Leviticus 20:26
in Leviticus 20You 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And ye shall be holy unto me: for I, Jehovah, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that ye should be mine.
KJV
And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
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This verse in Leviticus 20
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
put difference between clean beasts and unclean
on Leviticus 20:25-26
The clean and unclean list of chapter 11 comes back here with a stated purpose, which is separation. Verse 26 gives ye shall be holy for the third time in Leviticus, after 11:44 and 19:2, and 1 Peter 1:16 carries the refrain into the church. Leviticus never explains why one creature is clean and another unclean, and the one reason it offers is the close of verse 26, that God severed them from other people that they should be his. Mark 7:19 and Acts 10:9 to 16 are where the New Testament takes up the food law, and each of them does something different with it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), infinitely advanced above all others. His holiness is his glory, and it was their honour to be related to him, while their neighbours were the infamous worshippers of impure and filthy spirits.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And ye shall be holy unto me,....
Their duty; this is inferred from their dignity. God had done more for them than for others, and therefore expected more from them than from others. And what is it that the Lord their God requires, in consideration of the great things done and designed?
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וִהְיִ֤יתֶם | vihyitem | and you will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לִי֙ | li | to <the> me | ||
| קְדֹשִׁ֔ים | kedoshim | holy | H6918 → | 116 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| קָד֖וֹשׁ | kadoosh | [am] holy | H6918 → | 116 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וָאַבְדִּ֥ל | vaavdil | and I have separated | H914 → | 42 times |
| אֶתְכֶ֛ם | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָֽעַמִּ֖ים | haamim | the peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לִהְי֥וֹת | lihyot | to belong | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לִֽי׃ | li | to <the> me |
וִהְיִ֤יתֶםand you will be
vihyitemH1961 →3559 times
לִי֙to <the> me
li
קְדֹשִׁ֔יםholy
kedoshimH6918 →116 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
קָד֖וֹשׁ[am] holy
kadooshH6918 →116 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וָאַבְדִּ֥לand I have separated
vaavdilH914 →42 times
אֶתְכֶ֛ם<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָֽעַמִּ֖יםthe peoples
haamimH5971 →1873 times
לִהְי֥וֹתto belong
lihyotH1961 →3559 times
לִֽי׃to <the> me
li
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
- 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 14:2
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
- 1 Peter 1:15–16
But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,
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
Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
- 1 Peter 1:15–16
Through
Leviticus 20:7Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God.
it leads to
- Leviticus 11:44
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 19:2
“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
- Leviticus 11:44
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Holiness35 verses
About Leviticus
This page draws on 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.