Leviticus 20:8
in Leviticus 20And you shall keep My statutes and practice them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am Jehovah who sanctifieth you.
KJV
And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you.
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This verse in Leviticus 20
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists
on Leviticus 20:6-8
Turning to mediums is called going "to prostitute himself with them", the words verse 5 uses of Molech. The practice is treated as unfaithfulness.
This site's exposition
I am the LORD who sanctifies you
John Wesley gives the phrase two senses, God setting Israel apart from the nations and God giving grace to keep his statutes. John Gill counts the holy laws themselves among the means of that sanctifying. Here the command comes first and the promise follows.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the L ORD your God. 8 And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the L ORD which sanctify you. 9 For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v7-9
Who sanctify you - Who separate you from all nations, and from their impurities and idolatries, to be a peculiar people to myself; and who give you my grace to keep my statutes.
And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them,.... Not only those respecting the above things, but all others, which would be a means of preserving them from sin, and of promoting holiness in their lives and conversations: I am the Lord which sanctify you: who had separated and distinguished them from all other people on earth, and who had given them holy laws, as the means of holiness; and who only could and did sanctify internally, by his Spirit and grace, such or them as were sanctified in heart, as well as outwardly.
Note, [1.] God's people are, and must be, persons of distinction. God has distinguished them by his holy covenant, and therefore they ought to distinguish themselves by their holy conversation. [2.] God's sanctifying us is a good reason why we should sanctify ourselves, that we may comply with the designs of his grace, and not walk contrary to them.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ | ushemartem | and you will keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| חֻקֹּתַ֔י | chukotai | statutes my | H2708 → | 104 times |
| וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם | vaasitem | and you will do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֹתָ֑ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲנִ֥י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | [am] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מְקַדִּשְׁכֶֽם׃ | mekadishkhem | [who] sets apart as holy you | H6942 → | 171 times |
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙and you will keep
ushemartemH8104 →468 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
חֻקֹּתַ֔יstatutes my
chukotaiH2708 →104 times
וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖םand you will do
vaasitemH6213 →2628 times
אֹתָ֑ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
אֲנִ֥יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
יְהוָ֖ה[am] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מְקַדִּשְׁכֶֽם׃[who] sets apart as holy you
mekadishkhemH6942 →171 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
James 1:22Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
it leads to
- Romans 2:13
For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous.
- Luke 6:46–48
Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say?
- John 13:17
If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
- James 4:17
Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.
- 1 John 2:3
By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.
- Romans 2:13
Through
1 Thessalonians 5:23Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
it leads to
- Jude 1:24
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
- 1 Corinthians 1:8–9
He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
- Jude 1:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Leviticus
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.