H4720 — מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H4720
Original: מִקְדָּשׁ
Transliteration: miqdâsh
Pronunciation: mik-dawsh
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: H6942 קָדַשׁ (qadash) — to be holy, consecrate, make clean
Occurrences: 71 unique verses (78 tokens) across 14 books
First Occurrence: Exo 15:17 — "the place, O LORD, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A consecrated thing or place, especially a palace, sanctuary (whether of Jehovah or of idols) or asylum: chapel, hallowed part, holy place, sanctuary.

From H6942 (qadash — to be set apart as holy). The word designates a specific sacred location, not holiness as an abstract quality. Can refer to the Tabernacle, the Jerusalem Temple, a future eschatological sanctuary, idolatrous shrines, or metaphorically to God himself as a refuge.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
sanctuary / my sanctuary / the sanctuary (etc.)	~66	~93%
holy place / holy places	2	2.8%
chapel	1	1.4%
hallowed part	1	1.4%

Virtually always rendered "sanctuary." The rare alternate translations ("chapel" in Amos 7:13; "hallowed part" in Lev 12:4) reflect specialized contexts.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Ezekiel	28	2.2
Lamentations	3	1.9
Amos	2	1.4
Leviticus	8	0.9
Daniel	3	0.8
2 Chronicles	5	0.6
Numbers	5	0.4
Isaiah	4	0.3
Psalms	5	0.2
Exodus	2	0.2
1 Chronicles	2	0.2
Nehemiah	1	0.2
Joshua	1	0.2
Jeremiah	2	0.1

Ezekiel dominates: 39% of all uses. The word is concentrated in prophetic texts dealing with defilement, judgment, and restoration of the sanctuary. Absent from Deuteronomy, Proverbs, and the historical books (apart from Chronicles/Joshua).

Semantic Categories¶

1. The Divine Dwelling Place — Sanctuary Built for God¶

Exo 25:8 — "And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them."
Psa 78:69 — "And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever."
2Chr 20:8 — "they have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying"
1Chr 22:19 — "seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God"

2. Reverence and Access — Priestly Duties and Boundaries¶

Lev 19:30 — "Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD."
Lev 26:2 — "Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD."
Lev 21:12 — "Neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God"
Eze 44:15–16 — "the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary... They shall enter into my sanctuary"

3. Profaning and Defiling the Sanctuary¶

Lev 20:3 — "he hath given of his seed unto Molech... to defile my sanctuary"
Eze 5:11 — "because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things"
Eze 23:38–39 — "they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths... came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it"
Dan 11:31 — "they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice"

4. Sanctuary Desecrated, Destroyed, or Cast Away (Judgment)¶

Psa 74:7 — "They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled the dwelling place of thy name to the ground."
Lam 1:10 — "the heathen entered into her sanctuary"
Eze 24:21 — "Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength"
Dan 8:11 — "by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down"

5. Future/Eschatological Sanctuary — Promise of Restoration¶

Eze 37:26 — "I will make a covenant of peace with them... and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore."
Eze 37:28 — "the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them"
Isa 60:13 — "the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary"

6. God Himself as Sanctuary — Refuge and Asylum¶

Isa 8:14 — "he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence"
Eze 11:16 — "Although I have cast them far off... yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come."
Psa 73:17 — "Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end."

7. Sanctuary of Idols and False Worship¶

Amos 7:9 — "the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam"
Amos 7:13 — "prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court"
Eze 28:18 — "Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities" (addressed to Tyre)

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
בַּיִת (bayith)	H1004	21x (30%)	"house of the sanctuary" — sanctuary as temple/house
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	21x (30%)	"sanctuary of the LORD"
חָלַל (chalal)	H2490	12x (17%)	"profane the sanctuary" — the defilement theme
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Israel)	H3478	12x (17%)	"sanctuary of Israel"
קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh)	H6944	10x (14%)	"holy sanctuary" — the two holiness words together
תָּוֶךְ (tavek)	H8432	10x (14%)	"sanctuary in the midst" — dwelling among the people
כֹּהֵן (kohen)	H3548	8x (11%)	priestly sanctuary duties and access

Word Family / Cognates¶

H6942 קָדַשׁ (qadash) — root verb: to be holy, consecrate, set apart (172 occurrences)
H6944 קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh) — abstract noun: holiness, a holy thing, sacred portion (468 occurrences)
H6918 קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh) — adjective: holy, set apart (117 occurrences)

Synonyms¶

H1004 בַּיִת (bayith) — house, building; overlaps where the sanctuary is treated as the temple-house.
H1116 בָּמָה (bamah) — high place, shrine; overlaps at the level of cultic site, though usually for illicit worship rather than the authorized sanctuary.
H4908 מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan) — dwelling, tabernacle; close synonym when the focus is on God's dwelling place.
H6944 קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh) — holiness, holy place; overlaps in phrases translated "sanctuary" or "holy place," though qodesh is broader than a specific structure.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py for H4720.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh)	H6944	both translated "sanctuary," "holy place"	qodesh = abstract holiness or any consecrated thing; miqdash = a specific consecrated place/structure. Qodesh is 6× more frequent and covers holiness, holy days, holy objects, and sacred portions. Miqdash always means a location.

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
002001001031	Holy	`search_relationships.py` places miqdâsh in the holiness field, fitting its core sense as a set-apart sacred place.
001002009001	Buildings	The same tool also groups it with building/structure vocabulary, reflecting the sanctuary as an actual consecrated site or complex.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
ἅγιος (hagios) G40	46	18.54	Primary LXX rendering — "holy/sanctuary"
βεβηλόω (bebēloō) G953	11	14.20	In contexts of profaning the sanctuary
οἶκος (oikos) G3624	21	6.66	When emphasis is on the structure/house

The primary LXX bridge is G40 (hagios). Note that TR-qodesh-hagios.md covers the qodesh → hagios trace; miqdash feeds into the same Greek semantic field.