1 Peter 1:16

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

because it is written, "You shall be holy; for I am holy."

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Word by word

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διότι

dióti

G1360

“because”

Conjunction

Appears 25× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Luke 1:13

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from G1223 and G3754

TDNT: None

1. on this account that, because 2. for

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

7: words
5: distinct lemmas
General Epistles: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is διότι because G1360 — appearing just 25 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

διότι because G1360 occurs in 23 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

Words recur within this verse:

διότι because G1360 ×2
ἅγιοι saint G40 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 1 Peter 1:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Leviticus 11:44 For I am Yahweh your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy: neither shall you defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth.
Leviticus 19:2 "Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, 'You shall be holy; for I Yahweh your God am holy.
Leviticus 20:7 "'Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am Yahweh your God.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Where the printed editions differ

1 variant

Places in this verse where the major printed Greek editions disagree on the wording in a way that affects the translation — a comparison of editions, not a manuscript-by-manuscript collation. The editions are the modern critical texts (Nestlé-Aland 28/27, SBL, Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Tyndale House) and the traditional texts behind the KJV (the Textus Receptus and the Byzantine/Majority text). It is not a claim about which reading is original.

Editions differ

εἰμι.

“am.”

In NA27TRByz Not in NA28TynSBLWHTreg

Textual data: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible TAGNT) · CC BY 4.0.

Commentary

Notes on 1 Peter 1:16 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Commentary source

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

He showeth that sanctification doth necessarily follow adoption.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

Scripture is the true source of all authority in questions of doctrine and practice.

Be ye . . . for I am--It is I with whom ye have to do. Ye are mine. Therefore abstain from Gentile pollutions. We are too prone to have respect unto men [CALVIN]. As I am the fountain of holiness, being holy in My essence, be ye therefore zealous to be partakers of holiness, that ye may be as I also am [DIDYMUS]. God is essentially holy: the creature is holy in so far as it is sanctified by God. God, in giving the command, is willing to give also the power to obey it, namely, through the sanctifying of the Spirit (Pe1 1:2).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) Be ye holy; for I am holy.—The better reading here is, Ye shall he holy; it is still, however, a command, not a promise—except that all God’s commands are promises. The command comes some five or six times in the Book of Leviticus, addressed not only to the Levites, but to all the people. It would, therefore, apply twice over to the recipients of this letter by virtue of their twofold consecration, in the old and in the new Israel.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

16. because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy] Literally, ye shall be holy, the future, as in the Ten Commandments, having the force of the imperative. The words, which occur frequently in the Levitical code (Lev_11:44; Lev_19:2; Lev_20:26), were applied sometimes to the priests as such, sometimes to the whole nation as a kingdom of priests. We see from ch. 1Pe_2:5, that the Apostle’s thought is that all members of the Church of Christ have succeeded to that character, and are sharers in the priestly function, offering spiritual sacrifices.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Because it is written,.... In Lev 11:44.

be ye holy, for I am holy: an argument the apostle knew must have weight with these persons, who were chiefly Jews, scattered abroad among the Gentiles, and had a value for the Scriptures of truth; and therefore, as the argument for holiness of life, from the nature and perfections of God, is strong, it must receive additional strength from this being the declared will of God, even their sanctification on this account; and though holiness, equal to God, is never to be attained to by a creature, yet so far as it is capable of it, it is desirable, because agreeable both to the nature and will of God, by all such who are truly his children, who love his name, adore his perfections, give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness, fear his goodness, and obey his will.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Ver. 16. Be ye holy] i.e. Separate from sin, and dedicated to God, in conformity to whom stands our happiness. {See Trapp on "Mat 5:48"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy - Lev 11:44. This command was addressed at first to the Israelites, but it is with equal propriety addressed to Christians, as the professed people of God. The foundation of the command is, that they professed to be his people, and that as his people they ought to be like their God. Compare Mic 4:5. It is a great truth, that people everywhere will imitate the God whom they worship. They will form their character in accordance with his. They will regard what he does as right. They will attempt to rise no higher in virtue than the God whom they adore, and they will practice freely what he is supposed to do or approve. Hence, by knowing what are the characteristics of the gods which are worshipped by any people, we may form a correct estimate of the character of the people themselves; and, hence, as the God who is the object of the Christian’s worship is perfectly holy, the character of His worshipers should also be holy. And hence, also, we may see that the tendency of true religion is to make people pure. As the worship of the impure gods of the pagan moulds the character of the worshippers into their image, so the worship of Yahweh moulds the character of His professed friends into His image, and they become like him.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

I am your Father, and therefore you ought to imitate and obey me: or, I that have severed you from other people, that you should be mine, Lev 20:26, to which place particularly this seems to refer.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy; literally, according to the best manuscripts, ye shall be holy future for imperative. The words occur five times in the Book of Leviticus. God had called the Israelites to be his peculiar people, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Exo_19:5, Exo_19:6) He has called us Christians to be "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people". (1Pe_2:9) He is holy, awful in holiness; in his sight "the heavens are not clean." We who are his must strive to be holy, separated from all that is impure, consecrated to his service.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Lev. xi, 44.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The People's New Testament

B. W. Johnson

16. Because it is written. Lev. 11:44, and 19:2. We must not only submit to God's commands but seek to imitate his holiness.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Alford’s Greek Testament

Henry Alford

16.] because it is written (διότι gives the reason not only for the designation of God as the Holy One, but for the whole exhortation which precedes—for the duty of assimilation to Him in His Holiness), Ye shall be holy because I am holy (see Mat 5:48: Eph 5:1: 1Jn 3:3).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

1 Peter, in the General Epistles, opens this verse with 7 words (5 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is dióti (“because”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “because” (dióti) shape what this verse is saying?
How does Luke 1:13, which shares the word «because», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “because” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
Compare how Geneva Bible (1599) and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 4 words in this verse.
“because” occurs 2× in this single verse.
5 distinct Greek lemmas span 7 words in this verse.