It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
| Word | Hebrew | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| priests | לַכֹּהֲנִ֤ים la.ko.ha.Nim | H3548 | literally one officiating · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute |
| sanctified | הַֽמְקֻדָּשׁ֙ ham.ku.Dash | H6942 | to be (causatively · definite article + verb, pual passive participle, masculine singular absolute |
| sons | מִבְּנֵ֣י mi.be.Nei | H1121 | a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct |
| Zadok | צָד֔וֹק tza.Dok | H6659 | Tsadok · proper noun, a man's name |
| kept | שָׁמְר֖וּ sha.me.Ru | H8104 | properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural |
| charge | מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֑י mish.mar.Ti | H4931 | watch · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix |
| astray | תָע֗וּ ta.'U | H8582 | to vacillate · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural |
| children | בְּנֵ֣י be.Nei | H1121 | a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct |
| Israel | יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל Yis.ra.'El | H3478 | Jisrael · proper noun, a place name |
| astray | בִּתְעוֹת֙ bit.'Ot | H8582 | to vacillate · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct |
| Levites | הַלְוִיִּֽם hal.vi.Yim | H3881 | a Levite or descendant of Levi · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute |
| astray | תָּע֖וּ ta.'U | H8582 | to vacillate · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural |
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Reuben--doomed formerly for incest and instability "not to excel" (Gen 49:4). So no distinguished prophet, priest, or king had come from it. Of it were the notorious Dathan and Abiram, the mutineers. A pastoral and Bedouin character marked it and Gad (Jdg 5:16).
The oblation - This was a portion of land twenty-five thousand cubits in length, by ten thousand broad; in the center of which was the temple, which must be destined for the use of the priests, the Levites, and the prince.
It shall be for the priests that are sanctified,.... That are set apart by the Lord; called by him to this office, and sanctified with the gifts and graces of his Spirit; and so fitted and qualified for the work: of the sons of Zadok, which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray; ministers faithful to the Lord in the worst of times; and who are and wil be taken notice of by him, both now and hereafter, Matthew 25:21; see Gill on Ezekiel 44:15, Ezekiel 44:16.
The holy portion was not quite at the exact center of the land; there were seven tribal strips to the north and only five to the south of it. While it was still not exactly central geographically, the spiritual center had apparently moved a significant distance north from where it used to be in Jerusalem. • The importance of the holy portion set aside for the Lord’s Temple is underlined by the detailed description of its dimensions and makeup, in contrast with the brevity of the descriptions of the tribal allocations. This special portion was devoted to God and was never to be sold or traded or used by others. It was made up of strips that ran from east to west and were allocated to the Levi…
Read the whole note in the console(Verse 11) It will be a sanctuary for the priests from the descendants of Zadok, who have kept my statutes and have not strayed as the children of Israel strayed, as the Levites strayed. And what he had said, 'These shall be the firstfruits of the sanctuary of the priests,' was to prevent all the priests from claiming the possession of this place and the special ceremonies to be observed by a common name, specifically stating: 'The sanctuary shall be for the priests of the sons of Zadok,' which means 'righteous.' This is said of him: 'The Lord is righteous, and he loves righteousness; his face beholds the upright' (Psalm 11:7). Regarding this, Sadoc, the Septuagint writes Sadduc. This Sadoc speaks in the Gospel: For the Father judgeth no man, but hath given all judgment unto the Son (John 5:22). And concerning this, under the name of Solomon, the Prophet sings mystically: Give thy judgment to the king, O God, and thy justice to the king's son (Psalm 71:1). But those priests of the Lord shall possess the sanctuary, and shall keep the ceremonies thereof: who have not erred when the children of Israel and the Levites erred, of whom it was discoursed in the foregoing. They do not offer victims, but being content with the privilege of their name and the humility of their error, they always speak from the heart: I acknowledge my wickedness, and my sin is always before me (Psalm 50:4). Let him hear this priestly order, and, overcome by the fury of the Arian persecution, and subsequently submitting his neck to the power of the true faith, so that he may not lack resources, if he is not expelled from the temple, let him hold a certain shadow and image of his former name, and let him not, lying on his back, belch out delights, as if he were immaculate and pure, let him not belch forth the nausea of his ignorance and barbaric babbling from his lofty throne.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
The hallowed part shall be for the priests This part, which is hallowed, shall be for the priests.
Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).
