And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.
- BSB If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.
- NKJV The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be burned with fire.
- NASB Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by prostitution, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.
- NLT “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she also defiles her father’s holiness, and she must be burned to death.
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's daughter who becomes a prostitute profanes her father and is to be burned with fire. Those in sacred families bear heightened responsibility to live honorably.
Overview
Because the priestly household represented God's holiness before the people, the daughter's immorality brought severe disgrace and judgment. The gravity reflects the principle that greater privilege carries greater accountability. While Israel's civil penalties are not the church's to enforce, the enduring lesson is that holiness is to mark every member of God's covenant family.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Gen 38:24And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.
- Lev 19:29Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.
- Titus 1:6If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
- Matt 11:20–24Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:
- Mal 2:3Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.
- Isa 33:14The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
- 1 Sam 2:34And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them.
- Josh 7:15And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the LORD, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel.
- Josh 7:25And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
- Lev 20:14And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
- 1 Sam 3:13–14For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
- Ezek 9:6Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
- 1 Tim 3:4–5One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
- 1 Sam 2:17Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD: for men abhorred the offering of the LORD.
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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 21:9 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.