Thou shalt sanctify him therefore. — This is addressed to the Jewish community. They are to take care that the priest does not contract such illegal marriages, and to sanctify him only who acts in obedience to these statutes. The Jewish priest is thus placed under the supervision of the people. His sacred office, and his duly performing the priestly functions. are their concern. If he refused to conform to the law of sanctity, the people, according to the administrators of the Law during the second Temple, were to compel him to do so by the penalty of administering to him the prescribed number of stripes.
He shall be holy unto thee. — On the other hand, when he acts in accordance with his sacred office, the people must reverence his holy person. Hence the administrators of the Law during the second Temple enacted that the priest is to take precedence on public occasions. Thus, when the people assemble, he opens the meeting by invoking God’s blessing. At the reading of the Law of God in the synagogue, he is called up first to the rostrum to read the first portion, and at table he recites the benedictions over the repast. This honour the Jews assign to the priests to this day.