Bible Strands
Leviticus 21:8
You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Moses and the Israelites regarding priestly conduct. The command establishes the required reverence for the officiating priest within the covenant community.
The words — וְקִדַּשְׁתּוֹ (veqiddashto) translates to "and you shall set him apart as holy," and לֶחֶם (lechem) means "food." These terms anchor the priest's status to his duty of presenting offerings.
The thread — The motif of holiness recurs in Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 11:44, and Leviticus 20:7. In the first two, the requirement rests on God's own holiness, while Leviticus 20:7 grounds it in God's identity as "the LORD your God."
Why it lands — The text requires the community to treat the presenting priest as set apart because he handles the food of God. It demands that reverence flows directly from the Lord's own holiness and His act of setting the people apart.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the Lord, which sanctify you, am holy.
Cross-references
- Leviticus 20:7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
- Leviticus 11:44 For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.
- Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
- Leviticus 21:6 They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the food offerings, the food of their God, they must be holy.
- John 17:19 For them I sanctify Myself, so that they too may be sanctified by the truth.
- Hebrews 7:26 Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
- Exodus 19:10 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes
- Exodus 19:14 When Moses came down from the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes.
- Exodus 28:41 After you put these garments on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint them, ordain them, and consecrate them so that they may serve Me as priests.
- Exodus 29:1 “Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish,