---
title: Leviticus 21:10
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/leviticus-21-10/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/leviticus-21-10.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Leviticus 21:10
testament: OT
section: Law
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Leviticus 21:10

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "The high priest of his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been installed to wear the priestly garments, should not let his head go ungroomed or tear his garments."

## JW Usage

Witnesses use this verse to underline the dignity and gravity of the Aaronic high-priestly office in the Mosaic system. The prohibition on the high priest tearing his garments fits Watchtower teaching about the Mosaic types and shadows that point forward to Christ's eternal priesthood. The verse is rarely connected to Caiaphas' violation of this command at Mark 14:63.

## Protestant Usage

This verse is the under-noticed witness against Caiaphas. The high priest is forbidden by the Torah from tearing his garments. Yet at Jesus' Sanhedrin trial in Mark 14:63 the high priest tears his robes — an unmistakable, deliberate violation of priestly protocol — when Jesus combines Daniel 7:13-14 ("the Son of Man coming on the clouds") with Psalm 110:1 ("at the right hand of Power"). Caiaphas violated his own priestly code because he considered the offence that grave. The torn robes are the hostile-witness commentary on what Jesus had just claimed. If Jesus had only claimed to be a created angel or a lesser god, the high priest had no grounds to break Leviticus 21:10. He broke it because Jesus had just claimed to share the divine identity — a claim weighty enough that Caiaphas was willing to trade the priestly garment for the verdict.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Trial That Proved Jesus Claimed to Be God](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/mark14-trial-deity-claim.md) — Mark 14:60-64 [Deity of Christ]
- [The Son of Man on the Clouds — A Divine Prerogative](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/daniel7-son-of-man-deity.md) — Daniel 7:13-14 [Deity of Christ]