Need help with a question regarding OT

[Michael_G]

There is suppose to be a passage or passages in the Old Testament in which the priest serving in the holy of holies had to be holy himselfe when serving their lest he be struck dead for his sins, and a cord had to be tied around him so if he was struck dead for his sin the people could pull him out from behind the veil of the holy of Holies. I would like to know where this this passage is at since it would be quite remarkable in relation to the holiness required of the ark of the NT the blessed Virgen Mary…

 

[MarcoPolo]

My research seems to say this is a tradition.
LINK

But who knows. Maybe someone knows better?

 

[Texas_Roofer]

There is suppose to be a passage or passages in the Old Testament in which the priest serving in the holy of holies had to be holy himselfe when serving their lest he be struck dead for his sins, and a cord had to be tied around him so if he was struck dead for his sin the people could pull him out from behind the veil of the holy of Holies. I would like to know where this this passage is at since it would be quite remarkable in relation to the holiness required of the ark of the NT the blessed Virgen Mary…

Does not ring any bells however it sounds like Exodus 28 in a mumbled jumbled why?

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

As far as I can tell, the story can be traced back to a Jewish writer, the Zohar. The Zohar was one of the founders of that Jewish mystical sect called the Kabbalah. The story about the rope being tied to the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) can be found in two of his writings, but apparently nowhere else. Nobody seems to know where he got the story, but that is true of many Jewish stories.

It is probably not true that the Kohen Gadol had a rope tied to him when he went into the Holy of Holies. That would be an extra “garment” beyond what was prescribed. Also, he had already made atonement for his own sins, so it wouldn’t be likely that he would die in that place. If he did die, then the next High Priest could be named immediately and go in and bring him out. Some sources even say that other priests regularly went into the Holy of Holies to offer incense, so there would be no reason they couldn’t go in and retrieve the body. Therefore, it is not likely to be true.
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Did the high priest have a rope tied to him when he entered the Holy of Holies?

high priest rope

Question: “Did the high priest have a rope tied to him when he entered the Holy of Holies?”

Answer: There is a tradition that the high priest of Israel would enter the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle / Temple with a rope tied to his foot and/or with bells around his waist. It is said that when the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies at Yom Kippur during the last couple of centuries of the Temple, a scarlet rope was tied to his foot. A priest in the Holy Place tended the other end of this rope. The rope had a purpose. If the High Priest’s sins were not atoned for properly, he would die in the presence of the shekinah, the glory of God, that filled the Holy of Holies. Since nobody else could enter that part of the Temple without also dying, the priests felt they needed a way to retrieve the body of the High Priest, if necessary. That was the purpose of the rope - to pull the body out. The bells jingling would be the sign that the priest had fallen to the ground dead. If true, this is a powerful reminder of God’s holiness - and how we should praise Jesus for the direct access to God’s throne He provides! However, the Bible does not record such a concept. In fact, the Bible has specific instructions regarding what the high priest can and cannot wear (Exodus chapters 28-35). It sees highly unlikely that God would allow this practice.

Recommended Resource: Bible Answers for Almost all Your Questions by Elmer Towns .

christiananswers.net/q-eden/anklerope.html

You may have heard this story before. It has been said that that because the high priest could be killed by God in Holy of Holies if not properly prepared according to Divine instructions, a rope was routinely tied around his ankle. Then, if he dropped dead, his body could be dragged out. Various versions of this claim have been repeated in Christian and Jewish circles.

As yet, we have not located the original source, but apparently it originated long after the last Jewish Temple was gone. The biblical and historical evidence indicates that there was no rope, at least not in any common use.
High priest.

Dr. W.E. Nunnally, a professor of Hebrew and early Judaism, has reported:

“The rope on the high priest legend is just that: a legend. It has obscure beginnings in the Middle Ages and keeps getting repeated. It cannot be found anywhere in the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, the Pseudepigrapha, the Talmud, Mishna, or any other Jewish source. It just is not there.” 2]

The Biblical Studies Foundation (loosely associated with Dallas Theological Seminary), similarly reports that their research has put the"the rope around the ankle-or-waist-or-maybe-the-leg" legend “to rest.” They also point out that Aaron was to wear a blue ephod with bells on its hem (Exodus 28:31-35), when he entered the Holy Place (not the Holy of Holies) (Leviticus 16:2-4). When he enters the Holy of Holies, he washes and wears special linen garments, not the ephod with bells. “If there are no bells to jingle, there is no need for the rope either.” 3]

A Messianic Jewish Fellowship points out the potential difficulty of dragging a dead priest out of the Holy of Holies:

“You could only drag out the priest if he died in the Holy place. The way the curtains of the temple were designed, the priest could not have been dragged out of the HOLY of HOLIES. The veil was made using many layers of cloth. The thickness was over three feet. The curtains overlapped and made a small maze through which the priest walked…” [4]

en.allexperts.com/q/Bible-Studies-1654/rope-high-priest-legend.htm

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

…

References:

1. Dr. W.E. Nunnally is Associate Professor of Early Judaism and Christian Origins at Central Bible College and Adjunct Professor of Hebrew at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary
2. “All in the Family: The Visions and Vanities of Sam Hinn,” The Quarterly Journal, Vol. 16, No. 4, (St. Louis: Personal Freedom Outreach), pfo.org/allinfam.htm
3. Biblical Studies Foundation (Garland, TX), bible.org/docs/qa/qa.asp?StudyID=462
4. Zion Messianic Jewish Fellowship Congregation (Austin, Texas), tzion.org/articles/Temple1.html

en.allexperts.com/q/Bible-Studies-1654/rope-high-priest-legend.htm

A: This appears to be a legend originating long after the Temple was gone.

Although the Bible does not mention such a cord, it does say that he should wear bells “and not die” (Exodus 28:33-35) This has been interpreted as meaning that someone must listen outside the Holy of Holies for the bells. As long as the priests outside could hear them tinkling, they would know the High Priest was still alive. But what if the sound were to cease? Would that mean he was dead? If so, how would they get the body out, since no one else is allowed to enter? The Bible is not explicit about this eventuality, but the practical solution supposedly contrived by the ancients was to tie a cord around the priest’s ankle just in case. If the sound should cease, those outside could tug on the rope to verify that he was still conscious, and, if necessary, pull him out quickly without defiling the most holy place. Such a tradition is noted in Zondervan’s NIV Study Bible, 1985 as a note to Exodus 28:35, but I have found no reference to it any of the other printed resources at my disposal, including the Encyclopedia Judaica, Josephus, Edersheim and the Talmud. It is mentioned on a huge number of websites (both Jewish and Christian), but none of the several I checked contained any reference for what is usually just presented as fact.
Joseph Good of Hatikvah Ministries, among others points out that the bells were attached to the robe of blue cloth (Exodus 39:22-24), worn under the ephod, whereas the priest wore only the linen tunic, sash, turban and undergarments to enter the Holy of Holies (Lev. 16:2-4), so he would not have been wearing the bells. (They were worn in the Holy Place, but not the most Holy Place).

hatikva.org/articles/the-coming-of-the-messiah-at-yom-kippur.htm

Here is a good, short article on this subject:

christiananswers.net/q-eden/anklerope.html

amfi.org/mailbag/anklerope.htm
.

 

[Michael_G]

Thank you all and Daniel

 

[Valke2]

“Zohar” is not an author, but a book. It is not so much that the priest had to be “holy” but that it was believed if he mispronounced God’s true name he would be struck down.