Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, April 11th, 2026
Saturday in Easter Week
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Complete Jewish Bible

Leviticus 10:10

so that you will distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Abstinence, Total;   Holiness;   Minister, Christian;   Thompson Chain Reference - Association-Separation;   Separation;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Defilement;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Nadab;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Priest;   Uncleanness;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Consecrate;   Leadership;   Priest, Priesthood;   Sanctification;   Sanctuary;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Abihu;   Wine;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Nadab;   Pentateuch;   Priest;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Abihu;   Education in Bible Times;   Leviticus;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Esau ;   Holiness Purity;   Profaning, Profanity;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Eleazar ;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Profane;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Priesthood, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Abihu;   Leviticus;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Aaron;   Abihu;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Habdalah;   Holiness;   Ithamar;   Sidra;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
and that you are to make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;
King James Version
And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;
Lexham English Bible
and to distinguish between the holy and the unholy, as well as between the unclean and the clean,
New Century Version
You must keep what is holy separate from what is not holy; you must keep what is clean separate from what is unclean.
New English Translation
as well as to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,
Amplified Bible
and to make a distinction and recognize a difference between the holy (sacred) and the common (profane), and between the [ceremonially] unclean and the clean;
New American Standard Bible
and to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean,
Geneva Bible (1587)
That ye may put difference betweene the holy and the vnholy, and betweene the cleane and the vncleane,
Legacy Standard Bible
and so as to separate between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean,
Contemporary English Version
You must learn the difference between what is holy and what isn't holy and between the clean and the unclean.
Darby Translation
that ye may put difference between the holy and the unholy, and between unclean and clean,
Easy-to-Read Version
You must be able to clearly tell the difference between what is holy and what is not holy, between what is clean and what is unclean.
English Standard Version
You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,
George Lamsa Translation
That you may make a distinction between holy and unholy, and between clean and unclean;
Good News Translation
You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean.
Christian Standard Bible®
You must distinguish between the holy and the common, and the clean and the unclean,
Literal Translation
and to make a distinction between the holy and profane, and between the unclean and the clean;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
yt ye maye haue knowlege to discerne, what is holy and vnholy, what is cleane & vncleane:
American Standard Version
and that ye may make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;
Bible in Basic English
And make a division between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And that ye may put difference betweene holy and vnholy, betweene vncleane and cleane:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And that ye may put difference between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;
King James Version (1611)
And that ye may put difference betweene holy and vnholy, and betweene vncleane and cleane:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
to distinguish between sacred and profane, and between clean and unclean,
English Revised Version
and that ye may put difference between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;
Berean Standard Bible
You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
that ye haue kunnyng to make doom bytwixe hooli thing and vnhooli, bitwixe pollutid thing and cleene;
Young's Literal Translation
so as to make a separation between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the pure;
Update Bible Version
and that you may make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;
Webster's Bible Translation
And that ye may make a difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;
World English Bible
and that you are to make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;
New King James Version
that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean,
New Living Translation
You must distinguish between what is sacred and what is common, between what is ceremonially unclean and what is clean.
New Life Bible
You are to know the difference between what is holy and what is not, and between what is clean and what is not.
New Revised Standard
You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
That ye may make a difference, between the sacred and the common, - and between the unclean and the clean;
Douay-Rheims Bible
And that you may have knowledge to discern between holy and unholy, between unclean and clean:
Revised Standard Version
You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;
New American Standard Bible (1995)
and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean,

Contextual Overview

8 Adonai said to Aharon, 9 "Don't drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, neither you nor your sons with you, when you enter the tent of meeting, so that you will not die. This is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations, 10 so that you will distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean; 11 and so that you will teach the people of Isra'el all the laws Adonai has told them through Moshe."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Leviticus 11:47, Leviticus 20:25, Leviticus 20:26, Jeremiah 15:19, Ezekiel 22:26, Ezekiel 44:23, Titus 1:15, 1 Peter 1:14-16

Reciprocal: Genesis 7:2 - not Leviticus 13:3 - shall look Leviticus 14:57 - teach 1 Chronicles 23:13 - sanctify Proverbs 31:4 - General Isaiah 28:7 - erred Ezekiel 42:20 - a separation Haggai 2:11 - General Acts 11:8 - unclean

Cross-References

Genesis 11:2
It came about that as they traveled from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shin‘ar and lived there.
Genesis 11:9
For this reason it is called Bavel [confusion] — because there Adonai confused the language of the whole earth, and from there Adonai scattered them all over the earth.
Genesis 14:1
(iv) When Amrafel was king of Shin‘ar, Aryokh king of Elasar, K'dorla‘omer king of ‘Elam and Tid‘al king of Goyim;
Isaiah 10:9
Hasn't Kalno [suffered] like Kark'mish, Hamat like Arpad, Shomron like Dammesek?
Isaiah 11:11
On that day Adonai will raise his hand again, a second time, to reclaim the remnant of his people who remain from Ashur, Egypt, Patros, Ethiopia, ‘Eilam, Shin‘ar, Hamat and the islands in the sea.
Isaiah 39:1
M'rodakh-Bal'adan the son of Bal'adan, king of Bavel, heard that Hizkiyahu had been ill and had recovered, so he sent a letter and a gift to him.
Jeremiah 50:21
"Attack the land of Meratayim; attack it and those living in P'kod. Waste them, utterly destroy them; do all I have ordered you," says Adonai .
Daniel 1:2
and Adonai handed Y'hoyakim king of Y'hudah over to him, along with some of the articles from the house of God. He took them to the land of Shin‘ar, to the house of his god and placed the articles in the storehouse of his god.
Amos 6:2
Travel to Kalneh and see; from there go on to Hamat the great; then go down to Gat of the P'lishtim. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours?
Micah 4:10
Be in pain! Work to give birth like a woman in labor, daughter of Tziyon! For now you will go out of the city and live in the wilds till you reach Bavel. There you will be rescued; there Adonai will redeem you from the power of your enemies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy,.... That being sober they might be able to distinguish between the one and the other; which a drunken man, having his mind and senses disturbed, is not capable of; as between holy and unholy persons, and between holy and unholy things; particularly, as Aben Ezra interprets it, between a sacred place and one that is common, and between a holy day and a common week day; the knowledge and memory of which may be lost through intemperance; and so that may be done in a place and on a day which ought not to be done, or that omitted on a day and in a place which ought to be done:

and between unclean and clean; between unclean men and women, beasts and fowls, and clean ones; and between unclean things in a ceremonial sense, and those that are clean, which a man in liquor may be no judge of: hence, as the above writer observes, after this section follow laws concerning fowls clean and unclean, the purification of a woman after childbirth, the leprosy in men, garments and houses, and concerning profluvious and menstruous persons; all which the priests were to be judges of, and therefore ought to be sober.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

When the priest was on duty he was to abstain from wine and strong drink, lest he should commit excess (see Leviticus 10:1), and so become disqualified for carrying out the precepts of the ceremonial Law.

Leviticus 10:9

Strong drink - The Hebrew word is employed here to denote strong drinks of any kind except wine made from the grape.

Leviticus 10:10

Unholy ... unclean - Common, as not consecrated; and what would occasion defilement by being touched or eaten. Compare Acts 10:14.

Leviticus 10:11

That is, “that you may, by your example in your ministrations, preserve the minds of the Israelites from confusion in regard to the distinctions made by the divine Law.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Leviticus 10:10. That we may put difference between holy and unholy — This is a strong reason why they should drink no inebriating liquor, that their understanding being clear, and their judgment correct, they might be always able to discern between the clean and the unclean, and ever pronounce righteous judgment. Injunctions similar to this were found among the Egyptians, Carthaginians, and Greeks. Indeed, common sense itself shows that neither a drunkard nor a sot should ever be suffered to minister in holy things.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile