Leviticus 11:44
in Leviticus 11For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For I am Jehovah your God: sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that moveth upon the earth.
KJV
For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
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This verse in Leviticus 11
Commentary
10 notes on this verseYe shall - sanctify yourselves - Ye shall keep yourselves separate from all the people of the earth, that ye may be holy; for I am holy. And this was the grand design of God in all these prohibitions and commands; for these external sanctifications were only the emblems of the internal purity which the holiness of God requires here, and without which none can dwell with him in glory hereafter. See at the conclusion of this chapter. The contents of this chapter must furnish many profitable reflections to a pious mind.
This site's exposition
For I am the LORD your God
on Leviticus 11:44-45
Here the chapter gives its one reason, and the reason is God rather than the animals. Ye shall be holy, for I am holy, said twice in two verses, with the deliverance out of Egypt set beside it as the ground already laid. 1 Peter 1:16 quotes that line to a church keeping none of these food rules, which is the New Testament taking up the reason and leaving the list. Ye shall be holy stands again at 19:2 and 20:26, and the sentence carries the argument of the whole book.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Pious souls of the Lord, what the Lord admonishes us is not to be considered merely in passing, for he says, "Be holy because I am holy." Although this term properly belongs to all the Christian people, according to what blessed Peter says, "You, however, …
He himself says, "Be holy, for I am holy," that is to say, choose me and keep away from what displeases me. Do what I love; love what I do. If what I order seems difficult, come back to me who ordered it, so that from where the command was given help might be offered. I who furnished the desire will not refuse support. Fast from contradiction, abstain from opposition. Let me be your food and drink. None desire in vain what is mine, for those who stretch out toward me seek me because I first sought them.
"Be holy, says the Lord, for I am holy." The apostles boasted that they had left all things and had followed the Savior. We do not read that they left anything except their ship and their nets; yet they were crowned with the approval of him who was to be their judge. Why? Because in offering up themselves they had indeed left all that they had.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thus these rudiments of the world were their tutors and governors ( Gal. iv. 2, 3 ), to bring them to that which is the revival of our first state in Adam and the earnest of our best state with Christ, that is, holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. This is indeed the great design of all the ordinances, that by them we may sanctify ourselves and learn to be holy.
For I am the Lord your God,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Note, The Lord is for the body, and it is not only folly, but sin against God, to prejudice our health for the pleasing of our appetite. God would thus teach his people to distinguish themselves from other people, not only in their religious worship, but in the common actions of life.
"Therefore you are bound to do thus, in pure obedience." God's sovereignty over us, and propriety in us, oblige us to do whatever he commands us, how much soever it crosses our inclinations.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
These verses set forth the spiritual ground on which the distinction between clean and unclean is based. Compare the marginal references and Lev 10:10; Lev 20:25-26; 1Pe 1:15-16. The basis of the obligation to maintain the distinction was the call of the Hebrews to be the special people of Yahweh. It was to he something in their daily life to remind them of the covenant which distinguished them from the nations of the world. By Jesus Christ it was revealed Mat 15:11 to the elect people that they were no longer to he tied by the letter of the Law in regard to their food, but were to be left to the exercise of a regenerated judgment. They were to learn that the kingdom of God is not eating, or abstaining from, meats and drinks; but righteousness, and truth, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17. Compare Act 10:15; 1Ti 4:4).
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָה֮ | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֒ | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וְהִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם֙ | vehitkadishtem | and you will keep yourselves holy | H6942 → | 171 times |
| וִהְיִיתֶ֣ם | vihyitem | and you will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| קְדֹשִׁ֔ים | kedoshim | holy | H6918 → | 116 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| קָד֖וֹשׁ | kadoosh | [am] holy | H6918 → | 116 times |
| אָ֑נִי | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| וְלֹ֤א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תְטַמְּאוּ֙ | tetameu | you must make unclean | H2930 → | 162 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נַפְשֹׁ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם | nafshoteikhem | selves your | H5315 → | 754 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | by any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ | hasheretz | <the> swarming thing | H8318 → | 15 times |
| הָרֹמֵ֥שׂ | haromes | which creeps | H7430 → | 17 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָה֮[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֒God your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
וְהִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם֙and you will keep yourselves holy
vehitkadishtemH6942 →171 times
וִהְיִיתֶ֣םand you will be
vihyitemH1961 →3559 times
קְדֹשִׁ֔יםholy
kedoshimH6918 →116 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
קָד֖וֹשׁ[am] holy
kadooshH6918 →116 times
אָ֑נִיI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
וְלֹ֤אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תְטַמְּאוּ֙you must make unclean
tetameuH2930 →162 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
נַפְשֹׁ֣תֵיכֶ֔םselves your
nafshoteikhemH5315 →754 times
בְּכָל־by any
bekholH3605 →5413 times
הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ<the> swarming thing
hasheretzH8318 →15 times
הָרֹמֵ֥שׂwhich creeps
haromesH7430 →17 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 20:26You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:15–16
But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 1:15–16
Through
Leviticus 19:2“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
it leads to
- Leviticus 20:7
Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 11:44–45
For I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any creature that crawls along the ground.
- Leviticus 20:7
Through
Exodus 20:2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 5:6
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Hosea 13:4
Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me.
- Leviticus 26:13
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and…
- Psalms 81:10
I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it.
- Deuteronomy 5:6
Through
Leviticus 20:7Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
it leads to
- Leviticus 19:2
“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 19:2
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Holiness35 verses
On this page
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Andrew Bonar, A Commentary on Leviticus; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 1.19; Jerome, LETTER 118.5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Leo the Great, SERMON 94.2 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.