What Does Leviticus 20:26 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Holiness and separation are one movement here: you are set apart because you belong to the One who is set apart.
THE MEANING
Your identity is tied to God’s own set-apart nature and to God’s act of distinguishing you as his. The verse locates holiness in belonging: you are set apart unto the LORD, who is set apart.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that being set apart begins with self-invention: the verse grounds it in God’s act of distinguishing you for belonging.
THE ROOT
קְדֹשִׁים
qedoshim
GROWS FROM
קדש
Q-D-Sh
set apart, consecrate
“holy” in this verse is qedoshim. The same root names both the LORD’s character and the people’s status, so the verse locates their set-apartness in belonging to the One who is set apart. Its family also names qodesh (what is set apart) and miqdash (a sanctuary), extending the idea from identity to a space marked for God.
ALSO GROWS
qodesh: set-apartness; something set apart
קֹדֶשׁ
This noun shows the root naming a status or designation, not simply an inner feeling.
miqdash: sanctuary; sacred place
מִקְדָּשׁ
The same root names a space marked for God, illuminating the verse’s claim that this people is marked as God’s own.
וָאַבְדִּל
va'avdil
GROWS FROM
בדל
B-D-L
divide, separate, distinguish
“severed” in this verse is va'avdil. The verse does not leave being set apart abstract: it says God has distinguished you from other peoples so that you may belong to him. This root can also describe separating light from darkness, so distinction here is an act that marks what belongs where.
ALSO GROWS
vayavdel: and he separated
וַיַּבְדֵּל
In Genesis 1:4 this same verb marks the distinction between light and darkness; here it marks the people as belonging to God.
lehavdil: to distinguish; to separate
לְהַבְדִּיל
In Leviticus 10:10 this verb names distinguishing between the set-apart and the common; here distinction names the people’s belonging.
THE PATTERN
Set-apartness takes its shape from God’s own character and becomes a belonging visible in the people God claims.
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;THE THREAD
For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.Both verses use the Hebrew root קדש (Q-D-Sh) for the LORD’s set-apart nature and the people’s set-apart identity. This verse adds that being brought out precedes being named holy and belonging to God.
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