However, he may eat from the food offered to God, including the holy offerings and the most holy offerings.
Parallel translations
- WEB He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
- KJV 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,
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 2:3That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a most holy thing of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.
- Num 18:9–10This shall be yours of the most holy things from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.
- Lev 6:16–17That which is left of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten without yeast in a holy place. They shall eat it in the court of the Tent of Meeting.
- Num 18:19All the wave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to Yahweh, I have given you, and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before Yahweh to you and to your offspring with you.”
- 1 Cor 9:13Don’t you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar?
- Lev 22:10–13“‘No stranger shall eat of the holy thing: a foreigner living with the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.
- Lev 2:10That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a thing most holy of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.
- Lev 7:1“‘This is the law of the trespass offering. It is most holy.
- Lev 24:8–9Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before Yahweh continually. It is on the behalf of the children of Israel an everlasting covenant.
- Lev 6:29Every male among the priests shall eat of it: 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.