You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them must be holy.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy.
- KJV And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.
- BSB You are to consecrate them so that they will be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy.
- NASB You shall also consecrate them, so that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy.
- NLT Consecrate them to make them absolutely holy. After this, whatever touches them will also become holy.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
These items were sanctified to be most holy, so that whatever touched them became holy. God's holiness is communicated through what He sets apart.
Overview
The consecrated furnishings became so holy that contact with them imparted holiness. This stressed the surpassing sacredness of the things devoted to God. The contagious holiness here is fulfilled in Christ, whose touch cleanses and sanctifies sinners rather than being defiled by them (Mark 1:41-42).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Matt 23:19You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
- Lev 6:18Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat of it, as their portion forever throughout your generations, from the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Whoever touches them shall be holy.’”
- Exod 29:37Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it: and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall be holy.
- Matt 23:17You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 30:29 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.