Leviticus 21:10
Leviticus 21:1010The 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.
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 .
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 the high priest tears his robes — an unmistakable, deliberate violation of priestly protocol — when Jesus combines ("the Son of Man coming on the clouds") with ("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 . 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.