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In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.
Numbers 18:10 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB You shall eat of it like the most holy things. Every male shall eat of it. It shall be holy to you.
  • BSB You are to eat it as a most holy offering, and every male may eat it. You shall regard it as holy.
  • NKJV In a most holy place you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.
  • NASB As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.
  • NLT You must eat it as a most holy offering. All the males may eat of it, and you must treat it as most 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

The most holy offerings were to be eaten in a holy place by every male among the priests, treated as holy.

Overview

These portions were restricted to the priestly males and to be consumed within sacred bounds, reflecting their great holiness. The careful regulation guards the sanctity of what belongs to God. Eating the holy offering signified the priests' special communion with God through the sacrificial system.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Lev 7:6Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy.
  • Lev 6:29All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.
  • Lev 6:16And 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.
  • Lev 6:26The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation.
  • Lev 10:17Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD?
  • Lev 21:22He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
  • Exod 29:31–32And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place.
  • Lev 10:13And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy due, and thy sons’ due, of the sacrifices of the LORD made by fire: for so I am commanded.
  • Lev 14:13And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy:
  • Lev 6:18All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Numbers videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Numbers 18:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on NumbersMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.

How Numbers 18:10 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.