holiness

In the book of Leviticus 19:2 (NABRE), the LORD commands Moses to say to the Israelites: “Be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.” This passage raises the important question of what holiness means and what it looks like. The Hebrew word used in this passage, qadowsh, at its root means “set apart” or “separateness.”

Throughout the Old Testament, things that were holy were set aside or separated from other things. Some examples include the sabbath, a day set aside from other days; the Temple, a space set apart for worship of God; and even as is commanded in this passage, the people themselves, a holy people set apart for God.

What do you think it looks like for a people to be set apart? How might we as Christians embody holiness in the world today?

related topics: consecration; holy; perfect; righteousness; sacred; set apart

you also may like our study of the book of Genesis
The first seven lessons of In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis, a 28-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, provide an in-depth look at the very earliest biblical history—including the two accounts of Creation, events surrounding the Fall of Adam and Eve, the relationship between Cain and Abel, and the baptismal foreshadowing present in the account of Noah and the Flood. Remaining lessons look at lives of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Click here to view a sample of the first lesson.

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