Leviticus 20:24
in Leviticus 20But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance—a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the peoples.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey: I am Jehovah your God, who hath separated you from the peoples.
KJV
But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey: I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.
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This verse in Leviticus 20
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
I . . . have separated you from other people--Their selection from the rest of the nations was for the all-important end of preserving the knowledge and worship of the true God amid the universal apostasy; and as the distinction of meats was one great means of completing that separation, the law about making a difference between clean and unclean beasts is here repeated with emphatic solemnity.
This site's exposition
You are therefore to keep all My statutes and ordinances
on Leviticus 20:22-24
The land itself will "vomit you out", as at 18:28, so the country is described as reacting to what happens on it. Verse 23 gives the reason the nations were driven out, "Because they did all these things", and the same threat now stands over Israel.
This site's exposition
who has set you apart from the peoples
The land is promised as an inheritance right after the warning of verse 22. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain the setting apart as a means of keeping the knowledge and worship of the true God alive among the nations. The food law in verse 25 serves that end.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But I have said unto you, ye shall inherit the land,....
If they took the infection, it would be of pernicious consequence to them. The Canaanites were to be expelled for these very sins: They committed all these things, therefore I abhorred them,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A land that floweth with milk and honey - See this explained Exo 3:8 (note).
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֹמַ֣ר | vaomar | and I have said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָכֶ֗ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| אַתֶּם֮ | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| תִּֽירְשׁ֣וּ | tireshu | you will take possession of | H3423 → | 231 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַדְמָתָם֒ | ʾadmatam | ground their | H127 → | |
| וַאֲנִ֞י | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֶתְּנֶ֤נָּה | ʾettenenah | I will give it | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָכֶם֙ | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| לָרֶ֣שֶׁת | lareshet | to take possession of | H3423 → | 231 times |
| אֹתָ֔הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֶ֛רֶץ | ʾeretz | a land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| זָבַ֥ת | zavat | flowing of | H2100 → | 42 times |
| חָלָ֖ב | chalav | milk | H2461 → | |
| וּדְבָ֑שׁ | udevash | and honey | H1706 → | |
| אֲנִי֙ | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הִבְדַּ֥לְתִּי | hivdalti | I have separated | H914 → | 42 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֖ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָֽעַמִּֽים׃ | haamim | the peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וָאֹמַ֣רand I have said
vaomarH559 →5305 times
לָכֶ֗םto <the> you
lakhem
אַתֶּם֮you
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
תִּֽירְשׁ֣וּyou will take possession of
tireshuH3423 →231 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אַדְמָתָם֒ground their
ʾadmatamH127 →
וַאֲנִ֞יand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
אֶתְּנֶ֤נָּהI will give it
ʾettenenahH5414 →2011 times
לָכֶם֙to <the> you
lakhem
לָרֶ֣שֶׁתto take possession of
lareshetH3423 →231 times
אֹתָ֔הּ<obj.> it
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
אֶ֛רֶץa land
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
זָבַ֥תflowing of
zavatH2100 →42 times
חָלָ֖בmilk
chalavH2461 →
וּדְבָ֑שׁand honey
udevashH1706 →
אֲנִי֙I
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָ֣ה[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔םGod your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
אֲשֶׁר־who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
הִבְדַּ֥לְתִּיI have separated
hivdaltiH914 →42 times
אֶתְכֶ֖ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָֽעַמִּֽים׃the peoples
haamimH5971 →1873 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
Deuteronomy 7:6For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of…
it leads to
- Exodus 19:5–6
Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 14:2
for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the…
- Malachi 3:17
“They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.
- Exodus 19:5–6
Through
Exodus 3:8I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and…
it leads to
- Genesis 50:24
Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac,…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 15:18–21
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- Genesis 50:24
Through
Deuteronomy 14:2for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:6
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of…
- Leviticus 20:26
You 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.
- Deuteronomy 7:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.