Leviticus 21:6

Leviticus 21:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God: for the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the bread of their God, they do offer: therefore they shall be holy.
• New International Version (NIV)They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the food offerings to the Lord, the food of their God, they are to be holy.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord's food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.
• New Living Translation (NLT)They must be set apart as holy to their God and must never bring shame on the name of God. They must be holy, for they are the ones who present the special gifts to the Lord, gifts of food for their God.

Context of Leviticus 21:6

4Otherwise he shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself. 5‘They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh. They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God. 8Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy.

Leviticus 21:6 word by word

קְדֹשִׁ֤ים יִהְיוּ֙ לֵאלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם וְלֹ֣א יְחַלְּל֔וּ שֵׁ֖ם אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֑ם כִּי֩ אֶת־אִשֵּׁ֨י יְהוָ֜ה לֶ֧חֶם אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֛ם הֵ֥ם מַקְרִיבִ֖ם וְהָ֥יוּ קֹֽדֶשׁ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They shall be holyקֹ֫דֶשׁqôdesh · holinessH6944
• unto their Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• and not profaneחָלַלchâlal · to profane/begin: profaneH2490
• the nameשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
• for the offeringsאִשֶּׁה'ishshâh · food offeringH801
• of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• the breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · food: breadH3899
• they do offerקָרַבqârab · to present: bringH7126
• therefore they shall be holyקָדוֹשׁqâdôsh qâdôsh · holyH6918

Cross-references for Leviticus 21:6

• Leviticus 21:8Therefore you shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy.
• Leviticus 10:3And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying: ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.’ ” So Aaron held his peace.
• Exodus 28:36“You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
• Exodus 29:44So I will consecrate the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me as priests.
• Ezra 8:28And I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord; the articles are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers.
• 1 Peter 2:9But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
• Leviticus 18:21And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
• Leviticus 19:12And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
• Malachi 1:6“A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’
• Leviticus 3:11and the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire to the Lord.
• Ezekiel 44:7When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it—My house—and when you offered My food, the fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because of all your abominations.
• Malachi 1:7“You offer defiled food on My altar, But say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible.’
• Isaiah 52:11Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the Lord.

Commentaries on Leviticus 21:6

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6The word here and in Leviticus 21:8 rendered “bread”, is the same as is rendered food in Leviticus 3:11, Leviticus 3:16, etc., and meat in Leviticus 22:11. The reader of the English Bible should keep in view that bread, meat, and food, were nearly equivalent terms when our translation was made, and represent no distinctions that exist in the Hebrew.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6A priest must never dishonor God by treating his name as unholy.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-241. There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people--The obvious design of the regulations contained in this chapter was to keep inviolate the purity and dignity of the sacred office. Contact with a corpse, or even contiguity to the place where it lay, entailing ceremonial defilement (Nu 19:14), all mourners were debarred from the tabernacle for a week; and as the exclusion of a priest during that period would have been attended with great…Read the comment

Topics related to Leviticus 21:6

• Bread
• God
• Minister, Christian
• Mourning
• Priest
• Sanctification
• Uncleanness

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Corner
• Hair
• Profane
• Shave
• Criticism
• Ezekiel
• Holiness
• Law in the Old Testament

Commentaries on Leviticus 21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings