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10 You must be able to distinguish between what is sacred and what is profane, and between what is clean and what is unclean;[a](A) 11 and you must be able to teach the Israelites all the statutes that the Lord has given them through Moses.

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Footnotes

  1. 10:10 Sacred and…profane…clean and…unclean: something or someone may be either sacred or profane (i.e., ordinary, not set apart), and at the same time clean or unclean. Priests would be particularly concerned about keeping what is unclean away from the sacred.

to the levitical priests or to the judge who is in office at that time. They shall investigate the case and then announce to you the decision.(A) 10 You shall act according to the decision they announce to you in the place which the Lord will choose, carefully observing everything as they instruct you.

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11 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests for a ruling:[a] 12 If someone carries sanctified meat in the fold of a garment and the fold touches bread, soup, wine, oil, or any other food, do they become sanctified? “No,” the priests answered. 13 Then Haggai asked: “If a person defiled from contact with a corpse touches any of these, do they become defiled?” The priests answered, “They become defiled.”(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 2:11 Ask the priests for a ruling: i.e., a determination on whether defilement and sanctity can be physically transmitted. The priests are expected to make a legal decision. The answer is that sanctity cannot be transmitted (v. 12) but defilement can (v. 13). Priestly duties are enumerated in Lv 10:10–20.