Words · Greek Words · Lesson 4, word 5 of 5
ἅγιοςhagios
Holy, sacred, and 'the saints', ordinary believers.
Why this word is here. The Greek of qadosh; Revelation's throne-room cry and Paul's everyday word for church members are the same word.
What it means
Abbott-Smith: 'dedicated to the gods, sacred; hence holy, characteristic of God, separated to God, worthy of veneration'. Its highest application is to God himself in his purity, majesty and glory (Revelation 4:8). Then of things and places sacred to God (the temple, the holy place); of persons employed by him (angels, prophets, apostles); of Christ; of Christians as separated to God's service; and in the moral sense, of sharing God's purity.
As a plural substantive, hoi hagioi, 'the holy ones', is Paul's standard name for the whole church in a city, the word English Bibles render 'the saints'.
Where you meet it
Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
Revelation 4:8 (BSB)
The living creatures 'never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy (hagios) is the Lord God Almighty."' Isaiah 6 in Greek dress.
for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:16 (BSB)
Anchor verse 'Be holy (hagioi), because I am holy.' Peter quotes Leviticus 19:2 to ordinary congregations in exile.
To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:7 (BSB)
Paul writes 'to all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints (hagioi)'. The BSB reads 'called to be saints'; the Greek is simply 'called holy ones', every believer in Rome, not a spiritual elite.
For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence.
Ephesians 1:4 (BSB)
God 'chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy (hagioi) and blameless in His presence.' Holiness as the purpose of election.
Why it matters
Hagios democratises holiness without cheapening it: the same word that describes God describes his people, because holiness is by calling and consecration before it is by achievement. It is the Greek anchor of the priesthood of all believers and of the New Testament's refusal to split Christians into saints and ordinary people.
Watch out
The over-claim runs in church history rather than sermons: that 'saints' are a small class of exceptional dead Christians. In the New Testament hagioi is the default plural for living church members, including the troubled Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:2). The opposite modern flattening, 'holy just means set apart, not morally pure', also fails Abbott-Smith's entry, which includes sharing God's purity. Set apart unto God, and therefore being made like him: the lexicon holds both, in that order.
In this lesson
- parakletos (παράκλητος): One called alongside to help: advocate, intercessor, comforter.
- christos (Χριστός): The Anointed One, the Greek of mashiach, Messiah.
- kyrios (κύριος): Lord, master, the word the Greek Bible uses for God's name.
- baptizo (βαπτίζω): To dip, immerse, wash, to baptise.
Sources
- Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (1889)
- STEP Bible lexicon data (Abbott-Smith)
- SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)
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