Leviticus 22:11

Lev 22:11 But if the priest buy [any] soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat.

Ver. 11. He shall eat.] As being a menial servant to the priest.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lev_22:11

If the priest buy any soul . . . and he that is born.

Bought, or born

Strangers, sojourners, and servants upon hire were not to eat of holy things. It is so in spiritual matters still. But two classes were free at the sacred table--those who were bought with the priests money, and those who were born into the priests house.

I. Bought. Our great High Priest has bought with a price all those who put their trust in Him. They are His absolute property. Not for what they are in themselves, but for their Owners sake they are admitted into the same privileges which He Himself enjoys, and they shall eat of His meat. He has meat to eat which worldlings know not of. Because ye belong to Christ, therefore shall ye share with your Lord.

II. Born. This is an equally sure way to privilege; if born in the Priests house we take our place with the rest of the family. Regeneration makes us fellow-heirs, and of the same body; and, therefore, the peace, the joy, the glory, which the Father has given to Christ, Christ has given to us. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lev 22:11. If the priest buy any soul — Either one of the Jewish nation, obliged, through poverty, to sell himself, (Lev 25:39,) or of another nation, (v. 44, 45,) who being proselyted to the Jewish religion, became part of the priest’s family, and so was permitted to eat of his consecrated meat.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22:11 The only male outside the priest’s family who could eat the priest’s share was the priest’s slave. He would have no other food if this provision were denied him.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(11) But if the priest buy any soul.—The case, however, was different with heathen slaves whom the priest purchased. These were admitted into the Jewish community by the rite of circumcision, they were allowed to partake of the paschal lamb, and of every privilege of the Israelites. Hence they became incorporated in the priestly family, and were allowed to eat of the holy things. During the second Temple this privilege was extended to that kind of domestic whom the priest did not actually acquire by his own purchase-money, but whom the wife brought with her as part of her dowry, as well as to those whom the slaves of the priestly family purchased.

Born in his house.—That is, the house-born servant or the child of the slave. (See Gen_17:12-13.) Even when the priest himself could not eat of the holy things by reason of his having contracted some legal defilement, his wife, children, and slaves were permitted to partake of the sacrificial repast.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it,.... Whether any of his own nation, who sometimes, when become poor, were obliged to sell themselves; or a stranger, as the Targum of Jonathan; one of another nation, a Canaanitish servant, as Jarchi. Now these being his own purchase, and always to abide with him, became part of his family, and so might eat of the provisions of it; and it is from hence the Jews gather, as Jarchi and Gersom, that his wife might eat of the holy things, because bought with his money; but there is a better reason to be given for that, for of whatever family she was before, whether of the priests or not, by marriage she became a part, yea, a principal of his family, being one flesh with him, bearing the same name, and entitled to all the privileges of his house. This is extended by some Jewish writers (l) to cattle, for by any soul they understood also the soul of a beast, which being bought by the priest's money, might eat of the offerings of the tithes:

and he that is born in his house; they shall eat of his meat; whether male or female, as Aben Ezra; these are children of handmaids, as Jarchi, that were bought with his money; and these children being born of them, became his property, and part of his family, and so had a right to the provisions of his house. All this may teach us, that the holy ordinances of the Gospel are not to be administered to strangers, persons destitute of the grace of God, nor to such as are not of the family or church of God, but to such as are bought and redeemed with the blood of Christ, the high priest, and are born again of his Spirit and grace.

(l) Misn. Trumot, c. 11. sect. 9. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. Hilchot Trumot, c. 6. sect. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

This shows how completely a purchased bondsman was incorporated into the household. See Exo 21:2, note; Exo 21:20-21, note.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Because they were wholly his, and as such they were circumcised, Ge 17; Exo 12.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. If the priest buy any soul — That is, person. A mild form of servitude was allowed as a mitigation of the usages of war in those times. Otherwise the Hebrews would have slain all their captives taken in war.

They shall eat of his meat — Since these constitute a permanent part of his family, they are permitted to eat the sacred things, but not the most holy. This partially relieves the difficulty of Colenso respecting the capacity of the priests to eat all the sacrifices assigned to them. See chap. vi, concluding notes.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

וכהן כי יקנה נפש BUT IF THE PRIEST BUY ANY SOUL… [HE MAY EAT OF IT] — This refers to a Canaanitish servant who has been acquired even in respect to his body (not only as regards his work).

ויליד ביתו AND THEY THAT ARE BORN IN HIS HOUSE — This refers to the children of his maid-servants. A priest's wife may eat תרומה as may be derived from this verse, for she, too, is “an acquisition obtained by his money” (Ketuvot 57b; cf. Mishna Kiddushin 1:1… ‎'האשה נקנית בכסף וכו‎‎‎, one of the ways in which a marriage may be contracted is by the passing of money or its equivalent from the man to the woman. A wife is therefore a קנין כסף). But it may also be derived from another verse (Numbers 18:11) "[the heave-offering…] everyone that is clean in thy house may eat of it”. Thus is it expounded in Sifrei Bamidbar 117 2.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.