Leviticus 21:6

Summary

Leviticus 21:6 states that priests must be qedoshim ("holy", H6918G) to their God and must not profane the divine name, because they are the ones who present the fire offerings of Yehovah (H3068G), described as "the food of their God." The verse closes with a declaration that they will be qodesh ("a holy thing", H6944G).

Key words

• qedoshim ("holy", H6918G) — masculine plural adjective, describing the priests collectively as a category of persons set apart.
• yechallelu ("they will profane", H2490H) — piel (intensive) imperfect, indicating an intensified or deliberate action of desecration, negated by lo' ("not", H3808).
• ishei ("fire offerings of", H0801) — masculine plural construct, linking directly to Yehovah (H3068G) as the one to whom the offerings belong.
• lechem ("food of", H3899H) — masculine singular construct, paired in apposition with ishei Yehovah, framing the offerings as sustenance "of their God" (eloheihem, H0430G + H9028).
• haddoresh...maqrivim ("presenting", H7126H) — hiphil (causative) participle, marking continuous or characteristic action: the priests are habitually the ones who bring these offerings.

What the text says

The verse opens with the predicate qedoshim yihyu — adjective before verb — placing emphasis on the quality "holy" rather than on the verb "to be" (yihyu, H1961, qal imperfect). This word order highlights the state of holiness as the primary assertion, applied le-elohei-hem ("to their God", H0430G construct + H9028 suffix). The following clause uses the piel imperfect yechallelu ("they will profane", H2490H), a verb stem that intensifies the basic action of chalal (to be common/profane), suggesting an active or emphatic breach rather than mere negligence.

The causal particle ki ("for", H3588A) introduces the reasoning behind the holiness requirement: the priests (hem, H1992, emphatic personal pronoun) are the ones who maqrivim ("are presenting", H7126H) — a hiphil participle denoting ongoing, characteristic activity — the ishei Yehovah ("fire offerings of Yehovah", H0801 construct + H3068G). This phrase stands in apposition with lechem eloheihem ("the food of their God", H3899H construct), both referring to the same offerings under two descriptive terms: their fiery nature and their function as divine sustenance.

The final clause, ve-hayu qodesh ("and they will be a holy thing", H1961 qal sequential perfect + H6944G), uses a different noun for holiness (qodesh, singular abstract/concrete noun) than the opening adjective qedoshim, forming an inclusio that frames the entire verse around the concept of holiness, from adjective to noun.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders eloheihem ("their God", plural construct + suffix) as τῷ θεῷ (singular dative, "to God") in the first clause, differing from the Hebrew's repeated plural construct form elohei-hem used three times in the Masoretic Text. The Vulgate follows a singular rendering as well ("Deo suo"), aligning with the LXX's singular treatment rather than reflecting the Hebrew's grammatical plural form (though referring to one deity).