For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land
of
Egypt
He had brought them out of it, and was now bringing them on in
the wilderness towards Canaan's land, in order to settle them
there; and this is observed, to show what obligations they lay
under to him to observe his commands; for since he had done such
great things for them, it became them to be obedient to him in
all things: and the more, since his end herein was, as he
observes to them,
to be your God;
to make it appear that he was their God, and they were his
special people, whom he had chosen for himself above all people
upon the earth; that he was their King and their God, to protect
and defend them, to provide for them, and take care of them, and
bestow all good things on them proper for them:
ye shall therefore be holy, for I [am] holy;
separate from all others as he was, living holy lives and
conversations, agreeably to his will made known to them, in
imitation or him who had chosen and called them to be his people;
for, since holiness is his nature, it becomes them who are his
house and family, his subjects and people.