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.

And offer the leaves of proposition. Let them therefore be holy, because I also am holy, the Lord, who sanctify them.

And thou shalt hallow him; for the bread of thy God doth he present: he shall be holy unto thee; for I, Jehovah, who hallow you am holy.

and thou hast sanctified him, for the bread of thy God he is bringing near; he is holy to thee; for holy am I, Jehovah, sanctifying you.

And he is to be holy in your eyes, for by him the bread of your God is offered; he is to be holy in your eyes, for I the Lord, who make you holy, am holy.

and they offer the bread of the presence. Therefore, let them be holy, for I also am holy: the Lord, who sanctifies them.

The people of Israel are now addressed. They are commanded to regard the priests, who perform for them the service of the altar, as holy in respect of their office.

Thou shalt (e) sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the (f) bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, [am] holy.
(e) You shall count them holy and reverence them.
(f) The showbread.

Thou shalt sanctify him therefore,.... In thought and word, as Aben Ezra, by thinking and speaking well of him; should esteem and reckon him a holy person, being in a sacred office, and honour him as such; and do all that can be done to preserve him from unholiness and impurity, and particularly from marrying with improper and unsuitable persons, such as would bring a scandal on him and his sacred office: this seems to be spoken to Moses, and so to the civil magistrate in succession, who were not to suffer such marriages to take place in the priesthood; and were not only to persuade from it, but to exercise their authority, and oblige them to put away such wives, and if they refused, to use severity; so Jarchi,""thou shalt sanctify him", whether he will or not; if he will not put her away, beat him and chastise him until he does put "her away",''see Ezra 2:62,
for he offereth the bread of the Lord; meaning not the shewbread he set in order before the Lord every week, but the various gift and sacrifices which were offered to God by him, and were acceptable to him as his food; and therefore he ought to be holy that drew nigh to God, and was employed in such service, see Leviticus 21:6,
he shall be holy unto thee; in thy account and estimation, and for thy service to offer holy sacrifices, and therefore should be careful of his holiness to preserve it:
for I the Lord, which sanctify you, am holy; in his nature, works, and ways, and who had separated them from all other people to be a holy people to him, and therefore they that ministered in holy things for them should be holy likewise.

"Thou shalt sanctify him therefore," that is to say, not merely "respect his holy dignity" (Knobel), but take care that he did not desecrate his office by a marriage so polluted. The Israelites as a nation are addressed in the persons of their chiefs. The second clause of the verse, "he shall be holy unto thee," contains the same thought. The repetition strengthens the exhortation. The reason assigned for the first clause is the same as in Leviticus 21:6; and that for the second, the same as in Leviticus 20:8, Leviticus 20:26; Exodus 31:13, etc.

Thou - O Moses, and whosoever shall succeed in thy place, to whom it belongs to see my laws observed, shall take care that the priest be holy, and do not defile himself by any of these forbidden marriages.