What actions in Leviticus 22:5 render a priest ceremonially unclean?

◄ Leviticus 22:5: What makes priests unclean? ►

“or whoever touches any crawling creature that makes him unclean, or any person who makes him unclean—whatever the uncleanness may be—”

Two Specific Actions that Defile a Priest

• Touching a crawling creature (creeping thing) that is declared unclean

• Touching any person who is already ceremonially unclean, regardless of the reason for that person’s uncleanness

Uncleanness Through Crawling Creatures

• “Crawling creature” covers reptiles, insects, and small animals listed in Leviticus 11:29-31.

• Contact could be direct (handling a lizard) or indirect (touching an object the animal’s carcass had touched, Leviticus 11:32-33).

• The result was immediate uncleanness until evening, requiring washing (Leviticus 11:24-25).

Uncleanness Through Contact With an Unclean Person

A priest became defiled by even brief contact with someone in any of the following states:

• A woman in childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8)

• A person with skin disease (Leviticus 13–14)

• Anyone with a bodily discharge (Leviticus 15:1-15)

• A man who had an emission of semen (Leviticus 15:16-18)

• A woman during her menstrual period (Leviticus 15:19-24)

• Someone who had touched a corpse (Numbers 19:11-13)

• Any other condition Scripture labels “unclean” (Leviticus 5:2-3; Numbers 5:2)

Why These Restrictions Matter

• The priest’s primary calling was to “distinguish between the holy and the common” (Leviticus 10:10).

• Physical purity symbolized the moral and spiritual purity God requires (Psalm 24:3-4).

• Violation disqualified the priest from handling holy offerings until purification (Leviticus 22:3-4).

Continuing Relevance for Believers

• Holiness still defines God’s people: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).

• While ceremonial law is fulfilled in Christ (Hebrews 9:11-14), the principle of separation from defilement remains (2 Corinthians 6:17).

• Practical response: keep short accounts with God—confess sin (1 John 1:9) and pursue purity of heart and conduct (James 4:8).