Numbers 18:10
in Numbers 18You are to eat it as a most holy offering, and every male may eat it. You shall regard it as holy.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As the most holy things shalt thou eat thereof; every male shall eat thereof: it shall be holy unto thee.
KJV
In the most holy place shalt thou eat it; every male shall eat it: it shall be holy unto thee.
⋯
This verse in Numbers 18
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
In the most holy place - Rather, “among the most holy things;” as in Num 4:4: i. e. “As the most holy of things shalt thou eat it.” Accordingly, only the males of the priestly families could eat of the things here specified.
This site's exposition
I have put you in charge of My offerings
on Numbers 18:8-14
The portions follow two rules. In verses 9 and 10 every male may eat the most holy offerings. Every ceremonially clean person in the priest's household, daughters included, may eat the gifts and firstfruits of verses 11 to 13.
This site's exposition
every male may eat it
John Wesley took the Hebrew as a place, the court of the priests kept for eating holy things. The Berean gives Albert Barnes's reading, a most holy offering, a class of food. Leviticus 6:18 adds that anything touching it becomes holy.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In the most holy place - In the court of the priests, where there were places for this use, which is called the most holy place, not simply and absolutely, but in respect of the thing he speaks of because this was the most holy of all the places appointed for eating holy things, whereof some might be eaten in any clean place in the camp, or in their own house.
), which was to be eaten by the priests themselves, and in the court of the tabernacle only; but other perquisites were less holy, of which their families might eat, at their own houses, provided they were clean,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
In the most holy place shalt thou eat it,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the Lord spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of my heave offerings--A recapitulation is made in this passage of certain perquisites specially appropriated to the maintenance of the priests.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
“This teaches us that the most holy offerings may only be eaten in the Sanctuary Court, and only by male priests.
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. 6 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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּקֹ֥דֶשׁ | bekodesh | <in> [the] holy thing of | H6944 → | 469 times |
| הַקֳּדָשִׁ֖ים | hakodashim | the holy things | H6944 → | 469 times |
| תֹּאכֲלֶ֑נּוּ | tokhalenu | you will eat it | H398 → | 810 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זָכָר֙ | zakhar | male | H2145 → | 82 times |
| יֹאכַ֣ל | yokhal | he will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| אֹת֔וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| קֹ֖דֶשׁ | kodesh | a holy thing | H6944 → | 469 times |
| יִֽהְיֶה־ | yihyeh- | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָּֽךְ׃ | lakh | for <the> you |
בְּקֹ֥דֶשׁ<in> [the] holy thing of
bekodeshH6944 →469 times
הַקֳּדָשִׁ֖יםthe holy things
hakodashimH6944 →469 times
תֹּאכֲלֶ֑נּוּyou will eat it
tokhalenuH398 →810 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
זָכָר֙male
zakharH2145 →82 times
יֹאכַ֣לhe will eat
yokhalH398 →810 times
אֹת֔וֹ<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
קֹ֖דֶשׁa holy thing
kodeshH6944 →469 times
יִֽהְיֶה־it will be
yihyeh-H1961 →3559 times
לָּֽךְ׃for <the> you
lakh
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
Leviticus 6:16Aaron and his sons are to eat the remainder. It must be eaten without leaven in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.
it leads to
- Leviticus 2:3
The remainder of the grain offering shall belong to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings made by fire to the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 44:29
They shall eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them.
- Leviticus 10:12–13
And Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that remains from the offerings made by fire to the LORD and eat it without leaven beside the…
- Exodus 12:8
They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
- Leviticus 6:26
The priest who offers it shall eat it; it must be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.
- Leviticus 2:3
Through
Leviticus 6:18Any male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. This is a permanent portion from the offerings made by fire to the LORD for the generations to come. Anything that touches them will…
it leads to
- Leviticus 6:29
Any male among the priests may eat it; it is most holy.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 6:27
Anything that touches its flesh will become holy, and if any of the blood is spattered on a garment, you must wash it in a holy place.
- Leviticus 6:29
Through
Leviticus 7:6Every male among the priests may eat of it. It must be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy.
it leads to
- Numbers 18:9–10
A portion of the most holy offerings reserved from the fire will be yours. From all the offerings they render to Me as most holy offerings, whether grain offerings or sin offerings or guilt…
- Numbers 18:9–10
Where this verse is studied
About Numbers
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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.