What Does Leviticus 22:16 Mean in the King James?
Or suffer them to bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat their holy things: for I the LORD do sanctify them.
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 guilt here is not abstract: the verse pictures crookedness as something people can be made to carry.
THE MEANING
This verse names the weight of letting sacred things be eaten in a way that makes people bear guilt. The LORD is the one who sets them apart, so their sacred status and the boundary around what they eat belong together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that being set apart makes every use of sacred things harmless dissolves here: the verse holds sacred status and real liability together.
THE ROOT
וְהִשִּׂיאוּ
ve-hissiu
GROWS FROM
נשא
n-s-ʾ
Lift, carry, or bear; in this form, cause someone to carry.
“bear” in this verse is ve-hissiu. The verb does not leave guilt as an idea: it says someone can be made to carry it. This root also forms words for a burden and for a leader, linking what is carried with the weight of responsibility.
ALSO GROWS
maśśāʾ: A load or burden.
מַשָּׂא
It makes the verse’s language of bearing liability feel concrete: the guilt is something carried.
nāśîʾ: A chief or prince; one elevated.
נָשִׂיא
This branch links carrying with responsibility entrusted to a person.
עֲוֹן
ʿāwōn
GROWS FROM
עון
ʿ-w-n
Crookedness and the culpability that follows from it.
English “iniquity” can sound like a label for wrongdoing; avon holds crookedness and its liability together. Paired with “bear,” it makes the consequence something laid on people, not only a verdict pronounced about them.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāwōn: Crookedness, guilt, or the consequence of wrongdoing.
עָוֹן
The word in the verse can name both the wrong and the liability that comes with it.
ʿăwōnōt: Crooked acts or accumulated guilt.
עֲוֹנוֹת
The plural form shows how crookedness can gather into a burden.
מְקַדְּשָׁם
meqaddesham
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
Set apart as sacred.
“sanctify” in this verse is meqaddesham. The verse grounds the boundary in the LORD’s action: he sets the people apart. The same root names the sacred thing and the sanctuary, joining the people’s status to what is set apart for God.
ALSO GROWS
qōdeš: A sacred or set-apart thing.
קֹדֶשׁ
It is the word family behind the holy things whose use carries responsibility.
miqdāš: A sanctuary, a set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
It shows how the root marks not only people and objects, but also a place belonging to God.
qādôš: Set apart as sacred.
קָדוֹשׁ
It names the status the LORD gives, which does not erase the boundary around sacred things.
THE PATTERN
What God sets apart carries a boundary whose careless crossing can place real liability on people.
And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.THE THREAD
And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.The same Hebrew roots for “bear” (נשא, nāśāʾ, carry) and “iniquity” (עָוֹן, ʿāwōn, crookedness and culpability) appear here. That pairing opens Leviticus further: responsibility around what is set apart becomes a burden someone must carry.
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