Leviticus 21:8

8 Regard them as holy, because they offer up the food of your God. Consider them holy, because I the LORD am holy—I who make you holy.

Leviticus 21:8 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
8 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.
English Standard Version (ESV)
8 You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.
New Living Translation (NLT)
8 You must treat them as holy because they offer up food to your God. You must consider them holy because I, the LORD, am holy, and I make you holy.
The Message Bible (MSG)
8 Make sure he is holy because he serves the food of your God. Treat him as holy because I, God, who make you holy, am holy.
American Standard Version (ASV)
8 Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I Jehovah, who sanctify you, am holy.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
8 Be holy because you offer the food of your God. Be holy because I, the LORD, am holy. I set you apart as holy.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
8 You are to consider him holy since he presents the food of your God. He will be holy to you because I, the Lord who sets you apart, am holy.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
8 Consider them as holy, because they offer up food to me. Consider them as holy, because I am holy. I am the Lord. I make you holy.

Leviticus 21:8 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 21:8

Thou shalt sanctify him therefore
In thought and word, as Aben Ezra, by thinking and speaking well of him; should esteem and reckon him a holy person, being in a sacred office, and honour him as such; and do all that can be done to preserve him from unholiness and impurity, and particularly from marrying with improper and unsuitable persons, such as would bring a scandal on him and his sacred office: this seems to be spoken to Moses, and so to the civil magistrate in succession, who were not to suffer such marriages to take place in the priesthood; and were not only to persuade from it, but to exercise their authority, and oblige them to put away such wives, and if they refused, to use severity; so Jarchi,

``"thou shalt sanctify him", whether he will or not; if he will not put her away, beat him and chastise him until he does put "her away",''
see ( Ezra 2:62 ) ; for he offereth the bread of the Lord;
meaning not the shewbread he set in order before the Lord every week, but the various gift and sacrifices which were offered to God by him, and were acceptable to him as his food; and therefore he ought to be holy that drew nigh to God, and was employed in such service, see ( Leviticus 21:6 ) ; he shall be holy unto thee;
in thy account and estimation, and for thy service to offer holy sacrifices, and therefore should be careful of his holiness to preserve it: for I the Lord, which sanctify you, [am] holy;
in his nature, works, and ways, and who had separated them from all other people to be a holy people to him, and therefore they that ministered in holy things for them should be holy likewise.

Leviticus 21:8 In-Context

6 They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the food offerings to the LORD, the food of their God, they are to be holy.
7 “ ‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands, because priests are holy to their God.
8 Regard them as holy, because they offer up the food of your God. Consider them holy, because I the LORD am holy—I who make you holy.
9 “ ‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.
10 “ ‘The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his clothes.

Cross References 3

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