Words · Hebrew Words · Lesson 3, word 4 of 5
קָדוֹשׁqadosh
Holy: set apart as belonging to God.
Why this word is here. Isaiah's seraphim cry it three times; Leviticus builds a whole way of life on it; the New Testament calls ordinary believers 'holy ones'.
What it means
The lexicon gives: sacred, holy, Holy One, saint, set apart. Qadosh describes what belongs to God and is therefore set apart from ordinary use: God himself ('the Holy One of Israel'), places (holy ground), the sanctuary and its vessels, priests, the nation, and individual 'holy ones'.
Holiness in the Old Testament starts with belonging and otherness, God's own separateness from everything common or defiled. Moral purity belongs inside it, because what is God's must match his character, but the root idea is consecration: this is his.
Where you meet it
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
Exodus 3:5 (BSB)
At the burning bush: 'The place where you are standing is holy (qodesh) ground.' Dirt becomes holy because God is present and claims it.
“Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
Leviticus 19:2 (BSB)
'You shall be holy (qedoshim), for I the LORD your God am holy.' Israel's holiness is imitation of God's, and the chapter that follows mixes worship, honesty, wages and love of neighbour.
And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Exodus 19:6 (BSB)
At Sinai Israel is called 'a kingdom of priests and a holy (qadosh) nation'. Peter applies the same words to the church (1 Peter 2:9).
And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”
Isaiah 6:3 (BSB)
Anchor verse 'Holy, holy, holy (qadosh) is the LORD of Hosts.' The triple repetition is Scripture's way of stating the superlative.
Why it matters
Qadosh corrects the idea that holiness is mainly about rule-keeping or solemn moods. To be holy is to be claimed: set apart for God, made distinct by belonging to him, and then shaped by his character. That is why the New Testament can call every believer a 'saint', a holy one, before it describes their conduct.
Watch out
The over-claim is 'holy simply means morally perfect'. Leviticus calls ground, garments, oil and a city holy, none of which can be moral. Moral purity is a real part of holiness for persons, but the word's centre is consecration to God. Shrinking it to ethics alone loses the worship, the presence and the belonging that make the ethics possible.
In this lesson
- yada (יָדַע): To know by experience, recognise and acknowledge.
- tsedeq / tsedaqah (צֶדֶק): Rightness and righteousness, in court, kingdom and character.
- mishpat (מִשְׁפָּט): Judgment and justice: deciding rightly and setting right.
- berit (בְּרִית): A covenant: a pledged, binding relationship.
Sources
- Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906)
- Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible / STEP Hebrew data
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