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Could a woman have been a priest in the Temple back in the time of David, and if not, why not?

Seth J
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Aigle
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1 Answers1

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No. The Torah specifies that Aaron and his SONS are invested with the Priesthood (Ex 29,9). While there are specific duties and rights incumbent on a Bat Kohen, a woman could not function as a Priest in the Temple.

msh210
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Shoel
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  • Another thing..why are there no women priest,do you know why? – Aigle Feb 12 '16 at 13:41
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    How do you know that that word means "sons" and not "children"? Afaik it can mean either, depending on context. – msh210 Feb 12 '16 at 15:09
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    @msh210 Sure, but Aaron had only sons. So either way, it is talking about sons. (i.e Bereshit 7:7) – Aleksandr Sigalov Feb 12 '16 at 16:17
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    @AleksandrSigalov What about granddaughters? (How do you know he didn't have daughters too?) – Double AA Feb 12 '16 at 16:50
  • @DoubleAA and if he'd have daughter it would say it just like with Dinah. – Aleksandr Sigalov Feb 12 '16 at 18:07
  • @AleksandrSigalov So you think that Yaakov had 63 grandsons and one granddaughter (as listed in Gen 46)? The chance of that are 1 in 3*10^18. Clearly daughters aren't always listed. – Double AA Feb 12 '16 at 18:08
  • @DoubleAA I agree that Torah does not always mention women but in cases of patriarch genealogy seem to be complete. So yes, I believe that Jacob had only 1 daughter because Torah says so. This is the best argument for me. ;) – Aleksandr Sigalov Feb 12 '16 at 18:42
  • @DoubleAA http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/13243 ... but I think we need to clean up the comments here. – msh210 Feb 12 '16 at 22:09