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In a most holy place you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.
Numbers 18:10 · New 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.
  • KJV In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.
  • BSB You are to eat it as a most holy offering, and every male may eat it. You shall regard it as holy.
  • 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 may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.
  • Lev 6:29Every male among the priests shall eat of it: it is most holy.
  • Lev 6:16That 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.
  • Lev 6:26The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the Tent of Meeting.
  • Lev 10:17“Why haven’t you eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is most holy, and he has given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before Yahweh?
  • Lev 21:22He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.
  • Exod 29:31–32“You shall take the ram of consecration, and boil its meat in a holy place.
  • Lev 10:13and you shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your portion, and your sons’ portion, of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire: for so I am commanded.
  • Lev 14:13He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy.
  • Lev 6:18Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat of it, as their portion forever throughout your generations, from the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Whoever touches 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.