Exodus 19:6

and you will be to me ¹  a kingdom of priests ²  and a holy nation.’ ³  These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”

biblegateway Exo 19:6

you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

biblegateway Exo 19:6

and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel."

biblegateway Exo 19:6

And you will be to me a kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ Give this message to the Israelites."

biblegateway Exo 19:6

but you're special: a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.' "This is what I want you to tell the People of Israel."

SABDAweb Exo 19:6

And you will be a kingdom of priests to me, and a holy nation. These are the words which you are to say to the children of Israel.

bibleoremus Exo 19:6

but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites."

biblegateway Exo 19:6

‘And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."

biblegateway Exo 19:6

and you will be to me ¹  a kingdom of priests ²  and a holy nation.’ ³  These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”

¹ tn Or “for me” (NIV, NRSV), or, if the lamed (ל) preposition has a possessive use, “my kingdom” (so NCV).

² tn The construction “a kingdom of priests” means that the kingdom is made up of priests. W. C. Kaiser (“Exodus,” EBC 2:417) offers four possible renderings of the expression: 1) apposition, viz., “kings, that is, priests; 2) as a construct with a genitive of specification, “royal priesthood”; 3) as a construct with the genitive being the attribute, “priestly kingdom”; and 4) reading with an unexpressed “and” – “kings and priests.” He takes the latter view that they were to be kings and priests. (Other references are R. B. Y. Scott, “A Kingdom of Priests (Exodus xix. 6),” OTS 8 [1950]: 213-19; William L. Moran, “A Kingdom of Priests,” The Bible in Current Catholic Thought, 7-20). However, due to the parallelism of the next description which uses an adjective, this is probably a construct relationship. This kingdom of God will be composed of a priestly people. All the Israelites would be living wholly in God’s service and enjoying the right of access to him. And, as priests, they would have the duty of representing God to the nations, following what they perceived to be the duties of priests – proclaiming God’s word, interceding for people, and making provision for people to find God through atonement (see Deut 33:9,10).

³ tn They are also to be “a holy nation.” They are to be a nation separate and distinct from the rest of the nations. Here is another aspect of their duty. It was one thing to be God’s special possession, but to be that they had to be priestly and holy. The duties of the covenant will specify what it would mean to be a holy nation. In short, they had to keep themselves free from everything that characterized pagan people (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 171). So it is a bilateral covenant: they received special privileges but they must provide special services by the special discipline. See also H. Kruse, “Exodus 19:5 and the Mission of Israel,” North East Asian Journal of Theology 24/25 (1980): 239-42.