He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
Parallel translations
- WEB He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
- BSB He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food,
- NKJV He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy;
- NASB He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy,
- NLT However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings.
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
A priest with a defect may still eat the holy and most holy food. His exclusion from offering did not strip him of his portion or standing.
Overview
This gracious provision shows that disqualification from a particular service did not mean exclusion from the priestly household or its blessings. He remained a priest who shared fully in the sacred food. The verse guards against treating ritual fitness as a measure of personal worth, reflecting God's care even for those set apart from certain duties.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Lev 2:3And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.
- Num 18:9–10This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every oblation of theirs, every meat offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs which they shall render unto me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy sons.
- Lev 6:16–17And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.
- Num 18:19All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.
- 1 Cor 9:13Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
- Lev 22:10–13There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.
- Lev 2:10And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.
- Lev 7:1Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy.
- Lev 24:8–9Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.
- Lev 6:29All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 21:22 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.