The Jewish priests, the descendants of Aaron, have a special sanctity that they are expected to live up to. Even the daughter of a priest after she is married should uphold that sanctity.
The first 8 verses of Leviticus 21 are about the special status of a regular priest. Then verse 9 is about his daughter:
9. The daughter of a man who is a priest, if she shall profane herself by acting licentiously, she profanes her father; she shall be burned in fire.
What Sin Did She Commit?
What does it mean “profane herself by acting licentiously”?
Profane Herself
The words “profane herself” are the translation of the Hebrew “teicheil.”
This is an unusual verb form and the commentators make several suggestions about how to understand it.
The explanation that fits the best is to understand it as a nifal verb form, future tense, singular, feminine. The 3-letter root is chet-lamed-lamed.
Since nifal is often a passive verb form, some suggest to translate it as “when she will be defiled.”
The nifal can also have a reflexive sense. Thus, Rabbi Hirsch translates it as “who defiles herself.” In my opinion, this translation best fits our verse.
By Acting Licentiously
The next phrase, “by acting licentiously”, is the translation of the Hebrew “liznot.” The 3-letter root is zayin-nun-hey. This root is used in 3 main ways:
- of a betrothed or married woman – to have illicit intercourse
- of a woman – to act as a prostitute
- in relation to God – to be faithless
Who is this Woman?
Based on the use of the word “liznot” and other context of this verse, the commentators explain that this priest’s daughter is a woman who is “bound” to a man.
In other words, this woman is either betrothed or fully married.
We must be careful here to understand betrothed and married based on their use in Jewish law.
Jewish Wedding
There are 2 steps required for a Jewish wedding. The first step is betrothal, in Hebrew called erusin or kiddushin. The groom gives the bride a ring. This creates a bond that can only be severed by divorce or death.
To be clear, at this point, the couple is more than just “engaged.” They are married, but not yet living together as a couple.
The second step is marriage, in Hebrew called nissuin.
In our times, erusin and nissuin are performed within a few minutes of each other.
However, in earlier times there was usually one year between erusin and nissuin. The couple would continue to live with their parents and prepare to become a fully married couple.
After erusin but before nissuin, the couple is expected to behave modestly. They may be together, but are expected to refrain from sexual intimacy. If the woman has sexual relations with any other man, she and the man have committed adultery.
Only after the nissuin does the new couple establish their own home and live together.
The Married Daughter
To recap, the priest’s daughter in this verse is a woman who is bound to a husband – either betrothed or married, as defined above.
The verse uses the phrase “acting licentiously” to indicate that she has committed adultery by having sexual relations with a man other than the groom.
We will soon see, there is a difference in punishment based on whether she is betrothed or married.
Also, there is complete agreement that this verse is not dealing with a priest’s daughter who is not married.
The Four Executions
According to Jewish law, the Jewish court (beit din) is empowered to execute certain transgressors.
(As an aside, the impediments built into Jewish law make it very difficult to ever execute a sinner. It is still worth our time to understand the seriousness of particular sins.)
A Mishna lists the possible ways a person can be executed by the Jewish court:
Mishna: Four deaths have been entrusted to Beit Din:
- stoning
- burning
- slaying [by the sword]
- strangulation.
Note: The methods of execution are listed in descending order of severity.
The court does not have discretion to decide which death penalty a sinner should receive. The appropriate penalty for each sin is either written in the Torah or part of Jewish tradition.
Burning in Fire
The Mishna and Gemara describe the correct procedure for each method of execution. Since it’s mentioned in our verse, let’s look at the procedure for burning.
Mishna. The manner in which burning is executed is as follows: he who had been thus condemned was lowered into fertilizer up to his armpits, then a hard cloth was placed within a soft one, wound round his neck, and the two loose ends pulled in opposite directions, forcing him to open his mouth. A wick was then lit, and thrown into his mouth, so that it descended into his body and burnt his bowels.
Note that burning as a capital punishment in the Bible is not burning at the stake.
In fact, the Gemara suggests that it could be similar to burning at the stake, but rejects that idea.
One reason to reject that suggestion is due to the wording used to describe the death of Nadav and Abihu (Leviticus 10:2).
The verse writes that they were consumed by a fire from God. But, their bodies were still intact (see verses 4 and 5).
The Sages say that “burned in fire” in our verse is similar. The person dies, but the body is still intact.
Those Subject to Burning
According to Rambam (Mishneh Torah, Sefer Shoftim, Sanhedrin 15:11) there are only 10 sins that make a person liable to death by burning:
- a priest’s daughter who commits adultery
- a person who has relations with his daughter
- with his daughter’s daughter
- with his son’s daughter
- with his wife’s daughter
- with the daughter of his wife’s daughter
- with the daughter of his wife’s son
- with his mother-in-law
- with the mother of his mother-in-law
- with the mother of his father-in-law.
Rabbi Hirsch (comment on Leviticus 20:14) points out that these transgressions (other than the priest’s daughter) are all categorized as “zimah” which denotes sexual immorality.
He writes that the procedure for burning “strikes fatally at the very center of sexuality… Burning is direct destruction of the organs of zimah, and death is merely an indirect result.”
Though our verse does not use the word “zimah” to describe the priest’s daughter’s adultery, her action is still considered blatant enough to subject her to burning.
Those Who Commit Adultery
We see from our verse that the Torah clearly specifies the penalty for a priest’s daughter who commits adultery.
What happens to the man? What is the penalty for a woman who is not a priest’s daughter who commits adultery?
Rambam (Mishneh Torah, Sefer Kedusha, Forbidden Intercourse 3:2-5) provides all the details for the various possible cases of adultery and the prescribed methods of execution:
- Daughter of a non-priest
- Betrothed
- woman – executed by stoning
- man – stoning
- Married
- woman – strangulation
- man – strangulation
- Betrothed
- Daughter of a priest
- Betrothed
- woman – stoning
- man – stoning
- Married
- woman – burning with fire
- man – strangulation
- Betrothed
- Girl who is still a minor
- Betrothed
- girl – exempt
- man – stoning
- Married
- girl – exempt
- man – strangulation
- Betrothed
How the Penalties Compare
Based on the above chart, we can see some patterns.
The Adulterous Man
Let’s start with the man who committed adultery. In every case, his penalty is stoning if the woman was betrothed and strangulation if she was married.
In every case, his penalty is more severe if the woman was betrothed.
The Adulterous Woman
The betrothed woman, no matter who is her father, is subject to death by stoning.
If she’s married, then the daughter of a priest is burned, but of a non-priest she is strangled. We see the daughter of the priest is subject to a more severe penalty.
As Daat Mikra comments: She profanes herself, her holiness, by abandoning herself to illicit sexual relations.
Rabbi Steinsaltz writes a similar idea. The reason for the penalty stated in our verse is due to the sanctity of the priests. As the daughter of a priest, she is being held to a higher standard.
She Profanes Her Father
The verse also states that she is guilty of profaning her father.
We read in the Gemara:
And wherein lies the greater enormity of her offense: in that she profanes her father.
Rashi writes that she profaned and disgraced her father’s honor because people say about him: cursed is the one who brought her into the world, the one who raised her.
Because the father is a priest, his disgrace is greater than if he was not a priest.
Why is Betrothed More Severe?
We see from the Rambam’s list, that the betrothed woman who commits adultery is subject to stoning. This is a more severe punishment than for a married woman who commits adultery.
Rabbi Steinsaltz (Gemara Sanhedrin 50a) writes, “the adultery of a betrothed woman is considered more disgraceful, both to the woman herself and to her family, as she has not yet consummated her marriage to her husband.”