Leviticus 11:44 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Leviticus 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.
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
yourselves
וְהִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם֙ve.hit.ka.dish.Tem
H6942
to be (causatively · conjunction + verb, hithpael sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine plural
holy
קְדֹשִׁ֔יםke.do.Shim
H6918
sacred (ceremonially or morally) · adjective, masculine plural absolute
holy
קָד֖וֹשׁka.Do.osh
H6918
sacred (ceremonially or morally) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
defile
תְטַמְּאוּ֙te.ta.me.'U
H2930
to be foul · verb, piel imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
yourselves
נַפְשֹׁ֣תֵיכֶ֔םnaf.Sho.tei.Khem
H5315
properly · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
thing
הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץha.She.retz
H8318
a swarm · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
creepeth
הָרֹמֵ֥שׂha.ro.Mes
H7430
properly · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
earth
הָאָֽרֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Exodus 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
1 Peter 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
Leviticus 19:2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.
Leviticus 20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 20:26 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.
1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath…
Leviticus 21:8 Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth the bread of thy God: he shall be holy unto thee: for I the LORD, which sanctify you, am…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Leviticus 11:43–end
Here is, I. The exposition of this law, or a key to let us into the meaning of it. It was not intended merely for a bill of fare, or as the directions of a physician about their diet, but God would hereby teach them to sanctify themselves and to be holy, Lev 11:44. That is, 1. They must hereby learn to put a difference between good and evil, and to reckon that it could not be all alike what they did, when it was not all alike what they ate. 2. To maintain a constant observance of the divine law, and to govern themselves by that in all their actions, even those that are common, which ought to be performed after a godly sort, Jo3 1:6. Even eating and drinking must be by rule, and to the glory…
whosoever doth touch them, when . . . dead, shall be unclean until the even--These regulations must have often caused annoyance by suddenly requiring the exclusion of people from society, as well as the ordinances of religion. Nevertheless they were extremely useful and salutary, especially as enforcing attention to cleanliness. This is a matter of essential importance in the East, where venomous reptiles often creep into houses and are found lurking in boxes, vessels, or holes in the wall; and the carcass of one of them, or a dead mouse, mole, lizard, or other unclean animal, might be inadvertently touched by the hand, or fall on clothes, skin bottles, or any article of common domestic use.…
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.
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…
The Church Fathers
"Be holy, says the Lord, for I am holy." The apostles boasted that they had left all things and had followed the Savior. We do not read that they left anything except their ship and their nets; yet they were crowned with the approval of him who was to be their judge. Why? Because in offering up themselves they had indeed left all that they had.
He himself says, "Be holy, for I am holy," that is to say, choose me and keep away from what displeases me. Do what I love; love what I do. If what I order seems difficult, come back to me who ordered it, so that from where the command was given help might be offered. I who furnished the desire will not refuse support. Fast from contradiction, abstain from opposition. Let me be your food and drink. None desire in vain what is mine, for those who stretch out toward me seek me because I first sought them.
Pious souls of the Lord, what the Lord admonishes us is not to be considered merely in passing, for he says, "Be holy because I am holy." Although this term properly belongs to all the Christian people, according to what blessed Peter says, "You, however, are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation," this term seems particularly to apply to all priests in a special way. In all the letters which are addressed to the Lord's priests by any men whatsoever, it is specially indicated that they are holy. Since then this term is applied to us, we ought to inquire what precisely is its meaning. It is only through Greek that the interpretation of this word holy can be discovered. For agios is the Greek for "holy," and agios has the meaning "not of the earth." Therefore if we are more solicitous for heavenly things than for those of earth, this term is not unfittingly applied to us.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ablution — Or washing, was practised, (1.) When a person was initiated into a higher state: e.g., when Aaron and his sons were set apart to the priest’s office, they were washed with water previous to their…
Animal — An organized living creature endowed with sensation. The Levitical law divided animals into clean and unclean, although the distinction seems to have existed before the Flood (Gen. 7:2). The clean…
Clean — The various forms of uncleanness according to the Mosaic law are enumerated in Lev. 11-15; Num. 19. The division of animals into clean and unclean was probably founded on the practice of sacrifice.…
Food — Originally the Creator granted the use of the vegetable world for food to man (Gen. 1:29), with the exception mentioned (2:17). The use of animal food was probably not unknown to the antediluvians.…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Creeping Things · Unclean — Unclean
Defilement · Forbidden to the Jews — Forbidden to the Jews
Example · GOD, OUR — GOD, OUR
Food · THINGS PROHIBITED AS FOO — THINGS PROHIBITED AS FOO
Holiness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Holiness Of God, The · Saints are commanded to imitate — Saints are commanded to imitate
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
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 unde…
Ye shall not make yourselves abominable. He does not invite them to take care of their health, nor warn them of the danger of contracting' diseases, but bids them beware of defiling themselves. And a clearer explanation is subjoined, "For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves; for I am holy." Lest they should imagine that the main part of religion was contained in external ceremonies, they were to consider the nature of God; for, inasmuch as He is a Spirit, He would be worshipped only spiritually. Thus holiness is only connected instrumentally with the distinction of meats; since their abstinence had no other object than that they should consecrate themselves to God.…
Lastly, contact with edible animals, if they had not been slaughtered, but had died a natural death, and had become carrion in consequence, is also said to defile (cf. Lev 11:39, Lev 11:40 with Lev 11:24-28). This was the case, too, with the eating of the swarming land animals, whether they went upon the belly,
(Note: The large ו in גּחון (Lev 11:42) shows that this vav is the middle letter of the Pentateuch.)
as snakes and worms, or upon four feet, as rats, mice, weasels, etc., or upon many feet, like the insects (Lev 11:41-43). Lastly (Lev 11:44, Lev 11:45), the whole law is enforced by an appeal to the calling of the Israelites, as a holy nation, to be holy as Jehovah their God, who had…
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).
Rashi on Leviticus 11:44
כי אני ה׳ אלהיכם FOR I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD — Just as I am holy, I, Who am the Lord your God, similarly והתקדשתם MAKE YOURSELVES HOLY below on earth ( (Sifra, Shemini, Chapter 12 3),
והייתם קדשים AND YE WILL BE HOLY, because I will then treat you as holy, above and in the world-to-come (Yoma 39a).
ולא תטמאו NEITHER SHALL YE DEFILE [YOUR SOULS] etc. — This is repeated in order to bring it about that a person transgresses many negative commands when he eats such abominable things: and every single negative commandment involves for its transgression the punishment of lashes. This is the meaning of what they said in the Talmud (Makkot 16b): if one has eaten a Putisa (a shell fish or water rept…
