Hebrew and Greek Words for the Sanctuary and the Veil by O. A. JOHNSON

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 5, 1916

Hebrew and Greek Words for the Sanctuary and the Veil

By O. A. JOHNSON

O. A. JOHNSON

There are two Hebrew words in the Old Testament translated “sanctuary.” The first is miqdash; it occurs seventy-three times, and is translated “sanctuary” sixty-nine times. The following references will show the corresponding Greek words in the Septuagint,—the Greek of the Old Testament,—in the texts given:—

Text	Hebrew	Greek	English
Ex. 25:8	miqdash	hagiasma	sanctuary
Num. 3:38	miqdash	hagion, gen. sing.	sanctuary
Lev. 19:30	miqdash	hagion, gen. pl.	sanctuary

The other Hebrew word translated “sanctuary” is qodesh; it is found about four hundred times in the Old Testament. It really means “holy,” and is generally so translated; but since the sanctuary is a holy place, whenever qodesh refers to this building, it is translated “sanctuary,” which is sixty-four times.

The following will illustrate the Greek word used in the Septuagint corresponding to qodesh in Hebrew:—

Text	Hebrew	Greek	English
Lev. 4:6	qodesh	hagion, nom. sing.	sanctuary
Lev. 10:4	qodesh	hagion, gen. pl.	sanctuary

From the above it is evident that the Greek word hagion, both in the singular and in the plural, is translated “sanctuary.” However, it would not be safe to say that the only Greek word for “sanctuary” in the Septuagint was hagion, for other words also are used. See, for example, above where hagiasma is used in Ex. 25:8 [also hagiasterion in Lev. 12:4.—Ed.].

The Greek word for “sanctuary” in the New Testament is hagion in the singular and hagia or hagiōn in the plural. The following is a complete list of this word, and how it has been translated in our Authorized and American Revised Versions, and in the Norwegian and Danish translations.

Text	Greek	King James Version	American Revised Version	Nor. & Danish Translations
Heb. 8:2	hagion, gen. pl.	sanctuary	sanctuary	sanctuary
Heb. 9:1	hagion, acc. sing.	sanctuary	sanctuary	sanctuary
Heb. 9:2	hagia, nom. pl.	sanctuary	holy place	the holy
Heb. 9:3	hagia hagiōn	holiest of all	holy of holies	the holiest
Heb. 9:8	hagion, gen. pl.	holiest of all	holy place	sanctuary
Heb. 9:12	hagia, acc. pl.	holy place	holy place	sanctuary
Heb. 9:24	hagia, acc. pl.	holy place	holy place	sanctuary
Heb. 9:25	hagia, acc. pl.	holy place	holy place	sanctuary
Heb. 10:19	hagion, gen. pl.	holiest	holy place	sanctuary
Heb. 13:11	hagia, nom. pl.	sanctuary	holy place	sanctuary

From the context it will be seen that the Greek word hagia, nominative plural (Heb. 9:2), refers to the first apartment of the sanctuary, and is therefore properly translated “the holy place,” as in the American Revised Version. The Greek words hagia, nominative plural, and hagiōn, genitive plural, of Heb. 9:3, refer, as may be seen from the context, to the second apartment of the sanctuary, and are therefore properly translated either “the holiest of all,” or “the holy of holies,” or “the holiest.”

Robinson’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament defines hagion as follows: “To hagion: the sanctuary, spoken of the tabernacle or temple (Heb. 9:1); oftener plural, ta hagia, the sanctuary, either terrestrial (Heb. 9:2) or celestial (Heb. 8:2; 9:8, 12, 24; 10:19; Heb. 9:3); ta hagia hagiōn, the holy of holies, the inner sanctuary.”

By reading the context of Heb. 9:8, 12, 24, 25; 10:19; 13:11, it will be readily seen that the work of Christ, our High Priest, in the heavenly sanctuary is such as was performed in both apartments of the typical sanctuary, therefore it would have been more consistent to have translated the plural Greek words hagia and hagiōn (see table above) uniformly by “holy places” or “sanctuary,” as in the Norwegian and Danish translations; for then it would have been less difficult to understand the apostle’s teaching concerning the sanctuary in this epistle, which is the only book in the New Testament using the word “sanctuary.”

The Veils

There was a court surrounding the tabernacle, or sanctuary. At the entrance of this court there was a hanging, or veil. Ex. 27:9-18. The sanctuary had two apartments, called the holy and the most holy. There was a veil at the entrance of the holy place, and there was also a veil separating the holy place from the most holy place. Ex. 26:31-37.

The following shows which words are used in the Hebrew and Septuagint to indicate the veils, and the corresponding words in our English version:—

1. The hanging at the door of the outer court.

Text	Hebrew	Greek	English
Ex. 27:16	masak	kalumma	hanging
Num. 3:26	masak	katapetasma	curtain

2. Veil at the door of the tabernacle.

Text	Hebrew	Greek	English
Num. 3:25	masak	katakalumma	hanging
Ex. 26:36	masak	epispastron	hanging
Ex. 28:37	masak	katapetasma	hanging

3. Veil separating the holy from the most holy.

Text	Hebrew	Greek	English
Num. 3:31	masak	kalumma	hanging
Ex. 27:21	masak	katapetasma	veil

By comparing Num. 3:31 with Ex. 40:3 and Num. 4:5, it will be seen that the hanging of Num. 3:31 must be the one which veiled the ark.

From the above we learn that the Hebrew masak and the Greek word kalumma, or katapetasma, are terms applied to these three hangings. It is furthermore evident that the Greek words katakalumma and epispastron are used also to designate the veil at the door of the tabernacle, while the Hebrew word paroketh is used to designate the veil between the holy and the most holy.

The Katapetasma is the only Greek word found in the New Testament to indicate the hanging of the temple or the sanctuary, and is in each case translated “veil.” See Matt. 27:5; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45; Heb. 6:19; 9:3; 10:20.

The author of the epistle to the Hebrews uses the word katapetasma, modified by the numeral “second,” when referring to the veil separating the holy from the most holy place. It would therefore naturally follow that when the same author uses the term “veil,” katapetasma, unmodified, he would mean the first veil, or the one at the entrance to the sanctuary, through which Christ our High Priest must have entered when he began his ministry in the sanctuary above. See Heb. 6:19; 10:20.