What does “Holy” mean in Hebrew?

Various people in the Bible encountered manifestations of God’s Holiness. One key text that always comes to mind is the experience of Isaiah the prophet when he saw the vision of Israel God sitting on the heavenly throne. Remember?

It was the year of death of a righteous King of Judah and the people found it very hard to cope with the loss of such a good king. That is when it all happened. In that vision, Isaiah saw something that caught his attention. He saw the angels of God’s presence before the great throne of God. They were calling out to each other:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole Earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3)

"קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת; מְלֹא כָל-הָאָרֶץ, כְּבוֹדוֹ"
"kadosh kadosh kadosh adonai tsvaot; melo hol haarets kvodo"

The word Kadosh (holy) is recorded here not once, not twice, but three times in a row – a common Hebraic way to emphasize something. So what does Holy mean in Hebrew?

The word “Kadosh” (holy) means something that is “other” (set a part) - the exact opposite of the something that is common. The word is pregnant with the sense of sanctity and consecration. When Moses thought of the word to use in describing the most important place in the Tabernacle, where Israel’s God dwelled, he called it – the Holy of Holies!

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