What Does Leviticus 21:8 Mean in the King James?
Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The one who brings God’s bread near is set apart among the people by the same LORD who sets the people apart.
THE MEANING
The verse holds sacred service and sacred standing together: the one who brings God’s bread near is set apart among you. The LORD declares himself the one who sets you apart, making that distinction a relationship rooted in God. God’s own set-apartness is the pattern for how this sacred service is regarded.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that sacred distinction is self-made: the community recognizes the priest’s distinct role, but the LORD is the one who sets the people apart.
THE ROOT
וְקִדַּשְׁתּוֹ
veqiddashto
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
Be set apart; be sacred.
The Hebrew root קדש (q-d-sh, to set apart) runs through the command to sanctify, the priest being holy, and the LORD’s act of sanctifying the people. English gives these as separate forms, while Hebrew holds them together as one shared quality of sacred distinction.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Set apart; sacred.
קָדוֹשׁ
This is the word translated “holy” in the verse, showing that the priest’s sacred standing and the LORD’s holiness share the same root.
miqdash: Sanctuary; sacred place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
The sacred place carries the same root as the priest and the act of setting apart, linking person, service, and space.
מַקְרִיב
maqriv
GROWS FROM
קרב
q-r-b
Come near; bring near.
The verb translated “offereth” also means bringing near. The priest’s work is framed as drawing the bread toward God, giving the act of offering a nearness that the English word alone can conceal.
ALSO GROWS
qorban: Offering; drawing near.
קָרְבָּן
The offering itself is named from the same root as bringing near, so the bread-service carries the language of approach within it.
qarov: Near.
קָרוֹב
This branch makes the root’s sense of nearness explicit: the one who brings the bread near acts from the same word-family as what is near.
THE PATTERN
Set-apart service and set-apart people both take their meaning from God’s own holiness.
And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office.Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.THE THREAD
And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office.The same Hebrew root קדש (q-d-sh, to set apart) runs through God’s repeated “I will sanctify” and Leviticus’s “holy” and “sanctify.” Exodus opens the shared pattern further: sacred space and the people who serve there are both set apart by God.
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