As a result of his own holiness, God expected his people to be holy also. And his standard was very high: ‘Be holy because I am holy’ (Leviticus 11:44–45) was the order of the day and every day. The phrase ‘be holy’ occurs frequently in the Hebrew Scriptures and it covered every part of the life of the nation. It was linked with their food laws, health and hygiene, their tithe offerings to God, the clothes they wore, even the cleanliness of the camp; everything was carefully regulated because they