But he shall not otherwise defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.
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George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Prince. Hebrew, "Let not the prince (of the priests, Acts xxiii. 5,) render himself unclean "by attending the funerals of any of the people; or "let not the husband "He may be allowed to attend his wife to the grave: or, as others more probably assert, even this is not permitted. She is not one of the persons privileged, ver. 2, and Ezechiel xliv. 25. Ezechiel (xxiv. 16,) receives a command not to bewail the death of his wife. The Romans thought their priests would be defiled, by attending the funerals even of their own wives; and Sylla, going to dedicate a temple to Hercules, sent Metella a bill of divorce, and ordered her to be removed from his house, when she was just expiring. (Plutarch)
