Meaning, commentary and cross references
Leviticus 20:26
“You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”In other translations
KJV · King James Version
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.
NIV · New International Version
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.
WEB · World English Bible
You shall be holy to me, for I, the LORD, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
What does Leviticus 20:26 mean?
John Gill · Exposition of the Entire Bible, on Leviticus 20:26
And ye shall be holy unto me,.... Separated from all unclean persons and things, and devoted to his service, and obedient to all his commands, and so live holy lives and conversations, according to his will, and to his honour and glory: for I the Lord am holy; and therefore they, his people, should be like him, and imitate him, and observe those things which are agreeable to his holy nature and will, and yield a cheerful obedience to his holy precepts: and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine; which is a very forcible argument, a strong motive, and which laid them under great obligation to obedience and holiness.
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
John Calvin · Commentaries, on Leviticus 20:25–27
26. Eritis autem sancti mihi: quia sanctus sum ego Jehova, et separavi vosa populis, ut essetis mei. Ye shall therefore put difference. I have no doubt but that this sentence depends on the end of the foregoing verse; for although that verse contains a reason to deter them from incest, of which he had been speaking, still it refers also to the doctrine before us, and stands in the shape of preface to it.
John Calvin, Commentaries (Calvin Translation Society English text). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Context: Leviticus 20:23–27 (WEB)
23You shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. 24But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. 25“‘You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean. You shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean for you. 26You shall be holy to me, for I, the LORD, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine. 27“‘A man or a woman that is a medium or is a wizard shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones. Their blood shall be upon themselves.’”
Cross references
- 1 Peter 1:15–16
but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior,
- Leviticus 20:7
“‘Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the LORD your God.
- Leviticus 20:24
But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples.
- Leviticus 19:2
“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, the LORD your God, am holy.
- Deuteronomy 7:6
For you are a holy people to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
- Titus 2:14
who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.
- Deuteronomy 26:18–19
The LORD has declared today that you are a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments.
- Deuteronomy 14:2
For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.