of the symbols by which YHWH makes himself known. The Levites' fruit is offered to YHWH Himself, and others will eat of it in order to learn of Him, so what they present must be undefiled and the purest among the pure.

This is the standard for priests; the prophet Hoshea was told to do just the opposite to portray how serious Israel's spiritual condition was. The only way the invisible Elohim could be known at this point was by seeing the lives of those He allowed into His presence--His "gatekeepers".

Lame: from the same root word as Pesakh (Passover), that is "skipping", i.e., hobbling, with one leg less sound than the other. This is the same idea as the next two categories: The term for "disfigured" literally means "flat-nosed"--in other words, truncated in some way. Deformed: literally, prolonged or over-extended--anything superfluous, too long; LXX, "with his ears cut". This may be why Y'shua healed the ear of the high priest's servant. (Yochanan 18:10) While the high priest at that time was not one truly qualified by his pedigree, apparently Y'shua either wished to simply uphold the office of the one who might have been next in line to act in the high priest's position were he to become defiled on Yom Kippur, or he felt that the servant was a man worthy of that position; otherwise it would make no difference whether he was disqualified to serve. It is not right to have the Body of Messiah have one arm much longer than the other (i.e., too much mercy and not enough judgment), because there is imbalance, nor should any of the giftings be emphasized over the others. This says nothing about whether YHWH loves these people as individuals, but because they are a picture of imperfection, they are not suitable to be "object lessons" in the sanctuary, and are thus not to be seen there. He provided the best for them (v. 22), and the Talmud says these people were permitted to do certain jobs in the temple precincts, such as sorting the wood. Wood is a picture of men, and some of the wood brought in for Temple use had defects, just as they did, and they were the judges of which was suitable for the altar, and which could only be used for the hearth on which the bread was baked. They were in a higher position than most in Israel, but they were a picture of imperfection, a vivid reminder of the effects of the fall of Adam into sin, and thus were especially out of place in a place dedicated to teaching purity, holiness, and redemption from the curse. So they were hidden away. But a special promise is given to such people in Yeshayahu/Isaiah 56:3-8, provided their heart is right, as well as their actions, despite their outward defects.

Hunchbacked: a picture of one who does not walk uprightly. A spot in his eye: confusion, obscurity, disability; or, idiomatically, one in which something stands in the way of generosity. Others even say, "with unusually-long eyebrows"! Scabbed: LXX, "having a malignant ulcer". Scabbed or having a rash: qualities not allowed in an animal brought for sacrifice either (22:22), and associated with leprosy, a picture of wanting another's position. Crushed testicles: damaging to the seed, and unable to carry on the line of Israel into new generations. Also, only through the "Seed" (Y'shua) could salvation come. Nothing less than a perfect body can depict the man in Ephesians 4, which does walk uprightly and in balance, is generous, lives up to its full potential, appreciates its assigned place, and wants to bear spiritual offspring. Corporately we have to become this man; individually, we only need to fulfill our particular role properly. The whole burden is not on individuals, but the entire community.