Leviticus 22:2

Summary

Yehovah instructs Moses to tell Aaron and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the Israelites, so that they do not profane the divine name that these offerings sanctify. The verse closes with the self-identifying formula "I am Yehovah."

Key words

• yinnazeru ("they may separate themselves", H5144A) — niphal imperfect with prefixed vav: the niphal stem marks this as reflexive/passive action ("to separate oneself"), and the vav links it to the preceding imperative as a purpose or continuation clause ("so that they separate themselves").
• kadeshei ("[the] holy things of", H6944G) — masculine plural construct, linking to bene Yisra'el ("sons/people of Israel", H1121G); the construct chain marks these as items belonging to or offered by the Israelites.
• yechallelu ("they will profane", H2490H) — piel imperfect, intensive stem: piel here gives the verb a strong causative-intensive sense, "to treat as profane/common," negated by lo' ("not", H3808).
• kodshi ("holiness/my holy [name]", H6944G) — masculine singular construct with 1st person suffix -i ("my"), modifying shem ("name of", H8034) in the construct chain shem kodshi, "the name of my holiness."
• makdishim ("[are] setting apart as holy", H6942G) — hiphil participle, causative stem: describes the Israelites as the ones actively causing consecration ("the ones sanctifying") of the offerings li ("to me", H9030).

What the text says

The verse opens with the piel imperative daber ("speak", H1696G), addressed to Moses, directing him toward Aharon ("Aaron", H0175) and banav ("his sons", H1121A + suffix). The following clause is built on the niphal imperfect yinnazeru, joined by vav to the imperative — a grammatical pattern that expresses the intended result of the command: the priests are to "separate themselves" miqqodshei bene Yisra'el ("from the holy things of the sons of Israel"). The construct chain qodshei bene Yisra'el stacks two "of" relationships: the holy things belong to, or derive from, the people of Israel.

The next clause, negated by lo' with the piel imperfect yechallelu, states the purpose or consequence of this separation: that they not profane et-shem qodshi ("the name of my holiness"), itself a double construct (shem of qodshi, "holiness" with 1st-person suffix). The relative clause asher hem makdishim li ("which they are consecrating to me") uses a hiphil participle, presenting the Israelites as ongoing agents of consecration — the holy things in question are what they hallow toward Yehovah. The verse ends with the independent pronoun ani ("I", H0589) followed by the name Yehovah (H3068G), forming the recurring self-declaration formula.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders yinnazeru ("they may separate themselves") with προσεχέτωσαν ("let them pay attention/beware"), shifting the reflexive-separation nuance of the niphal toward an idea of caution or attentiveness. The Vulgate similarly reads caveant ("let them beware"), aligning with the LXX's sense of vigilance rather than the Hebrew's more literal "separation." The BSB reflects this same interpretive tradition with "treat with respect," while the Hebrew niphal more directly conveys a withdrawing or setting-apart action.