Leviticus 22:16

16 by letting any unauthorized people eat them; this would bring guilt and punishment on such people. I am the Lord and I make the offerings holy."

Leviticus 22:16 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 22:16

Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass
The punishment of sin: either the strangers, when they eat their holy things;
the holy things belonging to the priests, which they permitting them to do, suffer them to be liable to the punishment incurred thereby, or else the priests themselves; so the Septuagint version renders the word "themselves"; and in like manner Jarchi interprets it; and then the sense may be, according to the Targums of Jonathan and Onkelos, that the priests shall bear the punishment of their sins,

``when they shall eat the holy things in uncleanness,''

which is what is forbidden them in the former part of the chapter; but this seems to be too remote; rather the former sense is best: for I the Lord do sanctify them;
both the priests, to whom the holy things belong, and the holy things for their use, and the use of their families, and them only.

Leviticus 22:16 In-Context

14 "If any people who are not members of a priestly family eat any of the sacred offerings without intending to, they must repay the priest its full value plus an additional 20 percent.

15 The priests shall not profane the sacred offerings

16 by letting any unauthorized people eat them; this would bring guilt and punishment on such people. I am the Lord and I make the offerings holy."

17 The Lord commanded Moses

18 to give Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel the following regulations. When any Israelite or any foreigner living in Israel presents a burnt offering, whether as fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering, the animal must not have any defects.