Further reflections on Leviticus 11:44 & 45

For I am Adonai your God; therefore, consecrate (qadash) yourselves and be holy (qadowsh), for I am holy (qadowsh)

Leviticus 11:44a

Qadash: consecrate; is a verb

Qadowsh: holy, sacred, set apart; is an adjective

Perhaps at some level I can consecrate, or at least participate in the consecration of, myself (although even this would not be “perfect” or wholly complete in that it would need to be done again and again because of sin). To be holy, though, this I cannot do! God must, or God (Christ) in me, must do or be it for me. He must pronounce that it is so for then it is! For He is: “the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they are” Romans 4:17b.

For I am Adonai, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. Therefore, you are to be holy (qadowsh), because I am holy (qadowsh)

Leviticus 11:45

The charge to “be holy, for/because I am holy” is repeated here very close together seeming to emphasize the point.

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