a person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his body in water.
Parallel translations
- WEB the person that touches any such shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his body in water.
- KJV The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.
- BSB the man who touches any of these will remain unclean until evening. He must not eat from the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.
- NKJV the person who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat the holy offerings unless he washes his body with water.
- NLT The man who is defiled in any of these ways will remain unclean until evening. He may not eat from the sacred offerings until he has bathed himself in water.
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 defiled by such contact remains unclean until evening and must bathe before eating the holy food. Cleansing and the passing of time restored him to fellowship.
Overview
Purification required both washing with water and waiting until evening before the priest could again partake of the sacred offerings. The provision shows that God made a way back to fellowship for the defiled. The washing with water anticipates the cleansing of the gospel, by which believers are washed and made able to share in the holy things of God (Titus 3:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Heb 10:22let’s draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed with pure water,
- Lev 15:5Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.
- 1 Cor 6:11Such were some of you, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.
- Lev 11:24–25“‘By these you will become unclean: whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening.
- Lev 16:24–28Then he shall bathe himself in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people.
- Hag 2:13Then Haggai said, “If one who is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, will it be unclean?” The priests answered, “It will be unclean.”
- Num 19:7–10Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening.
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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 22:6 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
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