Bible Strands
Leviticus 22:9
The priests must keep My charge, lest they bear the guilt and die because they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh addresses Moses and Aaron, issuing a direct command to the priestly line regarding the maintenance of ritual boundaries. The instruction appears immediately after warnings against consuming unclean carcasses and unauthorized sacred food.
The words — The verb שָׁמְרוּ (sha.meru) translates literally as "they will keep" and establishes the mandatory action. The noun מִשְׁמַרְתִּי (mish.mar.ti) means "my charge" or "my guard," defining the specific duty the priests must not violate.
The thread — The fatal consequence of profaning sacred duties repeats in Exodus 28:43 and Numbers 18:22, where improper approach to the Tent of Meeting or altar triggers the same death penalty. Numbers 18:32 reinforces this pattern by warning that defiling the sacred offerings will cause the people to bear guilt.
Why it lands — The text requires priests to strictly observe ritual limits to avoid defilement that results in death. It demands that readers acknowledge divine holiness as a boundary that enforces lethal consequences when violated.
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
They shall therefore keep mine ordinance, lest they bear sin for it, and die therefore, if they profane it: I the Lord do sanctify them.
Cross-references
- Exodus 28:43 Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and die. This is to be a permanent statute for Aaron and his descendants.
- Numbers 18:22 No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.
- Numbers 18:32 Once you have presented the best part of it, you will not incur guilt because of it. But you must not defile the sacred offerings of the Israelites, or else you will die.’”
- Leviticus 10:1 Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.
- Leviticus 16:2 And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
- Leviticus 22:16 by allowing the people to eat the sacred offerings and thus to bear the punishment for guilt. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.”