אשה זונה. לא מצאנו על דרך הפשט בכל המקרא זונה כי אם כמשמעה גם כן ויתנו את הילד בזונה כאשר פירשתיו: WOMAN THAT IS A HARLOT. If we follow the plain meaning of the text then we do not find in all of Scripture the word zonah (harlot) to have any but its literal meaning.26That is, a zonah is a woman who sells her body. According to the rabbis a zonah is a woman who had intercourse with an individual whom she is not permitted to marry, i.e., a woman who has relations with a close relative or with a non-Jew. Such a woman is considered a zonah even if the intercourse was not with her consent. Hence I.E.’s comment. The meaning of and have given a boy for a harlot (zonah) (Joel 4:3) is also as I have explained.27In other words, zonah in Joel 4:3 refers to a harlot. It means that they gave a young man in payment for sexual favors.
וחללה. שאינה מפורסמת כזונה ולפי הפשט היה נראה מדברי יחזקאל כי אלמנות כהן מותרות לכהנים לכן דברי הקבלה הוא הנכון: OR PROFANED. A woman who is not known as a harlot.28A woman who is not a harlot but has been defiled. I.E. does not define how the woman was profaned. However, from the context it appears that I.E. refers to a woman who is not a prostitute but had intercourse with someone who is not a kohen. It is also possible that I.E. refers to a woman who is promiscuous but not a prostitute. It should be noted that according to the rabbis the reference is to a woman born of a marriage between a kohen and a woman prohibited to him (Kiddushin 77a). According to the plain meaning, it would appear from the words of Ezekiel29Ezek. 44:22. that the widow of a kohen30That is, only the widow of a kohen. is permitted to marry other kohanim.31Ezek. 44:22 seems to imply that the only widow a kohen may marry is the widow of another kohen, for Ezekiel states, Neither shall they take for their wives a widow…but they shall take…a widow that is the widow of a priest. The words of tradition32To the effect that a kohen may marry any widow. See Kiddushin 78b. are thus true.33Despite the plain meaning of Ezek. 44:22, for our chapter (v. 7) does not prohibit a kohen from marrying any widow. We thus must interpret Ezek. 44:22 as follows: Neither shall a kohen gadol take for their wives a widow…but some of the kohanim, that is, a common kohen, may take a widow (any widow, not only the widow of a kohen). See Kiddushin 78b.