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qodesh

קֹדֶשׁ

HebrewH6944“holiness, sanctuary, ...”

Appears 469 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Exo 3:5Exo 12:16 (2×)Exo 15:11Exo 15:13Exo 16:23Exo 22:31(30)Exo 26:33 (3×)Exo 26:34 (2×)Exo 28:2Exo 28:4Exo 28:29Exo 28:35Exo 28:36Exo 28:38 (2×)Exo 28:43Exo 29:6Exo 29:29Exo 29:30Exo 29:33Exo 29:34Exo 29:37 (2×)Exo 30:10 (2×)Exo 30:13Exo 30:24Exo 30:25 (2×)Exo 30:29 (2×)Exo 30:36 (2×)Exo 31:10Exo 31:11Exo 31:14Exo 40:10 (2×)Lev 2:3 (2×)Lev 2:10 (2×)Lev 5:15Lev 6:17(10) (2×)Lev 6:25(18) (2×)Lev 6:29(22)Lev 7:1Lev 7:6Lev 20:3Lev 21:22 (3×)Lev 22:2 (2×)Lev 22:3Lev 22:4Lev 22:6Lev 22:7Lev 22:12Lev 22:15Lev 22:16Lev 22:32
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradeKOH-deshnoun

What qodesh means

holiness: belonging to God, and so claimed by him and kept apart from ordinary use

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This is one of the richest words in the Hebrew Bible, and it grows out of a single idea: belonging to God. Whatever is holy has been given over to him, drawn into his sphere, and so it can no longer be treated as common (חֹל). The older textbook line that holy means basically "separate" is now widely questioned; the deeper sense is the positive one of being dedicated to God, with being set apart as the result that follows. The word can name the quality itself, above all God's own holiness, or it can name the concrete things that quality attaches to: a holy people, a holy place, a holy day, a holy gift. These are not unrelated meanings but one idea seen from many angles, which is why the same word covers them all.

The word's center is God himself. To say his name, his arm, or his throne is holy is to say they share his utter difference from everything created and his unrivaled majesty. In Isaiah this becomes a title, the Holy One of Israel, and there holiness is shown not only in dazzling glory but in justice and faithfulness toward his people. From God the quality radiates outward: because he is holy,

  • the ground at the burning bush is holy
  • the seventh day is holy
  • the inner room of the tent is holy
  • a people he chooses can be called holy too

Within Israel's worship the word does steady, practical work. The priest's basic job is to keep the line between what belongs to God and what is common, and between what is fit to approach him and what is not. To consecrate (קָדַשׁ) something moves it from common use into God's keeping; to profane it drags it back, which is a grave offense. So the holy is never to be used, touched, or eaten as if it were ordinary, and mishandling it is dangerous.

Scripture also shows holiness arriving in two different ways. Sometimes a thing or a people simply is holy because God has chosen it, an established status. Sometimes holiness is held out as a goal, something Israel is summoned to live into through obedience. The same word carries both, which is part of why it became the deepest theological term the tradition possessed.

Nuances

1aGod's own holiness: his unique, set-apart majesty, named in his name, his arm, his throne, and the title the Holy One
Exo 15:111Ch 16:29Psa 29:2Psa 30:4(5)Psa 47:8(9)Psa 60:6(8)Psa 89:35(36)Psa 93:5Psa 96:9Psa 97:12Psa 103:1Amo 4:2
1bholiness as a conferred status: a people, person, or thing that belongs to God because he has claimed or consecrated it
Exo 22:31(30)Exo 28:2Exo 28:4Exo 29:6Exo 29:29Exo 39:30Lev 21:6Num 6:20Ezr 9:2Isa 6:13Isa 62:12Jer 2:3
1ca holy place: the sanctuary, its rooms, or God's holy hill and temple, the set-apart space where he is approached
Exo 26:33 (3×)Exo 36:1Lev 16:2Lev 16:3Lev 16:16Lev 16:17Lev 16:20Lev 16:27Num 3:28Num 28:71Ki 8:81Ki 8:10
1dthe Most Holy: the doubled phrase for the holiest grade, used for the innermost room and for the most sacred offerings
Exo 26:33 (3×)Exo 26:34 (2×)Exo 29:37 (2×)Exo 30:10 (2×)Exo 30:29 (2×)Exo 30:36 (2×)Exo 40:10 (2×)Lev 2:3 (2×)Lev 2:10 (2×)Lev 6:17(10) (2×)Lev 6:25(18) (2×)Lev 6:29(22)
1ea holy thing: a consecrated gift, offering, or sacred portion handed over to God and reserved for the priests
Lev 5:15Lev 5:16Lev 19:8Lev 19:24Lev 22:3Lev 22:4Lev 22:6Lev 22:7Lev 22:12Lev 22:14Lev 22:15Lev 22:16
1fa holy time: a day or assembly set apart from ordinary work, above all the sabbath and the sacred gatherings of the festivals
Exo 12:16 (2×)Exo 16:23Exo 31:14Exo 31:15Exo 35:2Lev 23:3Lev 23:4Lev 23:7Lev 23:8Lev 23:21Lev 23:24Lev 23:27
1gthe Way of Holiness: the clean, set-apart road of return that the redeemed travel home to Zion
Isa 35:8

What scholars say about qodesh

Older lexica (Baudissin, BDB, and cautiously HALOT) and Jacob Milgrom's commentaries on Leviticus took the root to mean fundamentally to separate, with the holy as what is removed from common use and assigned to God. Recent comparative and lexical work has weakened that consensus: Costecalde's survey of the cognate languages, Naude in NIDOTTE, and Clines argue that across Akkadian, Ugaritic, and the rest of the Semitic family the root denotes positive belonging to the deity (consecration, dedication), with separateness a downstream consequence rather than the lexical core. Within the Hebrew Bible scholars now read the word as a family of related uses rather than a single flat concept: the Priestly source treats holiness as a graded, dangerous property concentrated in the sanctuary (Haran, Jenson); the later Holiness legislation of Leviticus 17 to 26 extends it to all Israel and the land and binds it to ethics (Knohl, Milgrom, Schwartz); Deuteronomy makes it the status of an elect people; Isaiah turns the Holy One of Israel into a title fusing majesty with justice (Wildberger, Williamson); and the Psalms localize it in God's name and on Zion. The Septuagint renders the whole family almost entirely with the hagios word-group.

Where scholars disagree about qodesh

Whether the root behind this word means fundamentally "to separate" or "to belong to (be dedicated to) God", with separateness only a consequence.

  • minorityThe basic force is separation, being set apart from the common; the older lexical tradition and Milgrom's reading of Leviticus.; BDB, s.v. קֹדֶשׁ; Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 (Anchor Bible 3; Doubleday, 1991), 686-704
  • majorityThe basic force is positive belonging to and dedication to the deity, with separateness a downstream entailment; the now-prevailing comparative-Semitic view.; Claude-Bernard Costecalde, Aux origines du sacre biblique (Letouzey et Ane, 1986), 138; David J. A. Clines, 'Alleged Basic Meanings of the Hebrew Verb qdš', Vetus Testamentum 71 (2021): 481-502; Jackie A. Naude, 'קדשׁ', NIDOTTE vol. 3 (Zondervan, 1997), 877-87

Whether the Priestly source treats holiness as essentially a status fixed by God's choice or as a goal Israel is summoned to achieve through obedience, and how the later Holiness legislation reshapes it.

  • contestedThe Holiness legislation democratizes priestly holiness, extending to all Israel a holiness that is dynamic and grown into by keeping the commandments.; Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 17-22 (Anchor Bible 3A; Doubleday, 2000), 1740-41
  • contestedThe traditions are distinct: a non-Priestly view in which Israel simply is holy by election, the Priestly view reserving holiness for sanctuary and priests, and the Holiness legislation commanding Israel to become holy, a conditional achieved holiness.; Baruch J. Schwartz, 'Israel's Holiness: The Torah Traditions', in Purity and Holiness (Brill, 2000), 47-59; Israel Knohl, The Sanctuary of Silence (Fortress, 1995)
In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. קֹדֶשׁlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. קֹדֶשׁlexicon
  • W. Kornfeld and H. Ringgren, 'qdš', in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT), vol. 12 (Eerdmans, 2003), 521-45theological-dictionary
  • Jackie A. Naude, 'קדשׁ', in New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDOTTE), vol. 3 (Zondervan, 1997), 877-87theological-dictionary
  • Claude-Bernard Costecalde, Aux origines du sacre biblique (Paris: Letouzey et Ane, 1986)monograph
  • David J. A. Clines, 'Alleged Basic Meanings of the Hebrew Verb qdš "Be Holy"', Vetus Testamentum 71 (2021): 481-502article
  • Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 (Anchor Bible 3; Doubleday, 1991)commentary
  • Israel Knohl, The Sanctuary of Silence: The Priestly Torah and the Holiness School (Fortress, 1995)monograph
  • Baruch J. Schwartz, 'Israel's Holiness: The Torah Traditions', in Purity and Holiness, ed. Poorthuis and Schwartz (Brill, 2000), 47-59article
  • Philip P. Jenson, Graded Holiness: A Key to the Priestly Conception of the World (JSOTSup 106; Sheffield, 1992)monograph
  • Hans Wildberger, Isaiah 1-12, Continental Commentary (Fortress, 1991)commentary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of קֹדֶשׁ

m s absolute

קֹּדֶשׁ, קֹדֶשׁ, קוֹדֶשׁ

Exo 15:11, Exo 26:33, Exo 28:29, Exo 28:35, Exo 28:43, Exo 29:6, Exo 29:29, Exo 29:30

m p absolute

קֳּדָשִׁים, קָדָשִׁים, קְּדָשִׁים

Exo 26:33, Exo 26:34, Exo 28:38, Lev 21:22, Lev 21:22, Lev 22:3, Lev 22:4, Lev 22:6

m s construct

קֹדֶשׁ, קֹּדֶשׁ

Exo 26:33, Exo 26:34, Exo 29:37, Exo 30:10, Exo 30:29, Exo 30:36, Exo 31:14, Exo 40:10

m s construct

קָדְשׁוֹ

1Ch 16:10, 2Ch 30:27, Ezr 9:8, Psa 3:4, Psa 11:4, Psa 20:6, Psa 24:3, Psa 30:4

m s construct

קָדְשִׁי

Lev 20:3, Lev 22:2, Lev 22:32, Psa 2:6, Psa 89:20, Psa 89:35, Isa 11:9, Isa 56:7

m s construct

קָדְשֶׁךָ, קָדְשְׁךָ

Exo 15:13, 1Ch 16:35, 1Ch 29:16, Psa 15:1, Psa 28:2, Psa 79:1, Psa 106:47, Isa 63:18

m p construct

קָדְשֵׁי, קָּדְשֵׁי

Lev 22:15, Num 5:9, Num 18:8, Num 18:32, 1Ki 7:51, 1Ki 15:15, 1Ki 15:15, 2Ch 5:1

m p construct

קָדָשַׁי, קָדָשָׁי

Ezk 22:8, Ezk 22:26, Ezk 44:13, Ezk 44:8

m p construct

קֳדָשָׁיו, קָדָשָׁיו

Num 5:10, 2Ki 12:18, 2Ch 15:18

m p construct

קָדְשֵׁיהֶם

Exo 28:38, Lev 22:16

m p construct

קָדְשֵׁיכֶם

Ezk 20:40

m p construct

קָדָשֶׁיךָ

Deu 12:26

m s construct

קָדְשֵׁנוּ

Isa 64:11