What Does Leviticus 20:7 Mean in the King James?
Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.
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
One Hebrew root underlies both “sanctify” and “holy,” joining the act of becoming set apart to an identity grounded in belonging to God.
THE MEANING
Your set-apartness takes shape in belonging to the LORD your God. The verse uses one Hebrew root for both setting yourself apart and being set apart, holding your becoming and your identity together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that being set apart means being disconnected: the reason given is relationship, “I am the LORD your God.”
THE ROOT
הִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם
wehitqaddishtem
GROWS FROM
קדשׁ
q-d-sh
To set apart or treat as sacred; to be holy.
“sanctify yourselves / holy” in this verse is wehitqaddishtem. English makes “sanctify” sound like an action and “holy” like a separate status. Hebrew uses forms of קדשׁ (q-d-sh) for both, joining the act of being set apart with the resulting identity; “I am the LORD your God” roots that identity in belonging.
ALSO GROWS
qādôsh: set apart, sacred
קָדוֹשׁ
This is the adjective translated “holy” here, naming the character expressed by the same root’s verbal form.
miqdāsh: sanctuary, sacred place
מִקְדָּשׁ
The same root names a place marked as sacred, showing that set-apartness can describe belonging and designation as well as a personal quality.
THE PATTERN
A set-apart identity takes its character from God’s own set-apartness and is shared by those who belong to God.
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.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.Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.THE THREAD
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.The same Hebrew root קדשׁ appears as קָדוֹשׁ (qādôsh, “set apart”) in “an holy nation.” This widens Leviticus 20:7’s plural into a shared identity: holiness marks a people belonging together to God.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us