because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”
Parallel Translations
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because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”
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because it is written. Be ye holy for I am holy.
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Because it is written, Be yee holie, for I am holie.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to 1 Peter 1:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Leviticus 11:44 For I am Yahweh your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth.
- Leviticus 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.
- Leviticus 20:7 “ ‘Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am Yahweh your God.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He showeth that sanctification doth necessarily follow adoption.
He showeth that sanctification doth necessarily follow adoption.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for…
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Ver. 16. Be ye holy] i.e. Separate from sin, and dedicated to God, in conformity to whom stands our happiness. {See Trapp on "Mat 5:48"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I am your Father, and therefore you ought to…
I am your Father, and therefore you ought to imitate and obey me: or, I that have severed you from other people, that you should be mine, Lev 20:26, to which place particularly this seems to refer.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Because it is written,.... In Lev 11:44.
Because it is written,.... In Lev 11:44.
be ye holy, for I am holy: an argument the apostle knew must have weight with these persons, who were chiefly Jews, scattered abroad among the Gentiles, and had a value for the Scriptures of truth; and therefore, as the argument for holiness of life, from the nature and perfections of God, is strong, it must receive additional strength from this being the declared will of God, even their sanctification on this account; and though holiness, equal to God, is never to be attained to by a creature, yet so far as it is capable of it, it is desirable, because agreeable both to the nature and will of God, by all such who are truly his children, who love his name, adore his perfections, give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness, fear his goodness, and obey his will.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Lev. xi, 44.
Lev. xi, 44.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I…
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy - Lev 11:44. This command was addressed at first to the Israelites, but it is with equal propriety addressed to Christians, as the professed people of God. The foundation of the command is, that they professed to be his people, and that as his people they ought to be like their God. Compare Mic 4:5. It is a great truth, that people everywhere will imitate the God whom they worship. They will form their character in accordance with his. They will regard what he does as right. They will attempt to rise no higher in virtue than the God whom they adore, and they will practice freely what he is supposed to do or approve. Hence, by knowing what are the characteristics of the gods which are worshipped by any people, we may form a correct estimate of the character of the people themselves; and, hence, as the God who is the object of the Christian’s worship is perfectly holy, the character of His worshipers should also be holy. And hence, also, we may see that the tendency of true religion is to make people pure. As the worship of the impure gods of the pagan moulds the character of the worshippers into their image, so the worship of Yahweh moulds the character of His professed friends into His image, and they become like him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Scripture is the true source of all authority in…
Scripture is the true source of all authority in questions of doctrine and practice.
Be ye . . . for I am--It is I with whom ye have to do. Ye are mine. Therefore abstain from Gentile pollutions. We are too prone to have respect unto men [CALVIN]. As I am the fountain of holiness, being holy in My essence, be ye therefore zealous to be partakers of holiness, that ye may be as I also am [DIDYMUS]. God is essentially holy: the creature is holy in so far as it is sanctified by God. God, in giving the command, is willing to give also the power to obey it, namely, through the sanctifying of the Spirit (Pe1 1:2).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. because it is written, Be ye holy; for…
16. because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy] Literally, ye shall be holy, the future, as in the Ten Commandments, having the force of the imperative. The words, which occur frequently in the Levitical code (Lev_11:44; Lev_19:2; Lev_20:26), were applied sometimes to the priests as such, sometimes to the whole nation as a kingdom of priests. We see from ch. 1Pe_2:5, that the Apostle’s thought is that all members of the Church of Christ have succeeded to that character, and are sharers in the priestly function, offering spiritual sacrifices.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) Be ye holy; for I am holy.—The better…
(16) Be ye holy; for I am holy.—The better reading here is, Ye shall he holy; it is still, however, a command, not a promise—except that all God’s commands are promises. The command comes some five or six times in the Book of Leviticus, addressed not only to the Levites, but to all the people. It would, therefore, apply twice over to the recipients of this letter by virtue of their twofold consecration, in the old and in the new Israel.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I…
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy; literally, according to the best manuscripts, ye shall be holy future for imperative. The words occur five times in the Book of Leviticus. God had called the Israelites to be his peculiar people, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Exo_19:5, Exo_19:6) He has called us Christians to be "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people". (1Pe_2:9) He is holy, awful in holiness; in his sight "the heavens are not clean." We who are his must strive to be holy, separated from all that is impure, consecrated to his service.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 16. Because it is written. Lev. 11:44, and 19:2.…
16. Because it is written. Lev. 11:44, and 19:2. We must not only submit to God's commands but seek to imitate his holiness.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.