Word Studies

H4720 -- miqdash (holy place/sanctuary)

Original: מִקְדָּשׁ Transliteration: miq-dawsh Definition: A consecrated thing or place; sanctuary, holy place. From qadash (to be holy). Occurrences: 78 total; translated predominantly as "sanctuary" (various possessive forms) Key Verses: Exo 25:8 (commanded construction); Lev 16:33 (DOA atonement for the sanctuary); Dan 8:11 (sanctuary cast down); Ezk 37:26-28 (everlasting sanctuary) Theological Significance: The standard OT term for the sanctuary as holy space. Used alongside mishkan (H4908, dwelling place) to convey the dual nature of the sanctuary: it is both HOLY (miqdash, from qadash) and a DWELLING (mishkan, from shakan). The holiness of God and the dwelling-purpose converge in one structure.

H4908 -- mishkan (dwelling place/tabernacle)

Original: מִשְׁכָּן Transliteration: mish-kawn Definition: A residence, dwelling place, tabernacle. From shakan (to settle, dwell). Key Theological Note: The shakan root yields Shekinah (the dwelling presence of God), connecting the tabernacle's name to the very presence it houses. The dwelling vocabulary thread runs: shakan (Hebrew verb) → mishkan (Hebrew noun, tabernacle) → Shekinah (rabbinic term for divine presence) → skenoo (Greek verb, John 1:14; Rev 21:3).

G3485 -- naos (inner shrine/temple)

Original: ναός Transliteration: nah-os Definition: From naio (to dwell); the inner shrine, the sanctuary proper (Holy Place and Most Holy Place), distinguished from hieron (the entire temple complex). Occurrences: 43 NT total; 16 in Revelation (the highest concentration of any NT book) Revelation Distribution: Rev 3:12; 7:15; 11:1,2,19(x2); 14:15,17; 15:5,6,8(x2); 16:1,17; 21:22(x2) Critical Finding (sanc-28): Revelation uses naos exclusively and hieron zero times. John uses hieron 11 times in his Gospel, demonstrating he knows the word. The exclusion is deliberate: Revelation's perspective is from INSIDE the sanctuary. Rev 21:22 provides the terminus: naos is first denied ("I saw no temple") then predicated of God and the Lamb ("the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it").

G4637 -- skenoo (to tabernacle/dwell)

Original: σκηνόω Transliteration: skay-no-oh Definition: To tent, encamp; figuratively to occupy as a mansion, to dwell. Occurrences: 5 total (John 1:14; Rev 7:15; 12:12; 13:6; 21:3) Dwelling Arc Significance: This verb forms the Greek end of the dwelling vocabulary chain: Hebrew shakan → mishkan → Shekinah → Greek skenoo. John 1:14: the Word "dwelt (eskenosen) among us" = the incarnation as tabernacling. Rev 21:3: God "will dwell (skenosei) with them" = the consummation. The verb's cognate noun skene (G4633) appears at Rev 15:5 in the triple-genitive "the temple (naos) of the tabernacle (skenes) of the testimony (martyriou)" -- the most heavily qualified sanctuary reference in Revelation.

G2435 -- hilasterion (mercy seat/propitiation)

Original: ἱλαστήριον Transliteration: hil-as-tay-ree-on Definition: An expiatory place or thing; the mercy seat, the place of propitiation. Occurrences: 2 NT occurrences: Rom 3:25 ("a propitiation"); Heb 9:5 ("mercyseat"). LXX: translates Hebrew kapporeth (H3727) in all 16 of its occurrences (Exo 25:17-22; Lev 16:2,13,14,15; etc.). Critical Bridge (sanc-25, christ-sin-bearer): Romans 3:25 identifies Christ AS the hilasterion -- the mercy seat itself. Hebrews 9:5 uses the same word for the physical mercy seat in the earthly sanctuary. Christ is simultaneously the sacrifice (providing the blood), the priest (bearing sin and interceding), and the mercy seat (the place where propitiation occurs). This convergence of all three functions in one Person is the theological center of the sanctuary's Christology.

H5375 -- nasa (to lift, bear, carry)

Original: נָשָׂא Transliteration: naw-saw Definition: To lift, bear up, carry, take. A primary root with extraordinarily wide semantic range. Occurrences: 754 total -- one of the most frequent verbs in the Hebrew Bible. Three Registers (christ-sin-bearer finding): 1. Divine register: When God is subject of nasa + avon = "forgive/pardon" (Exo 34:7; Num 14:18; Mic 7:18) 2. Priestly register: When priest is subject of nasa + avon = "bear mediatorially for acceptance" (Exo 28:38; Lev 10:17; Num 18:1) 3. Removal register: When scapegoat is subject of nasa + avon = "carry away to desolation" (Lev 16:22) Christological Assignment: Christ's sin-bearing maps to the priestly register (God-ward, for acceptance, Heb 9:24) not the scapegoat register (wilderness-ward, for banishment, Lev 16:22).

G399 -- anaphero (to bear up/offer up)

Original: ἀναφέρω Transliteration: an-af-er-o Definition: To take up, lead up; in cultic usage: to offer sacrifice, to bear sin. Occurrences: 10 NT total (Matt 17:1; Mark 9:2; Luke 24:51; Heb 7:27x2; 9:28; 13:15; Jas 2:21; 1 Pet 2:5; 2:24) Key Finding: The dual sense ("offer" in Heb 7:27 and "bear" in 1 Pet 2:24) is always priestly in cultic NT contexts. No goat is ever the subject of anaphero. The verb holds together what English separates: the priest who offers is the same priest who bears. LXX translates nasa with anaphero at Isa 53:12, forming the Hebrew-to-Greek bridge for the priestly sin-bearing chain.

H3722 -- kaphar (to atone/cover)

Original: כָּפַר Transliteration: kaw-far Definition: To cover; figuratively to expiate, condone, placate, cancel; make atonement, reconciliation, purge, forgive, be merciful, pacify. Occurrences: 102 total (BLB count); highest concentration in Leviticus (especially ch. 16, where it appears 16 times). Word Family: kaphar (verb, atone) → kippur (noun, atonement, as in Yom Kippur) → kapporeth (noun, mercy seat/atonement cover) → kopher (noun, ransom price) kaphar→tsadaq Progression (sanc-25/26): Atonement is the PROCESS; vindication is the RESULT: - Lev 16:30: kaphar → taher (atonement produces cleansing) - Dan 9:24: kaphar → tsedeq olamim (atonement produces everlasting righteousness) - Isa 53:11: bearing iniquities → yatsdiq (bearing produces justification) - Rom 3:25-26: hilasterion → dikaios kai dikaiounta (propitiation produces just-and-justifier)

H6663 -- tsadaq (to be righteous/vindicate)

Original: צָדַק Transliteration: tsaw-dak Definition: To be right in a moral or forensic sense; to justify, vindicate, declare righteous. Occurrences: 41 verbal occurrences; plus H6662 tsaddiq (206x), H6664 tsedeq (116x), H6666 tsedaqah (157x) = 520+ total word family. Semantic Domain: Exclusively forensic/legal/moral. Never ritual/ceremonial/purification. Dan 8:14 nitsdaq: The ONLY Niphal of tsadaq in the entire OT. Passive forensic vindication: "shall be vindicated/declared righteous." The KJV's "cleansed" is the sole instance in 54 occurrences where tsadaq receives ritual vocabulary -- an anomaly best explained by Vulgate influence (mundabitur). The Old Greek LXX uses dikaiothesatai (shall be justified), confirming the forensic meaning. Cross-Testament Chain: Hebrew tsadaq/tsedeq/emeth → Greek dikaios/alethinos. Dan 8:12 (emeth cast down) + Dan 8:14 (nitsdaq) + Psa 119:142 (tsedeq + emeth) → Rev 15:3 (dikaiai + alethinai) → Rev 16:7 (alethinai + dikaiai) → Rev 19:2 (alethinai + dikaiai + exedikesen). The attack on truth is answered by the cosmic declaration of truth and righteousness.