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.
Parallel Translations
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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.
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For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
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For I am the LORD your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy; neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of swarming thing that moveth upon the earth.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
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Cross-references (23)
Passages linked to Leviticus 11:44 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 20:2 “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
- 1 Peter 1:15-16 but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”
- 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.
- Leviticus 20:26 You shall be holy to me, for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.
- 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
- Leviticus 21:8 Therefore you shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy.
- Deuteronomy 14:2 For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
- Psalms 99:5 Exalt Yahweh our God. Worship at his footstool. He is Holy!
- Psalms 99:9 Exalt Yahweh, our God. Worship at his holy hill, for Yahweh, our God, is holy!
- Revelation 22:11 He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still.”
- Exodus 19:6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
- Exodus 23:25 You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.
- Leviticus 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what Yahweh spoke of, saying, ‘I will show myself holy to those who come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ ” Aaron held his peace.
- Isaiah 6:3-5 One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!” The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!”
- Matthew 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
- Exodus 6:7 I will take you to myself for a people. I will be your God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
- Leviticus 11:43 You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps. You shall not make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled by them.
- 1 Samuel 6:20 The men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before Yahweh, this holy God? To whom shall he go up from us?”
- Isaiah 43:3 For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
- Isaiah 51:15 For I am Yahweh your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. Yahweh of Armies is his name.
- Amos 3:3 Do two walk together, unless they have agreed?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He showeth why God did choose them to be…
He showeth why God did choose them to be his people, 1 Pet. 1:15.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lev 11:44 For I [am] the LORD your God:…
Lev 11:44 For I [am] the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I [am] holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Ver. 44. Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.] Great men look to be served like themselves: so the great God.
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 Ye shall be holy; by which he gives them…
Ye shall be holy; by which he gives them to understand, that all these cautions and prohibitions about the eating or touching of these creatures was not for any real uncleanness in them, all being God’s good creatures, but only that by the diligent observation of these rules they might learn with greater care to avoid all moral pollutions, and to keep themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and particularly from all familiar and intimate converse with notorious sinners.
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 For I am the Lord your God,.... Their Lord,…
For I am the Lord your God,.... Their Lord, and therefore had a right to enjoin them what laws he pleased concerning their food; and their God, their covenant God, and therefore would consult their good, and direct them to what was most proper, convenient, and wholesome for them:
ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, for I am holy; that is, separate themselves from all other people, and be distinct from them, by using a different diet from theirs, as their Lord and God was different from all others, so called; and thus by observing his commands, and living according to his will, and to his glory, they would be holy in a moral sense, as they ought to be, who were under the peculiar care and notice of a holy God, and so highly favoured by him; and particularly by attending to the above laws concerning food, they would be kept from mixing with, and having conversation with the Gentiles, and so be preserved from falling into idolatry, and continue a holy people, serving and worshipping the Lord their God, and him only; and which seems to be a principal view as to religion, in delivering out the above commands:
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neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; which is repeated to keep them at the utmost distance from these things, and to fill them with an aversion to them, that they might be careful to avoid them. There is no penalty annexed to these laws, but the breach of them making them unclean, thereby they were debarred the use of the sanctuary, and of holy things, and of the conversation of men, for that day; but, according to the Jewish writers, such transgressions were punishable with stripes. Jarchi observes out of the Talmud (l), that he that eateth "putitha" (a small water reptile) was to be beaten four times, and if an ant or pismire five times, and if a wasp or hornet six times. (l) T. Bab. Erubin, fol. 28. 1. Pesachim, fol. 24. 1. Maccot, fol. 16. 2.
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 Ye shall be holy - By this he gives…
Ye shall be holy - By this he gives them to understand, that all these cautions about eating or touching these creatures was not for any real uncleanness in them, but only that by diligent observation of these rules they might learn with greater care to avoid all moral pollutions, and to keep themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and from all familiar and intimate converse with notorious sinners.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 44. Ye shall - sanctify yourselves] Ye shall…
Verse 44. Ye shall - sanctify yourselves] Ye shall keep yourselves separate from all the people of the earth, that ye may be holy; for I am holy. And this was the grand design of God in all these prohibitions and commands; for these external sanctifications were only the emblems of the internal purity which the holiness of God requires here, and without which none can dwell with him in glory hereafter. See at the conclusion of this chapter.
THE contents of this chapter must furnish many profitable reflections to a pious mind.
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1. From the great difficulty of ascertaining what animals are meant in this part of the law, we may at once see that the law itself must be considered as abrogated; for there is not a Jew in the universe who knows what the animals are, a very few excepted, which are intended by these Hebrew words; and therefore he may be repeatedly breaking this law by touching and being touched either by the animals themselves or their produce, such as hair, wool, fur, skin, intestines, differently manufactured, c., c. It therefore appears that this people have as little law as they have gospel.
2. While God keeps the eternal interests of man steadily in view, he does not forget his earthly comfort he is at once solicitous both for the health of his body and his soul. He has not forbidden certain aliments because he is a Sovereign, but because he knew they would be injurious to the health and morals of his people. The close connection that subsists between the body and the soul we cannot fully comprehend and as little can we comprehend the influence they have on each other. Many moral alterations take place in the mind in consequence of the influence of the bodily organs; and these latter are greatly influenced by the kind of ailment which the body receives. God knows what is in man, and he knows what is in all creatures; he has therefore graciously forbidden what would injure both body and mind, and commanded what is best calculated to be useful to both. Solid-footed animals, such as the horse, and many-toed animals, such as the cat, c., are here prohibited. Beasts which have bifid or cloven hoofs, such as the ox and sheep, are considered as proper for food, and therefore commanded. The former are unclean, i. e., unwholesome, affording a gross nutriment, often the parent of scorbutic and scrofulous disorders the latter clean, i. e., affording a copious and wholesome nutriment, and not laying the foundation of any disease. Ruminating animals, i. e., those which chew the cud, concoct their food better than the others which swallow it with little mastication, and therefore their flesh contains more of the nutritious juices, and is more easy of digestion, and consequently of assimilation to the solids and fluids of the human body; on this account they are termed clean, i. e., peculiarly wholesome, and fit for food. The animals which do not ruminate do not concoct their food so well, and hence they abound with gross animal juices, which yield a comparatively unwholesome nutriment to the human system. Even the animals which have bifid hoofs but do not chew the cud, such as the swine, and those which chew the cud but are not bifid, such as the hare and rabbit, are by Him who knows all things forbidden, because he knew them to be comparatively innutritive. In all this God shows himself as the tender Father of a numerous family, pointing out to his inexperienced, froward, and ignorant children, those kinds of aliments which he knows will be injurious to their health and domestic happiness, and prohibiting them on pain of his highest displeasure. On the same ground he forbade all fish that have not both fins and scales, such as the conger, eel, c., which abound in gross juices and fat which very few stomachs are able to digest. Who, for instance, that lives solely on swine's flesh, has pure blood and healthy juices? And is it not evident, in many cases, that the man partakes considerably of the nature of the brute on which he exclusively feeds? I could pursue this inquiry much farther, and bring many proofs founded on indisputable facts, but I forbear for he who might stand most in need of caution, would be the first to take offence.
3. As the body exists only for the sake of the soul, and God feeds and nourishes it through the day of probation, that the soul may here be prepared for the kingdom of heaven; therefore he shows in the conclusion of these ordinances, that the grand scope and design of all was that they might be a holy people, and that they might resemble him who is a holy God. - GOD IS HOLY; and this is the eternal reason why all his people should be holy - should be purified from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. No faith in any particular creed, no religious observance, no acts of benevolence and charity, no mortification, attrition, or contrition, can be a substitute for this. We must be made partakers of the Divine nature. We must be saved from our sins - from the corruption that is in the world, and be made holy within and righteous without, or never see God. For this very purpose Jesus Christ lived, died, and revived, that he might purify us unto himself; that through faith in his blood our sins might be blotted out, and our souls restored to the image of God. - Reader, art thou hungering and thirsting after righteousness? Then blessed art thou, for thou shalt be filled.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Lev 11:44. Ye shall be holy — By this…
Lev 11:44. Ye shall be holy — By this he gives them to understand, that all these cautions about eating or touching these creatures was not for any real uncleanness in them, but only that by the diligent observation of these rules they might learn with greater care to avoid all moral pollutions, and to keep themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and from all familiar and intimate converse with notorious sinners.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain These verses set forth the spiritual ground on which…
These verses set forth the spiritual ground on which the distinction between clean and unclean is based. Compare the marginal references and Lev 10:10; Lev 20:25-26; 1Pe 1:15-16.
The basis of the obligation to maintain the distinction was the call of the Hebrews to be the special people of Yahweh. It was to he something in their daily life to remind them of the covenant which distinguished them from the nations of the world. By Jesus Christ it was revealed Mat 15:11 to the elect people that they were no longer to he tied by the letter of the Law in regard to their food, but were to be left to the exercise of a regenerated judgment. They were to learn that the kingdom of God is not eating, or abstaining from, meats and drinks; but righteousness, and truth, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17. Compare Act 10:15; 1Ti 4:4).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Holy, and detest the uncleanness of the Gentiles, in…
Holy, and detest the uncleanness of the Gentiles, in their sacrifices and feasts. (St. Augustine, City of God vi. 7.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 44. For I am the Lord your God —…
44. For I am the Lord your God — All the obligations to purity are derived from the will of God, as written in nature and in revelation.
Sanctify yourselves — Abstinence from every act which defileth is the human part of sanctification. 1Th_4:3. To keep the evil tendencies of depraved nature from breaking out into open sin by the strenuous effort of the will, sustained by divine grace, is Old Testament sanctification. To kill and eradicate these depraved proclivities by the mighty inworking and abiding of the Sanctifier, applying the blood of Jesus Christ to the soul to cleanse it from all sin and keep it pure by the power of God through faith, is New Testament sanctification. In this sense we are to sanctify ourselves by availing ourselves of the office of the Sanctifier.
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For I am holy — The very character of God furnishes the motive and measure of holiness. Mat_5:48. The revelation of Jehovah’s moral character is the proclamation of man’s duty to become assimilated thereto. All intelligent worship of the true God impresses his likeness upon the soul. Here is the secret of all enjoyment of God in time or in eternity. The misery of an unholy soul is as natural a consequence as the ache of a decayed tooth.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (44) For I am the Lord your God.—As the…
(44) For I am the Lord your God.—As the Lord who is their God is Himself holy, His people, in order to enjoy perfect communion with Him, must also be holy. Hence they must abstain from all these objects of defilement which mar that holy communion. Appealing to this declaration, the Apostle Paul uses the same admonition: “As he which hath called you is holy so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy” (1Pe_1:15-16).
Ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy.—Better, Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy, as the Authorised Version renders exactly the same phrase in Lev_20:6.
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 Vers. 44-47. These concluding verses give a religious sanction…
Vers. 44-47. These concluding verses give a religious sanction to the previous regulations, and make them matters of sacred, not merely sanitary or political, obligation. They were to sanctify themselves, that is, to avoid uncleanness, because God is holy, and they were God"s. They were thus taught that ceremonial cleanness of the body was a symbol of holiness of heart, and a means of attaining to the latter. For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt. It is possible that Egypt may be named as being the laud of animal-worship. To be your God; ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. The only way by which there can be communion between God and man is the way of holiness.
Jewish industry and care has counted the number of letters in the Pentateuch, and marked by the use of the letter w in larger type, in the word wOjG, which occurs in verse 42, that that letter is the middle letter of the whole work from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy. It is easy to see what a protection to the text such minute and scrupulous care must be.
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"Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.
This is the pervading principle of both dispensations.
I ORIGINALLY MAN WAS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. (Gen_1:27) St. Paul tells us that the likeness consisted "in righteousness and true holiness". (Eph_4:24) The likeness continued until man fell. After the Fall, God"s image, though not obliterated, was no longer reflected in man, except in a blurred and perverted manner, as in a cracked mirror. Man ceased to be holy, and his communion with God was lost.
II THE DESIRED EFFECT OF REVEALED RELIGION IS TO RECOVER THE LOST IMAGE AND SO TO RESTORE COMMUNION BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. Under the old dispensation, a legal and conventional holiness was brought about by means of the sacrifices and purifications. Man was replaced in a state of symbolical, though not real holiness, and so far and so long as that state was maintained by ceremonial rites and cleansings, the relation of communion with God was symbolically restored and preserved. In the new dispensation, that which was symbolized only before, became really effected in the case of those who, having been adopted in Christ, were sanctified by the operation of the Holy Spirit in their heart, and thus "put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness". (Eph_4:24)
III HIGHER CONCEPTION OF HOLINESS UNDER THE GOSPEL THAN THE LAW. Under the Law, on the principle, "Ye shall be holy," is founded the command to abstain from ceremonial uncleanness or defilement; "Ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves,... neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that; creepeth on the earth". (Lev_11:44) In the New Testament, the same principle is invoked as the ground of avoiding moral, not physical, uncleanness, "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication... for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness". (1Th_4:3-7) And the very text before us is quoted for the purpose of urging upon the Christians no mere ritual purification, but the highest spirituality of life. "As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy". (1Pe_1:15, 1Pe_1:16)
IV PRACTICAL CONCLUSION. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God". (2Co_7:1) "What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?". (2Pe_3:11) Carnal cleanness is not sufficient; moral uprightness is not sufficient; our aim must be holiness, as God is holy, and, as this holiness was manifested in Christ.
Clean and unclean three side truths.
I THAT GOD DOES SOME THINGS TO PROVE US. There were plain, palpable reasons of a sanitary or moral nature for many of these prohibitions; for many others there were, doubtless, valid reasons which escape our view. Probably some remain for which there was no reason in the nature of the ease, but it seemed good to the Divine Ruler of Israel to issue them as tests of obedience. Such was the prohibition of the forbidden fruit in Eden. Such were certain statutes on other subjects. Occasionally these laws regulating the dietary must have been severely testing. The fisherman, e.g., must have been sometimes tried when he landed fine palatable fish which were forbidden, and which had to be cast again into the sea. God"s dealing may seem arbitrary to us. Enough that he, our Father, who has given us so much, who has indeed given us everything we are and have, and to whom we are looking for everything we shall be and shall enjoy in the furthest future, holds out of reach or takes back again that which we would fain have or keep. God tries us, and we must submit with filial trustfulness and cheerfulness.
II THAT IN DOUBTFUL CASES WE DO WELL TO ABSTAIN. "There was a difficulty in determining the case of the camel whether or not it really divides the hoof wholly, and the case of the hare whether it really chews the cud." These, however, are prohibited. We are often placed in circumstances in which we are doubtful as to, the legality of pleasures to be enjoyed or profits to be realized. In such cases it is well to keep our "hands off." Abstinence will result in an infinitesimal loss; indulgence might end in serious mischief. (see 1Th_5:22)
III THAT WE ARE MOST IMPORTANTLY AFFECTED BY THE THINGS WHICH WE APPROPRIATE. Stringent and detailed dietary laws may seem to us to be a redundant part of revelation. They would not have been added, probably, but for the direct religious aspect they wore. But, apart from their primary object, they teach us the valuable lesson that it is a matter of serious if not supreme importance to be appropriating right things every day.
1. Right food for the body. Many men are less devout, less useful, less excellent and admirable in heart and life, because of the unguarded and intemperate way in which they eat and drink. We may be neither gluttons nor drunkards; yet we may lower our character and lessen our influence by ill-regulated appetite in eating and drinking. Profoundly true and urgently demanded as were the words of our Lord, (Mat_15:11) "not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man," we may be sure that Jesus Christ would have us exercise such self-restraint, and, if need be, such self-denial as will keep us from all grossness of thought and habit, from all degeneracy of spirit. (Mat_16:24; see 1Co_10:31)
2. Right thoughts for the mind. That which the mind is appropriating, day by day, is determining its nature. It makes all the difference whether, mentally, we are eating and drinking that which is pure, wholesome, clean, refining, or that which is gross, noxious, unclean, deteriorating. How immeasurably important the companions we choose, the books we read, the conversations in which we indulge!
3. Right resolutions for the soul. The soul is entertaining desires and coming to conclusions, on larger and lesser things, every day. If these be unworthy, it is growing in evil; if these be honourable and excellent, it is growing in rectitude, in spiritual beauty, in usefulness, as the days and months go by. C.
Sacred separation.
"Ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves." The root-thought of sanctity is separateness. A man sanctifies himself when he separates himself from that which is evil and impure; so with a nation or a family. These strict laws concerning the clean and the unclean had important reference to
I NATIONAL SEPARATION.
1. God purposed to establish a holy nation. He designed, by various methods, to separate for himself a people free from the idolatry and the immorality of the race.
2. He therefore determined to separate Israel from international intercourse. The people of God were not to have any outside social relations, were not to intermarry with neighbouring nations.
3. Therefore, beside geographical obstacles and positive prohibitions, God interposed a precise and separating dietary. This created a strong barrier between his people and all others. The laws of food affect us powerfully in our social relations. Free intercourse is impossible without hospitality, and hospitality is impossible where distinctions as to eating and drinking are not only numerous but sacred and binding. A Hebrew could not sit down to the table of an Egyptian or an Arab without offending his host and sinning against his God. Moreover, such distinctions would generate and foster feelings of moral aversion toward those who did not observe them, and this would be another strong fence, helping to maintain separateness. The Jews may have carried this far beyond the original intention of the Divine Legislator; but at that point in the religious history of the world, all considerations were second, longo intervallo, to the one supreme end of keeping Israel separate and pure. God has, in his providence, divided the human race into nations by separating seas and mountains; there are many obvious advantages in this: it makes government, and therefore order and security, a possible thing. It makes possible national influence for good. How much of benefit and blessing to Europe and the world has arisen and will arise from the fact that he who is Lord of the sea and the rock has cut a channel and filled it with the dividing waters between the continent and this Heaven-taught land of ours! (Psa_147:20)
II FAMILY SEPARATION. "God setteth the solitary in families". (Psa_68:6) But he thereby not only makes the lonely to be social and joyous; he separates one small group of souls from all others. The family unites its members into one fellowship; it also divides the nation into separate circles. It is a fence which shuts out as well as it shuts in. It is one of the most imperative and sacred duties which God lays upon us who are parents to see that no injurious, no poisonous, no ruinous element, in the shape of" a contaminating human soul, is admitted within the gates of family life.
III INDIVIDUAL SEPARATION. With us (speaking generally) God wills how separate the nation shall be; the human parent determines how separate the family shall be; each individual soul must decide how separate he and his life shall be. There is a sin-stained, corrupted world encompassing us; we must choose, for ourselves, how far we will enter it, how free our intercourse with it shall be. There are, however, some general principles.
1. We must have something to do with it. (Joh_17:15 1Co_5:9)
2. We must impose some restraints on ourselves; we must draw some lines of limitation; we must "sanctify (separate) ourselves.
3. We should refrain from familiar association with the openly ungodly; for by such familiarity we should identify ourselves with their principles and countenance their evil ways.
4. We should avoid intimacy with the irreligious and undecided; for if we mingle continually with those who walk on lower spiritual ground, we shall surely fall to their level. C. (Pro_13:20)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain A Strong Concluding Argument
A Strong Concluding Argument
v. 44. For I am the Lord, your God; ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, consecrated, holy persons, set aside for the service of God; for I am holy; neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth up on the earth, either by using such animals for food or by handling them needlessly.
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v. 45. For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, that was the mighty work in which He was then engaged, to be your God; ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
v. 46. This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth up on the earth;
v. 47. to make a difference, to observe the distinction, between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten. Thus the regulating principle was laid down by which the children of Israel were to be governed in their selection of animals for food. We Christians of the New Testament are no longer bound by this Ceremonial Lair: for God has taught us not to regard anything as common and unclean. Act 10:15. In abstaining from using as food most of the animals mentioned in the list we are merely following the rules of hygiene, in the spirit of Christian liberty.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 11:44-45 I am the Lord your God: See study…
11:44-45 I am the Lord your God: See study note on 18:2. • be holy, because I am holy: These words express the dominant theme of Leviticus: God is holy. He must be regarded and treated as holy, and he expects holiness from his people (10:3; 19:2). The profound teaching of this verse is that God’s own nature permeates those who covenant with him (see also 11:45; 20:7, 26; 21:8, 15; 22:9, 16, 32), and they become his holy people (Exod 22:31; Deut 28:9; cp. 1 Pet 1:16).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.