03 - Chapter 3
CHAPTER III.
BIBLE TERMS AND DEFINITIONS. In all discussions it is a right, as well as a duty, to define clearly the principle terms in the proposition affirmed. And in defining Bible terms it is a high duty to seek to embody the thought of the inspired writer in one’s definition. Hence, with conscientious care we proceed to give BIBLE, TERMS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS.
1. We mean, of course, the original words by which the subject under investigation is set forth in all its forms in the Scriptures. We do not desire to repeat these words through the discussion, and hence call attention to them here so that it may be borne in mind by our readers that these are the words which are the vehicles to convey to our minds whatever the Bible furnishes us on this subject. Thus will also be made evident the fact that our selection of the one word, sanctify, with its modifications, to represent the original words, is fully warranted by inspiration. It only confuses and misleads the unlearned to use sanctification, holiness, sanctify, saint, holy, etc., interchangeably, as it is not understood that so many different words are translations of one original word.
2. The Old Testament Scriptures as we now have them are a translation of the Hebrew, in which language the Old Testament was originally written. The New Testament (with a possible exception of one or two books) was originally written in Greek. In both Testaments Sanctification is a doctrine of comparatively marked prominence. The terms used and their proper meaning hence become matters of great importance. In the Old Testament the word used, including its various forms of noun, verb and adjective, is Kah-dash. This is the only word used in all the texts in the Old Testament, about five hundred in number. The Old Testament had been translated into Greek before the New Testament was written. In it we find hagios used as the equivalent of the Hebrew Kah-dash. Turning to the New Testament we find this same word used invariably in the texts which refer to the subject under consideration. Nearly three hundred times does this word in its different forms occur in the New Testament. Hence, there are only two foreign words with which we are concerned, one the Hebrew Kah-dash, and the other the Greek hagios, the latter, in the Septuagint or Old Testament Greek, being the translation of the former, and our English word sanctify being a translation of both. For this reason we shall uniformly employ this English word sanctify in its various forms. Our readers will therefore know that wherever we use sanctify in any of its forms it stands for Kah-dash in texts quoted from the Old Testament, and for hagios in texts quoted from the New Testament.
3. The Hebrew word (Kah-dash) is translated in the Scriptures by the following words: Sanctify, hallow, holy, consecrate, prepare, proclaim, dedicate, appoint, purify, defile, unclean, sodomite, saint, wholly, sanctuary. The Greek word, in the New Testament, is translated by the following words: Hallow, holy, sanctify, sanctuary, saint, holiness. We note as an evident fact of much importance, that in the New Testament hagios is not as broad a word as Kah-dash is in the Old. It has dropped a part of the meaning of the Hebrew word; or, which is perhaps the better way of stating it, it is no longer a generic word, but has a definite, specific meaning, implying a given moral character. This will become clearer in our next paragraph.
4. Now, what is the true power, the real meaning of these two words, Kah-dash and hagios? Translations do not always represent the true power of words. It is evident at a glance that this must be true of the word kah-dash. No word in any known language means, or can mean both "to defile, to make unclean," and "to cleanse, to purify." Yet these words translate Kah-dash and hagios in the Old Testament. A number of words in both Testaments have this same peculiarity, of being translated by words of opposite meaning. There is a uniform rule which governs all such words. That is, that the word translated by words of opposite meanings does not mean what these opposite words express, but has a meaning common to both. No instance violative of this rule can be found. Accordingly, Kah-dash means neither "to purify" nor "to defile," neither "to cleanse" nor "to make unclean," neither "to make sacred" nor "to make profane." What then does it mean? It means to do that which in one case may result in cleansing and in another in defiling. The temple and groves of Astarte were very unclean places. The sanctuary of the Lord was pure and clean. Yet the Old Testament does not hesitate to call the priests of Astarte sanctified ones, as is done also in the works of Homer and Virgil, and also the priests of the Lord. But our translators call the former sodomites (1 Kings 14:24), and unclean (Job 36:14). It is easy to perceive what is the one element common to the character of these two classes of priests. They were both dedicated, consecrated, set apart to the service of their respective Gods. In the one case, the God was pure, and hence his priest was also pure; in the other case, the god was unclean, and so was his priest. Hence, to sanctify a man to be a priest of Jehovah was as to moral character just the opposite from the sanctification of a man as priest of Astarte.
5. Hagios corresponds exactly to Kah-dash. It has the same power, and is used in the same sense in the Old Testament. Its true and proper meaning is "to dedicate, to consecrate." And just as in the case of Kad-hash, it primarily meant to consecrate to the gods, or to God. In the New Testament it differs in one respect from its Old Testament equivalent. Retaining its power to consecrate, it lost the idea of consecrating to others than the true God; but it retained this idea in classic Greek. And as consecration to a god presumed, or resulted in, the same character with that of the god, so consecration to the true God presumes and results in the possession or acquirement of his moral character. No impure being can be dedicated to a pure one. Hence, sanctification in the New Testament always, where moral character is implied, presupposes cleanness, purity. The word, however, means purity only by implication. It is one of its uses; it is not its meaning. We therefore give this definition of the word sanctify, as the representative of these original words, namely: "To consecrate, dedicate, or set apart, with the implication of a moral character like that of the person or thing to which one is sanctified."