Leviticus 10:10-11

10:10 as well as ¹  to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, ²  10:11 and to teach the Israelites all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them through ³  Moses.”

Deuteronomy 33:10

33:10 They will teach Jacob your ordinances

and Israel your law;

they will offer incense as a pleasant odor,

and a whole offering on your altar.

Ezekiel 44:23-24

44:23 Moreover, they will teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the ceremonially unclean and the clean. ⁴ 

44:24 “‘In a controversy they will act as judges; ⁵  they will judge according to my ordinances. They will keep my laws and my statutes regarding all my appointed festivals and will observe ⁶  my Sabbaths.

Malachi 2:7

2:7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him ⁷  because he is the messenger of the Lord who rules over all.

Titus 1:9

1:9 He must hold firmly to the faithful message as it has been taught, ⁸  so that he will be able to give exhortation in such healthy teaching ⁹  and correct those who speak against it.

¹ tn Heb “and,” but regarding the translation “as well as,” see the note at the end of v. 9.

² sn The two pairs of categories in this verse refer to: (1) the status of a person, place, thing, or time – “holy” (קֹדֶשׁ, qodesh) versus “common” (חֹל, khol); as opposed to (2) the condition of a person, place, or thing – “unclean” (טָמֵא, tame’) versus “clean” (טָהוֹר, tahor). Someone or something could gain “holy” status by being “consecrated” (i.e., made holy; e.g., the Hebrew Piel קִדֵּשׁ (qiddesh) in Lev 8:15, 30), and to treat someone or something that was holy as if it were “common” would be to “profane” that person or thing (the Hebrew Piel הִלֵּל [hillel], e.g., in Lev 19:29 and 22:15). Similarly, on another level, someone or something could be in a “clean” condition, but one could “defile” (the Hebrew Piel טִמֵּא [timme’], e.g., in Gen 34:5 and Num 6:9) that person or thing and thereby make it “unclean.” To “purify” (the Hebrew Piel טִהֵר [tiher], e.g., in Lev 16:19 and Num 8:6, 15) that unclean person or thing would be to make it “clean” once again. With regard to the animals (Lev 11), some were by nature “unclean,” so they could never be eaten, but others were by nature “clean” and, therefore, edible (Lev 11:2, 46-47). The meat of clean animals could become inedible by too long of a delay in eating it, in which case the Hebrew term פִּגּוּל (pigul) “foul, spoiled” is used to describe it (Lev 7:18; 19:7; cf. also Ezek 4:14 and Isa 65:4), not the term for “unclean” (טָהוֹר, tahor). Strictly speaking, therefore, unclean meat never becomes clean, and clean meat never becomes unclean.

³ tn Heb “by the hand of” (so KJV).

⁴ sn This task was a fundamental role of the priest (Lev 10:10).

⁵ sn For a historical illustration of the priest carrying out this function, see 2 Chr 19:9-11.

⁶ tn Heb “sanctify, set apart.”

⁷ tn Heb “from his mouth” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

⁸ tn Grk “the faithful message in accordance with the teaching” (referring to apostolic teaching).

⁹ tn Grk “the healthy teaching” (referring to what was just mentioned).