Leviticus 22:10
in Leviticus 22No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest’s, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.
KJV
There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.
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This verse in Leviticus 22
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThere shall no stranger eat of the holy thing - For the meaning of the word stranger, see the note on Exo 12:43. The Jews suppose that stranger here means one who has had his ear pierced, (see the note on Exo 21:6), and that sojourner means a servant who is to go free on the Sabbatical year.
This site's exposition
There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing
on Leviticus 22:10-16
The line is drawn by belonging to the priest's house rather than by descent from him. A slave bought with his money eats and one born in his house eats, while a hired servant and a sojourner do not, and a daughter married outside the priestly families loses the portion until she comes back widowed or divorced and childless. Verse 14 sets the remedy for eating a holy thing unwittingly at restitution plus a fifth part, the same addition required at 5:16 and 6:5, so the accident is repaid rather than punished. The Mishnah, compiled about AD 200, gives a whole tractate called Terumoth to who may eat the priest's portion, and it opens its sixth chapter on this verse with the man who eats in error paying the principal and the fifth.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): but the servant that was born in the house or bought with money, being a heirloom to the family, though a servant, yet might eat of the holy things,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
No stranger - Of a strange family, who is not a priest; but there is an exception to this rule, ver. 11. A sojourner - One that comes to his house and abides there for a season, and eats at his table.
There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
There shall no stranger eat the holy thing--The portion of the sacrifices assigned for the support of the officiating priests was restricted to the exclusive use of his own family. A temporary guest or a hired servant was not at liberty to eat of them; but an exception was made in favor of a bought or homeborn slave, because such was a stated member of his household.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Stranger - One of another family. See Exo 29:33 note.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
No stranger (non- kohein ) may eat holy things. One indentured to a kohein and one hired [by a kohein ] may not eat sacred-offerings.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זָ֖ר | zar | stranger | H2114 → | 77 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֹ֣אכַל | yokhal | he will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| קֹ֑דֶשׁ | kodesh | a holy thing | H6944 → | 469 times |
| תּוֹשַׁ֥ב | toshav | a resident alien of | H8453 → | 14 times |
| כֹּהֵ֛ן | kohen | a priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| וְשָׂכִ֖יר | vesakhir | and a hired laborer | H7916 → | 17 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֹ֥אכַל | yokhal | he will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| קֹֽדֶשׁ׃ | kodesh | a holy thing | H6944 → | 469 times |
וְכָל־and any
vekholH3605 →5413 times
זָ֖רstranger
zarH2114 →77 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יֹ֣אכַלhe will eat
yokhalH398 →810 times
קֹ֑דֶשׁa holy thing
kodeshH6944 →469 times
תּוֹשַׁ֥בa resident alien of
toshavH8453 →14 times
כֹּהֵ֛ןa priest
kohenH3548 →750 times
וְשָׂכִ֖ירand a hired laborer
vesakhirH7916 →17 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יֹ֥אכַלhe will eat
yokhalH398 →810 times
קֹֽדֶשׁ׃a holy thing
kodeshH6944 →469 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Samuel 21:6So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there but the Bread of the Presence, which had been removed from before the LORD and replaced with hot bread on…
it leads to
- Leviticus 24:5–9
You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 6:3–4
Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
- Matthew 12:3–4
Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
- Mark 2:25–27
Jesus replied, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?
- Leviticus 24:5–9
Through
Exodus 29:33They must eat those things by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no outsider may eat them, because these things are sacred.
it leads to
- Numbers 18:4
They are to join you and attend to the duties of the Tent of Meeting, doing all the work at the Tent; but no outsider may come near you.
- Numbers 16:40
just as the LORD commanded him through Moses. This was to be a reminder to the Israelites that no outsider who is not a descendant of Aaron should approach to offer incense before the…
- 1 Corinthians 11:24
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
- Numbers 3:10
So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”
- Numbers 18:4
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.