In the Old Testament, the role of the High Priest was of paramount importance in the religious life of Israel. The High Priest served as the chief mediator between God and the people, performing sacred duties that included offering sacrifices and entering the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. One of the specific requirements for the High Priest was that he must marry a virgin. This stipulation is found in Leviticus 21:13-14 : "The woman he marries must be a virgin. He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people."

This requirement for the High Priest to marry a virgin is rich in typological significance, pointing forward to the relationship between Christ and His Church. In the New Testament, Christ is often depicted as the Bridegroom, and the Church as His bride. This imagery is vividly portrayed in Ephesians 5:25-27 : "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless."

The requirement for the High Priest to marry a virgin symbolizes the purity and holiness that Christ imparts to His Church. Just as the High Priest was to be united with a bride who was pure, so too is Christ united with a Church that He has purified and sanctified. This typology underscores the transformative power of Christ's redemptive work, which cleanses believers and prepares them to be His spotless bride.

Furthermore, the stipulation that the High Priest marry a virgin from his own people highlights the covenantal relationship between God and His chosen people. In the same way, Christ's relationship with the Church is rooted in the New Covenant, established through His sacrificial death and resurrection. This covenantal bond is characterized by faithfulness, love, and a commitment to holiness.

The imagery of Christ as the Bridegroom and the Church as His bride is also echoed in the eschatological vision of the marriage supper of the Lamb, as described in Revelation 19:7-8 : "Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him the glory. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready. She was given clothing of fine linen, bright and pure." This future consummation of the union between Christ and His Church is the ultimate fulfillment of the typology seen in the High Priest's marriage to a virgin.

In summary, the requirement for the High Priest to marry a virgin serves as a profound typological foreshadowing of Christ's relationship with His Church. It emphasizes the themes of purity, covenant, and the transformative power of Christ's love, which prepares the Church to be His holy and blameless bride.Leviticus 21:13,14
And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

2 Corinthians 11:2
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Doctrinal and Moral Treatises. Index of Subjects.
... Augustin, St., when ordained Priest or Presbyter, [427]347 ... Paul, [1325]388; Christ's
was true, [1326]389; not ... 1376]461, [1377]462, [1378]493; typified by the ...
/.../on care to be had for the dead /doctrinal and moral treatises index.htm

Letter cxxiii. To Ageruchia.
... is bound by the law of the priest, for his ... shew you that chastity is held in high
honour even ... down that middle wall of partition which typified the division ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/letter cxxiii to ageruchia.htm

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