TR: qodesh → hagios (Holiness / Holy)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
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קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh) → ἅγιος (hagios) → ἅγιος (hagios)
H6944, 452x 346x as translation 219x in NT
"holiness, holy" of qodesh "holy, saints"
OT Usage (Hebrew)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H6944 | קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh) | 452 | holiness, sacred place/thing, sanctuary |
| H6918 | קָדוֹשׁ (qadowsh) | 116 | holy (adj.), the Holy One |
| H6942 | קָדַשׁ (qadash) | 172 | to be holy, consecrate, sanctify |
| H4720 | מִקְדָּשׁ (miqdash) | 74 | sanctuary (physical structure) |
Key OT passages: - Exo 3:5 — "the place whereon thou standest is holy (qodesh) ground" - Lev 19:2 — "Ye shall be holy (qadowsh): for I the LORD your God am holy (qadowsh)" - Isa 6:3 — "Holy (qadowsh), holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts"
See: H6944-qodesh.md
LXX Bridge¶
| Hebrew | Greek Translation | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| qodesh (H6944) | ἅγιος (G40) | 346x | Primary equivalent (77%) |
| qadowsh (H6918) | ἅγιος (G40) | 100x | Adjective form also → hagios |
| miqdash (H4720) | ἅγιος/ἅγιον (G40/G39) | 46x | Sanctuary → "holy place" |
| qadash (H6942) | ἁγιάζω (G37) | 34x | Verb → verb mapping |
Semantic shift in translation: Remarkably little shift. The LXX translators consistently mapped the entire qodesh word family to the hagios word family. The Hebrew noun qodesh (which can mean "holiness," "sanctuary," or "holy thing") is flattened to the Greek adjective hagios, losing some of the noun's flexibility. The superlative "qodesh qodashim" (holy of holies) is rendered as "hagia hagion" or "to hagion ton hagion" in Greek.
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| G40 | ἅγιος (hagios) | 219 | holy, sacred; saints (as substantive) |
| G37 | ἁγιάζω (hagiazo) | 28 | sanctify, make holy, set apart |
| G38 | ἁγιασμός (hagiasmos) | 10 | sanctification, holiness |
| G39 | ἅγιον (hagion) | 10 | holy place, sanctuary |
Key NT passages: - Rev 4:8 — "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty" (echoing Isa 6:3) - Heb 9:2-3 — "the sanctuary (hagia)... the Holiest of all (hagia hagion)" — directly maps the tabernacle's qodesh/qodesh qodashim - 1 Pet 2:9 — "a royal priesthood, an holy nation" (echoing Exo 19:6) - Rom 12:1 — "a living sacrifice, holy (hagios), acceptable unto God" - Matt 24:15 — "the abomination of desolation... in the holy place (hagios topos)" (referencing Dan 8-9 qodesh language)
Direct OT→NT Quotations¶
| NT Verse | Quotes OT | Shared Word | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Pet 1:16 | Lev 11:44 / 19:2 | qadowsh → hagios | "Be ye holy; for I am holy" — direct command transferred |
| Rev 4:8 | Isa 6:3 | qadowsh → hagios | Triple "holy" — divine holiness acclamation |
| 1 Pet 2:9 | Exo 19:6 | qodesh → hagios | "holy nation" — covenant people identity |
| Matt 24:15 | Dan 8:13; 9:27 | qodesh → hagios | "holy place" — sanctuary desecration |
| Heb 9:2-3 | Exo 26:33-34 | qodesh → hagia | "sanctuary"/"holiest of all" — tabernacle structure |
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same across testaments: - Holiness as fundamentally a divine attribute that God shares with people, places, and things - The spatial holiness gradient (holy → most holy) preserved in Hebrews 9 - The command for God's people to be holy because God is holy (Lev 19:2 → 1 Pet 1:16) - "Saints" (hagioi) as the NT term for God's set-apart people, continuous with OT Israel as qodesh
What shifts: - The NT substantivizes hagios far more: "saints" (hagioi) becomes a standard term for believers (47 of 219 occurrences), where the OT rarely used qodesh for persons - The sanctuary language shifts: OT qodesh refers to the physical tabernacle/temple; NT hagios in Hebrews reinterprets the sanctuary as heavenly and Christ's ministry - Holiness becomes more explicitly ethical/moral in the NT (1 Pet 1:15, Rom 12:1), while OT qodesh has a stronger ritual/ceremonial dimension
Generated from: search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup, --lexicon), kjv.txt Last updated: 2026-03-31