Menu
G40 ἅγιος (hágios)
Greek 📖 Word Study
‹ G39 Greek Dictionary G41 ›

Quick Definition

ἅγιος, ία, ον Adj set apart, holy, sacred

Strong's Definition

from hagos (an awful thing) (compare 53, 2282); sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated)

KJV Usage: (most) holy (one, thing), saint

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

adjc. | -α, -ον | ἁγιάζω

88.24 · Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior · Holy, Pure

holy, pure, divine pertaining to being holy in the sense of superior moral qualities and possessing certain essentially divine qualities in contrast with what is human

MAT 1:18 · MAT 1:20 · MAT 3:11 · MAT 12:32 · MAT 28:19 · MRK 1:8 · MRK 1:24 · MRK 3:29 · MRK 8:38 · MRK 12:36 · MRK 13:11 · LUK 1:15 · LUK 1:35 · LUK 1:35 · LUK 1:41 · LUK 1:67 · LUK 2:25 · LUK 2:26 · LUK 3:16 · LUK 3:22 · LUK 4:1 · LUK 4:34 · LUK 9:26 · LUK 10:21 · LUK 11:13 · LUK 12:10 · LUK 12:12 · JHN 1:33 · JHN 6:69 · JHN 14:26 · JHN 17:11 · JHN 20:22 · ACT 1:2 · ACT 1:5 · ACT 1:8 · ACT 1:16 · ACT 2:4 · ACT 2:33 · ACT 2:38 · ACT 3:14 · ACT 3:21 · ACT 4:8 · ACT 4:25 · ACT 4:27 · ACT 4:30 · ACT 4:31 · ACT 5:3 · ACT 5:32 · ACT 6:5 · ACT 7:33 · ACT 7:51 · ACT 7:55 · ACT 8:15 · ACT 8:17 · ACT 8:19 · ACT 9:17 · ACT 9:31 · ACT 10:22 · ACT 10:38 · ACT 10:44 · ACT 10:45 · ACT 10:47 · ACT 11:15 · ACT 11:16 · ACT 11:24 · ACT 13:2 · ACT 13:4 · ACT 13:9 · ACT 13:52 · ACT 15:8 · ACT 15:28 · ACT 16:6 · ACT 19:2 · ACT 19:2 · ACT 19:6 · ACT 20:23 · ACT 20:28 · ACT 21:11 · ACT 21:28 · ACT 28:25 · ROM 1:2 · ROM 5:5 · ROM 7:12 · ROM 7:12 · ROM 9:1 · ROM 11:16 · ROM 11:16 · ROM 12:1 · ROM 14:17 · ROM 15:13 · ROM 15:16 · ROM 16:16 · 1CO 6:19 · 1CO 7:34 · 1CO 12:3 · 1CO 16:20 · 2CO 6:6 · 2CO 13:12 · 2CO 13:13 · EPH 1:4 · EPH 1:13 · EPH 4:30 · EPH 5:27 · COL 1:22 · 1TH 1:5 · 1TH 1:6 · 1TH 4:8 · 1TH 5:26 · 2TI 1:9 · 2TI 1:14 · TIT 3:5 · HEB 2:4 · HEB 3:7 · HEB 6:4 · HEB 8:2 · HEB 9:2 · HEB 9:8 · HEB 9:8 · HEB 9:12 · HEB 10:15 · HEB 10:19 · HEB 13:11 · 1PE 1:12 · 1PE 1:15 · 1PE 1:15 · 1PE 1:16 · 1PE 1:16 · 1PE 2:5 · 1PE 2:9 · 2PE 1:18 · 2PE 1:21 · 2PE 2:21 · 2PE 3:2 · 2PE 3:11 · 1JN 2:20 · JUD 1:14 · JUD 1:20 · JUD 1:20 · REV 3:7 · REV 4:8 · REV 4:8 · REV 4:8 · REV 6:10 · REV 14:10 · REV 20:6 · REV 22:11

53.46 · Religious Activities · Dedicate, Consecrate

devout, godly, dedicated pertaining to being dedicated or consecrated to the service of God In some languages it is essential to distinguish between ἅγιος and ὅσιος when these refer to God (see 88.24) and when they refer to persons or objects which have been consecrated to the service of God. It is both theoretically and practically advantageous to make a significant distinction in meaning on the basis of these contextual differences which occur in the Greek NT. It is not difficult to translate ἅγιος and ὅσιος by expressions meaning ‘dedicated to God,’ ‘devout,’ ‘pious,’ etc., but it may be extremely difficult to translate ἅγιος and ὅσιος when applied to God. In some languages one can only use an expression such as ‘he who is truly God’ or ‘he who is in every respect God.’

MAT 4:5 · MAT 7:6 · MAT 24:15 · MAT 27:53 · MRK 6:20 · LUK 1:49 · LUK 1:70 · LUK 1:72 · LUK 2:23 · ACT 6:13 · ROM 1:7 · 1CO 1:2 · 1CO 3:17 · 1CO 7:14 · EPH 1:4 · EPH 2:21 · EPH 3:5 · COL 3:12 · HEB 3:1 · 1PE 3:5 · REV 11:2 · REV 21:2 · REV 21:10 · REV 22:19

11.27 · Groups and Classes of Persons and Members of Such Groups and Classes · Socio-Religious

Collocation: οἱ ἅγιοι

God’s people persons who belong to God, and as such constitute a religious entity In rendering οἱ ἅγιοι it is important to avoid an expression which means ‘sanctified,’ for the focus is not upon a particular state of holiness, but upon a special relationship with God. Those who are spoken of as οἱ ἅγιοι may also be admonished to become sanctified.
In a number of respects, οἱ ἅγιοι is similar in meaning to λαός[b] 'people of God' (11.12) and to ἀδελφός[b] 'fellow believer' (11.23).

MAT 27:52 · ACT 9:13 · ACT 9:32 · ACT 9:41 · ACT 26:10 · ROM 8:27 · ROM 12:13 · ROM 15:25 · ROM 15:26 · ROM 15:31 · ROM 16:2 · ROM 16:15 · 1CO 1:2 · 1CO 6:1 · 1CO 6:2 · 1CO 14:33 · 1CO 16:1 · 1CO 16:15 · 2CO 1:1 · 2CO 8:4 · 2CO 9:1 · 2CO 9:12 · 2CO 13:12 · EPH 1:1 · EPH 1:15 · EPH 1:18 · EPH 2:19 · EPH 3:8 · EPH 3:18 · EPH 4:12 · EPH 5:3 · EPH 6:18 · PHP 1:1 · PHP 4:21 · PHP 4:22 · COL 1:2 · COL 1:4 · COL 1:12 · COL 1:26 · 1TH 3:13 · 2TH 1:10 · 1TI 5:10 · PHM 1:5 · PHM 1:7 · HEB 3:1 · HEB 6:10 · HEB 13:24 · JUD 1:3 · REV 5:8 · REV 8:3 · REV 8:4 · REV 11:18 · REV 13:7 · REV 13:10 · REV 14:12 · REV 16:6 · REV 17:6 · REV 18:20 · REV 18:24 · REV 19:8 · REV 20:9

7.18 · Constructions · Buildings

Collocation: τὸ ἅγιον

sanctuary (derivative of ἅγιος[a], 'holy', 88.24) the movable tabernacle or the temple in Jerusalem as a consecrated place ἅγιος[d] and ἅγιος[e] should be translated in essentially the same way as ναός[a] (7.15).

MAT 24:15 · ACT 6:13 · ACT 21:28 · HEB 9:1

7.18 · Constructions · Buildings

Collocation: τὰ ἅγια

sanctuary (derivative of ἅγιος[a], 'holy', 88.24) the movable tabernacle or the temple in Jerusalem as a consecrated place ἅγιος[d] and ἅγιος[e] should be translated in essentially the same way as ναός[a] (7.15).

HEB 8:2 · HEB 9:24

7.35 · Constructions · Parts and Areas of Buildings

Collocation: ἅγια ἁγίων · τὰ ἅγια

the holy place, (most) holy place the interior (either the outer or the inner of the two rooms) of the sanctuary of the Jerusalem Temple or of the earlier tabernacle or of a corresponding ‘spiritual holy place,’ perhaps regarded as being in heaven The inner room was more specifically identified by the phrase ἅγια ἁγίων, literally ‘holy of holies’ HEB 9:3, a Hebrew idiom indicating superlative degree. The inner sanctuary could also be referred to as ‘within the curtain’ (τὸ ἐσώτερον τοῦ καταπετάσματος HEB 6:19). See ἅγιος[a] (88.24) and 7.18.
The outer room of the sanctuary may be referred to in some languages as simply ‘the first room of the Holy Temple’ or ‘the first holy room of the Temple.’ The holy of holies may be referred to as ‘the most holy place’ or ‘the second holy room of the Temple’ or ‘the interior holy room of the Temple.’ What is important here is the degree of holiness, not so much the actual location within the Temple. It is for this reason that for the ‘holy of holies’ many translators use ‘the most sacred place’ or ‘the very, very sacred room.’ In this type of context the term ‘sacred’ may be rendered as ‘dedicated especially to God’ or ‘consecrated to God.’

HEB 9:2 · HEB 9:3 · HEB 9:3 · HEB 9:8 · HEB 9:12 · HEB 9:24 · HEB 9:25 · HEB 10:19 · HEB 13:11

1 There may be certain subtle distinctions in the two sets of meanings in 88.24, those with the stem ἁγ- and those with the stem ὁσ-, but this cannot be determined with any degree of certainty from existing contexts.

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

ἅγιος, -a, -ov, (fr. τὸ dyos religious awe, reverence ; dl, ἅζομαι, to venerate, revere, esp. the gods, parents, [Curtius § 1187), rare in prof. auth.; very frequent in the sacred writ.; in the Sept. for wap; 1. properly reverend, worthy of veneration: τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ, Lk. i. 49; God, on account of his incomparable majesty, Rev. iv. 8 (Is. vi. 3, ete.), i. q. ἔνδοξος. Hence used a. of things which on account of some connection with God possess a certain distinction and claim to reverence, as places sacred to God which are not to be profaned, Acts vii. 83; τόπος ἅγιος the temple, Mt. xxiv. 15 (on which pass. see βδέλυγμα, ¢.); Acts vi. 13; xxi. 28; the holy land or Palestine, 2 Mace. i. 29; ii. 18; τὸ ἅγιον and τὰ ἅγια [W. 177 (167)] the temple, Heb. ix. 1, 24 (cf. Bleek on Heb. vol. ii. 2, p. 477 sq.) ; spec. that part of the temple or tabernacle which is called ‘the holy place’ (WAPD, Ezek. xxxvii. 28; xlv. 18), Heb. ix. 2 [here Rect reads ἁγία]; ἅγια ἁγίων [ W. 246 (231), cf. Ex. xxix. 87; xxx. 10, ete.] the most hallowed portion of the temple, ‘the holy of holies,’ (Ex. xxvi. 33 [ef. Joseph. a ἅγιος antt. 8, 6, 47), Heb. ix. 8, in ref. to which the simple τὰ ἅγια is also used: Heb. ix. 8, 25; x. 19; xiii. 11; fig. of heaven, Heb. viii. 2; ix. 8,12; x. 19; ἁγία πόλις Jerusalem, on account of the temple there, Mt. iv. 5; xxvii. 53; Rev. xi. 2; xxi. 2; xxii. 19, (Is. xlviii. 2; Neh. xi. 1,18 [Compl.], ete.) ; τὸ ὄρος τὸ ἅγιον, because Christ’s transfiguration occurred there, 2 Pet. i. 18; ἡ (θεοῦ) ἁγία διαθήκη i. 6. which is the more sacred because made by God himself, Lk. i. 72; τὸ ἅγιον, that worshipful offspring of divine power, Lk. i. 35; the blessing of the gospel, Mt. vii. 6; ἁγιωτάτη πίστις, faith (quaecredituri.e.the object of faith) which came from God and is therefore to be heeded most sacredly, Jude 20; in the same sense ἁγία ἐντολή, 2 Pet. ii. 215 κλῆσις ἁγία, because it is the invitation of God and claims us as his, 2 Tim. i. 9; ἅγιαι γραφαί (τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια, 1 Mace. xii. 9), which came from God and contain his words, Ro. i. 2. b. of persons whose services God employs; as for example, apostles, Eph. iii. 5; angels, 1 Th. iii. 13; Mt. xxv. 31 [Rec.]; Rev. xiv. 10; Jude 14; prophets, Acts iii. 21; Lk. i. 70, (Sap. xi. 1); (oi) ἅγιοι (τοῦ) θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι, 2 Pet. i. 21 [ἢ GL Tr txt.]; worthies of the O. T. accepted by God for their piety, Mt. xxvii. 52; 1 Pet. iii. 5. 2. set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively his; foll. by a gen. or dat.: τῷ κυρίῳ, Lk. ii. 23; τοῦ θεοῦ (i. 4. ἐκλεκτὸς τοῦ θεοῦ) of Christ, ΜΚ. i. 24; Lk. iv. 34, and ace. to the true reading in Jn. vi. 69, cf. x. 36; he is called also ὁ ἅγιος παῖς τοῦ θεοῦ, Acts iv. 30, and simply ὁ ἅγιος, 1 Jn. ii. 20. Just as the Israelites claimed for themselves the title οἱ ἅγιοι, because God selected them from the other nations to lead a life acceptable to him and rejoice in his favor and protection (Dan. vii. 18, 22; 2 Esdr. viii. 28), so this appellation is very often in the N. T. transferred to Christians, as those whom God has selected ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου (Jn. xvii. 14, 16), that under the influence of the Holy Spirit they may be rendered, through holiness, partakers of salvation in the kingdom of God: 1 Pet. ii. 9 (Ex. xix. 6), ef. vs. 5; Acts ix. 13, S27 41... χχυ]. 10; ΝΟ: 1 1: Ville 27: Xi. Los) Xvi. 15 1 Co. vi. 1, 2; Phil. iv. 21 sq.; Col. i. 12; Heb. vi. 10; Jude 3; Rev. v. 8, etc.; [ef. B. D. Am. ed. 8. v. Saints]. 3. of sacrifices and offerings; prepared for God with solemn rite, pure, clean, (opp. to ἀκάθαρτος) : 1 Co. vii. 14, (cf. Eph. v. 3); connected with ἄμωμος, Eph. i. 4; y. 27; Col. i. 22; ἀπαρχή, Ro. xi. 16; θυσία, Ro. xii. 1. Hence 4. in a moral sense, pure, sinless, upright, holy: 1 Pet. i. 16 (Lev. xix. 2; xi. 44); 1 Co. vii. 34; δίκαιος x. ἅγιος, of John the Baptist, Mk. vi. 20; ἅγιος x. δίκαιος, of Christ, Acts iii. 14; distinctively of him, Rev. iii. 7; vi. 10; of God pre-eminently, 1 Pet. i. 15; Jn. xvii. 115 ἅγιαι ἀναστροφαί, 2 Pet. iii. 11; νόμος and ἐντολή, i. 6. containing nothing exceptionable, Ro. vii. 12; φίλημα, such a kiss as is a sign of the purest love, 1 Th. v. 26; 1 Co. xvi. 20; 2 Co. xiii. 12; Ro. xvi. 16. On the phrase τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα and τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, see πνεῦμα, 4 ἃ. Cf. Diestel, Die Heiligkeit Gottes, in Jahrbb. f. deutsch. Theol. iv. p. 1 sqq.; [Baudissin, Stud. z. Semitisch. Religionsgesch. Heft ii. p. 8 sqq.; Delitzsch in Herzog ed. 2, v. 714 sqq.; esp.] Cremer, Worterbuch, 4te Aufl. p. 32 sqq. [trans. of 2d ed. p. 34 sqq-; Oehler in Herzog xix. 618 sqq.; Zezschwitz, Profangricitit τι. 5. w. p. 15 sqq.; Trench § Ixxxviil. ; Campbell, Dissertations, diss. vi., pt. iv. ; esp. Schmidt ch. 181].

Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary

ἅγιος hagios 233x

separate from common condition and use; dedicated. Lk. 2:23; hallowed; used of things, τὰ ἅγια, the sanctuary; and of persons, saints, e.g., members of the first Christian communities; pure, righteous, ceremonially or morally; holy

Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon

ἅγιος, -α, ον

(< τό ἅγός, religious awe; ἅζω, to venerate), [in LXX chiefly for קֹ֫דֶשׁ;]

primarily, dedicated to the gods, sacred (Hdt.; rare in Att., never in Hom., Hes. and Trag., who use ἁγνός), hence, holy, characteristic of God, separated to God, worthy of veneration. Its highest application is to God himself, in his purity, majesty, and glory: Lk 1:49, Jo 17:11, Re 4:8. Hence of things and places which have a claim to reverence as sacred to God, e.g. the Temple: Mt 24:15, He 9:1;

of persons employed by him, as angels: I Th 3:13; prophets, Lk 1:70; apostles, Eph 3:5.

Applied to persons as separated to God's service: of Christ, Mk 1:24, Jo 6:69, Ac 4:30;

of Christians, Ac 9:13, Ro 1:7, He 6:10, Re 5:8.

In the moral sense of sharing God's purity: Mk 6:20, Jo 17:11, Ac 3:14, Re 3:7.

Of pure, clean sacrifices and offerings: I Co 7:14, Eph 1:4.

SYN.: ἁγνός, pure, both in ceremonial and spiritual sense; ἱερός (sacer), sacred, that which is inviolable because of its (external) relation to God; ὅσιος (sanctus as opp. to nefas), that which is based on everlasting ordinances of right. (Cf. Tr., Syn., §lxxxviii; DB, ii, 399 f.; Cremer, 34, 594-601; MM, VGT, s.v.)

Trench — Synonyms of the New Testament

‘Iepos, probably the same word as the German ‘hehr’ (see Curtius, Grundziige, vol. v. p. 369), never in the N. T., and very seldom elsewhere, implies any moral excellence. It is singular how seldom the word is found there, indeed only twice (1 Cor. ix. 13; 2 Tim. iii. 15) ; and only once in the Septuagint (Josh. vi. 8: ἱεραὶ cadrvyyes); four times in 2 Maccabees, but not else in the Apocrypha; being in none of these instances employed of persons, who only are moral agents, but always of things. To persons the word elsewhere also is of rarest application, though examples are not wanting. Thus ἱερὸς ἄνθρωπος is in Aristophanes (Rane, 652) a man initiated in the mysteries ; kings for 328 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § uxxxvut. Pindar (Pyth. v. 97 [Diss., 131 Heyn.]) are ἱεροί, as having their dignity from the gods; for Plutarch the Indian gymnosophists are ἄνδρες ἱεροὶ καὶ αὐτόνομοι (De Alex. Fort. i. 10); and again (De Gen. Socr. 20), ἱεροὶ καὶ δαιμόνιοι ἄνθρωποι: and compare De Def. Orac. 2. ‘lepds (τῷ θεῷ ἀνατεθειμένος, Suidas) answers very closely to the Latin ‘sacer’ (‘quidquid destinatum est diis sacrwm vocatur’), to our sacred.” It is that which may not be violated, the word therefore being constantly linked with ἀβέβηλος (Plutarch, Quest. Rom. 27), with ἄβατος (Ibid.), with ἄσυλος (De Gen. Socr. 24); this its inviolable character springing from its relations, nearer or. remoter, to God; and @etos and ἱερός being often joined together (Plato, Tim. 45 a). At the same time the relation is contemplated merely as an external one; thus Pillon (Syn. Grees): “ ἅγιος exprime Vidée de sainteté naturelle et intérieure ou morale; tandis qu’ ἱερός, comme le latin sacer, n’exprime que Vidée de sainteté extérieure ou d’inviolabilité consacrée par les lois ou la coutume.’? See, however, Sophocles, Gdip. Col. 287, which appears an exception to the absolute universality of this rule. Tittman: ‘In voce ἱερός proprie nihil aliud cogitatur, quam quod res queedam aut persona Deo sacra sit, nulla ingenii morumque ratione habiti; imprimis quod sacris inservit.? Thus the ἱερεύς is a sacred person, as serving at God’s altar; but it is not in the least implied that he 15. ὦ holy one as well; he may be a Hophni, a Caiaphas, an Alexander Borgia (Grinfield, Schol. in N. T., p. 397). The true antithesis to ἱερός is βέβηλος (Plutarch, Quest. Rom. 27), and, though not so perfectly antithetic, μιαρός (2 Mace. v. 16). “Ὅσιος is oftener grouped with δίκαιος for purposes of discrimination, than with the words here associated with it; and undoubtedly the two constantly keep company together; thus in Plato often (Theet. 176b; Rep. x. 615 b; Legg. ii. 663 δὴ); in Josephus (Anét. viii. 9. 1), and in the N. T. (Tit. i. 8); and soalso the derivatives from these ; δΊΧχχγαι. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 329 ὁσίως and δικαίως (1 Thess. ii. 10) ; ὁσιότης and δικαιοσύνη (Plato, Prot. 329 δ; Luke i. 75 ; Ephes. iv. 24; Wisd. ix. 3; Clement of Rome, Cor. 48). The distinction too has been often urged that the ὅσιος is one careful of his duties toward God, the δίκαιος toward men; and in classical Greek no doubt we meet with many passages in which such a distinction is either openly asserted or implicitly involved: as in an often quoted passage from Plato (Gorg. 507 δ): καὶ μὴν περὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τὰ προσήκοντα πράττων, δίκαι ἂν πράττοι, περὶ δὲ θεοὺς ὅσια... Of Socrates, Marcus Antoninus says (vii. 66), that he was δίκαιος Ta πρὸς ἀνθρώπους, ὅσιος τὰ πρὸς θεούς : cf. Plutarch, Demet. 24; Charito, i. 10. 4; and ἃ large collection of passages in Rost and Palm’s Lexicon,s.v. There is nothing, however, which warrants the transfer of this distinction to the N. T., nothing which would restrict δίκαιος to him who should fulfil accurately the precepts of the second table (thus see Luke i. 6; Rom.i. 17; 1 John ii. 1); or ὅσιος to him who should fulfil the demands of the first (thus see Acts 11. 27; Heb. vii. 26). It is beforehand unlikely that such distinction should there find place. In fact the Scripture, which recognizes all righteousness as one, as growing out of a single root, and obedient toa single law, gives no room for such an antithesis as this. He who loves his brother, and fulfils his duties towards him, loves him in God and for God. The second great commandment is not coordinated with the first greatest, but subordinated to, and in fact included in, it (Mark xii. 30, 31). If ἱερός is ‘sacer,’ ὅσιος is ‘sanctus’ (=‘sancitus’), ‘quod sanctione antiqué et preecepto firmatum?’ (cf. Augus1 Not altogether so in the Luthyphro, where Plato regards τὸ δίκαιον, or δικαιοσύνη, as the sum total of all virtue, of which ὁσιότης or piety is apart. In this Dialogue, which is throughout a discussion on the ὅσιον, Plato makes Euthyphro to say (12 6): τοῦτο τοίνυν ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ, ὦ Σώκρατες, τὸ μέρος τοῦ δικαίου εἶναι εὐσεβές τε καὶ ὅσιον, τὸ περὶ τὴν τῶν θεῶν θεραπείαν: τὸ δὲ περὶ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ λοιπὸν εἶναι τοῦ δικαίου μέρος. Socrates admits and allows this ; indeed, has himself forced him to it, 330 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. διυχχχυιπ. tine, De Fid. et Symb. 19), as opposed to “ pollutus.’ Some of the ancient grammarians derive it from ἅξεσθαι, the Homeric synonym for σέβεσθαι, rightly as regards sense, but wrongly as regards etymology; the derivation indeed of the word remains very doubtful (see Pott, Htym. Forschung. vol. i. p. 126). In classical Greek it is far more frequently used of things than of persons; ὁσία, with βουλή or δίκη understood, expressing the everlasting ordinances of right, which no law or custom of men has constituted, for they are anterior to all law and custom; and rest on the divine constitution of the moral universe and man’s relation to this, on that eternal law which, in the noble words of Chrysippus, is πάντων βασιλεὺς θείων τε καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων : cf. Euripides, Hecuba, 799801. Thus Homer (Odyss. xvi. 423): οὐδ᾽ ὁσίη κακὰ ῥάπτειν ἀλλήλοισιν. The ὅσιος, the German ‘ fromm,’ is one who reverences these everlasting sanctities, and owns their obligation ; the word being joined with εὐσεβής (2 Mace. xii. 45), with evopxos (Plato, Rep. ii. 363 d), with θεῖος (Plutarch, De Def. Orac. 40); more than once set over against ἐπίopxos (Xenophon, Anab. ii.6.25). Those things are ἀνοσία, which violate these everlasting ordinances; for instance, a Greek regarded the Egyptian custom of marriage between a brother and sister, still more the Persian between a mother and son, as ‘incestum’ (incastum), μηδαμῶς ὅσια as Plato (Legg. viii. 838 δ) calls them, mixtures which no human laws could ever render other than abominable. Such, too, would be the omission of the rites of sepulture by those from whom they were due, when it was possible to pay them; if Antigone, for instance, in obedience to the edict of Creon, had suffered the body of her brother to remain unburied (Sophocles, Antig. 74). What the ὅσιον is, and what are its obligations, has never been more nobly declared than in the words which the poet puts into her mouths οὐδὲ σθένειν τοσοῦτον φόμην τὰ σὰ κηρύγμαθ᾽, ὥστ᾽ ἄγραπτα κἀσφαλὴ θεῶν νόμιμα δύνασθαι θνητὸν ὄνθ᾽ ὑπερδραμεῖν (453-5). Compare an instructive passage in Thucydides, ii. 52, where ἱερά and ὅσια occur together, Plato in like manuer (Legg. ix. 878 b) joining them with one another. This character of the ὅσιον as anterior and superior to all human enactments, puts the same antithesis between ὅσια and νόμιμα as exists between the Latin ‘ fas’ and ‘jus.’ When we follow ὅσιος to its uses in sacred Greek, we find it, as was inevitable, gaining in depth and intensity of meaning ; but otherwise true to the sense which it already had in the classical language. We have a striking testimony for the distinction which, in the minds of the Septuagint translators at least, existed between it and ἅγιος, in the very noticeable fact, that while ὅσιος is used some thirty times as the rendering of ὙΠ (Deut. xxxiii. 8; 2 Sam. xxii. 26; Ps. iv. 4), and ἅγιος nearly a hundred times as that of 72 (Exod. xix.6; Num. vi. 5; Ps. xv. 3), in no single instance is ὅσιος used for this, or ἅγιος for that; and the same law holds good, I believe, universally in the conjugates of these; and, which is perhaps more remarkable still, of the other Greek words which are rarely and exceptionally employed to render these two, none which is used for the one is ever used for the other; thus καθαρός, used for the second of these Hebrew words (Num. v. 17), is never employed for the first; while, on the other hand, ἐλεήμων (Jer. iii. 12), πολυέλεος (Exod. xxXxiv. 6), εὐλαβής (Mic. vii. 2), used for the former, are in no single instance employed for the latter. “Aytos=AIP (on the etymology of which word see the article in Herzog’s Real-Encyclopddie, Heiligkeit Gottes) and dyvos have been often considered different forms of one and the same word. At all events, they have in common that root ‘AI’, reappearing as the Latin ‘sac’ in * sacer,’ ‘sancio,’ and many other words. It will thus be 332 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § Uxxxvul. only natural that they should have much in common, even while they separate off, and occupy provinces of meaning which are clearly distinguishable one from the other. “Ayos is a word of rarest use in Attic Greek, though Porson is cert.inly in error when he says (on Euripides, Med. 750; and compare Pott, Etymol. Forsch. vol. lil. p. 577) thut iti; never used by the tragic poets; for see Alschylus, Suppl. 851. Itsfundamental idea is separation, and, so to speak, consecration and devotion to the service of Deity ; thus ἱερὸν μάλα ἅγιον, a very holy temple (Xenophon, Hell. iii. 2. 19); it ever lying in the word, as in the Latin ‘sacer,’ that this consecration may be as ἀνάθημα or ἀνάθεμα (see back, page 16). Note in this point of view its connexion with dys, dyos : which last it may be well to observe is recognized now not as another form of ἄγος, and as being indeed no more than the Ionie form of the same word, but fundamentally distinct (Curtius, Grundziige, Ὁ. 155 sqq.). - But the thought lies very near, that what is set apart from the world and to God, should separate itself from the world’s defilements, and should share in God’s purity; and in this way ἅγιος speedily acquires a moral significance. The children of Israel must be an ἔθνος ἅγιον, not merely in the sense of being God’s inheritance, a λαὸς περιούσιος, but as separating themselves from the abominations of the heathen nations round (Lev. xix. 2; xi. 44); while God Himself, as the absolutely separate from evil, as repelling from Himself every possibility of sin or defilement, and as warring against these in every one of his creatures,! obtains this title of ἅγιος by highest right of all (Lev. x. 3; 1 Sam. ii. 2; Rev. ili. 7; iv. 8). It is somewhat different with ἁγνός. “᾿Αγνεία (1 Tim. 1 When Quenstedt defines the holiness of God as ‘ summa omnis labis expers in Deo puritas,’ this, true as far as it goes, is not exhaustive. One side of this holiness, namely, its intolerance of unholiness and active war against it, is not brought out. § uxxxvi. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 333 iv. 12; v. 2) in the Definitions which go by Plato’s name too vaguely and too superficially explained (414 a) εὐλάβεια τῶν πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς ἁμαρτημάτων" τῆς θεοῦ τιμῆς κατὰ φύσιν θεραπεία : too vaguely also by Clement of Alexandria aS TOV ἁμαρτημάτων ἀποχή; or again as φρονεῖν ὅσια (Strom. v. 1); is better defined as ἐπίτασις σωφροσύνης by Suidas (it is twice joined with σωφροσύνη in the Apostolic Fathers : Clement of Rome, Cor. 64; Ignatius, Zphes. 20), as ἐλευθερία παντὸς μολυσμοῦ σαρκὸς Kal πνεύματος by Phavorinus. “Αγνός (joined with ἀμίαντος. Clement of Rome, Cor. 20) is the pure ; sometimes only the externally or ceremonially pure, as in this line of Huripides, ἁγνὸς γάρ εἰμι χεῖρας, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τὰς φρένας (Orestes, 1604; cf. Hippolytus, 316, 317, and ἁγνίζειν as = ‘ expiare,’ Sophocles, Ajax, 640). This last word never rises higher in the Septuagint than to signify a ceremonial purification (Josh. iii. 5; 2 Chron. xxix. 5; cf. 2 Mace. i. 33); neither does it rise higher in four out of the seven occasions on which it occurs in the N. T. (John xi. 55; Acts xxi. 24, 26; xxiv. 18, which is also true of ἁγνισμός, Acts xxi. 26). ‘ Ayvos however signifies often the pure in the highest sense. It isan epithet frequently applied to heathen gods and goddesses, to Ceres, to Proserpine, to Jove (Sophocles, Philoct. 1273) ; to the Muses (Aristophanes, Rane, 875; Pindar, Olymp. vii. 60 [Diss., 109 Heyn.], and Dissen’s note); to the Seanymphs (Euripides, Iphig. in Aul. 982); above all in Homer to Artemis, the virgin goddess, and in Holy Scripture to God Himself (1 John iii. 3). For this nobler use of dyvos in the Septuagint, where, however, it is excessively rare as compared to ἅγιος, see Ps. xi. 7; Prov. xx.9. As there are no impurities like those fleshly, which defile the body and 1 In the vestibule of the temple of Aisculapius at Epidaurus were inscribed these lines, which rank among the noblest utterances of the ancient world. They are quoted by Theophrastus in a surviving fragment of his work, Περί Εὐσεβείας : - 35} ἁγνὸν χρὴ ναιοῖο θυώδεος ἐντὸς ἰόντα » ἔμμεναι" ἁγνείη δ᾽ ἔστι φρονεῖν ὄσια. 234 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § uxxxix. the spirit alike (1 Cor. vi. 18, 19), so dyvés is an epithet predominantly employed to express freedom from these (Plutarch, Prec. Cunj. 44; Quest. Rom. 20; Tit. ii. 5; ef. Herzog, Real-Encyclop. s. v. Keuschheit); while sometimes in a still more restricted sense it expresses, not chastity merely, but virginity; as in the oath taken by the priestesses of Bacchus (Demosthenes, Adv. Newram, 1371): εἰμὶ καθαρὰ καὶ ἁγνὴ ἀπ᾽ ἀνδρὸς συνουσίας : with which compare ἀκήρατος γάμων τε ἁγνός (Plato, Legg. viii. 840 e; and Euripides, Hippolytus, 1016) ; ἁγνεία too sometimes owns a similar limitation (Ignatius, ad Polyc. 5). If what has been said is correct, Joseph, when tempted to sin by his Egyptian mistress (Gen. xxxix. 7-12), approved himself ὅσιος, in reverencing those everlasting sanctities of the marriage bond, which God had founded, and which man could not violate without sinning against Him: “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” he approved himself ἅγιος in that he separated himself from any unholy fellowship with his temptress ; he approved himself ἁγνός in that he kept his body pure and undefiled. δ Ixxxix. φωνή, λόγος.

Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT

ἅγιος. The adjective is common as a title of the gods in the inscriptions, e. σ. OGZS 3781 (A.D. 18-9) θεῷ ἁγίῳ ὑψίστῳ : cf. 26, 721' ὃ δαδοῦχος τῶν ἁγιωτάτων ᾿Εἰλευσῖνι μυστηρίων. The superlative may be further illustrated (cf. Jude?) from the oldest recovered Christian letter P Amh I. 3(a)iii 22f. (between A.D. 264 (265) and 282 (281)) τοῖς κατ᾽ αἰὐτὸν ἁγιωτάτοις προ[εστῶσι]: cf. Deissmann Z4Z, p. 192 ff. For τὸ ἅγιον as “temple” cf. OGZS 56° (the Canopus inscr. of Ptolemy III, B.c. 239) καθιδρῦσαι [sc. ἄγαλμα Χρυσοῦν διάλιθον] ἐν τῶι ἁγίωι. : ἁγιότης, ἁγιωσύνη. ᾿Αγιότης, as a title, is found in the late P Giss I. 55° (vi/A.D.) addressed by one “‘ papa” or ‘‘ bishop ” to another --ἠξιώθην. . . γράψαι πρ[ὸ]ς τὴν σὴν ἁγιότητα]. Fora similar use of ἡ ἁγιωσύνη with reference to an ἐπίσκοπος, see the Pe/agfa-Legenden (ed. Usener) p. 107, cf. p. 84, On the “‘profane” warrant for ἁγιωσύνη, and the naturalness of coining (with ἱερ(ε)ωσύνη for model), see the remarks on ἀγαθωσύνη above. ayxady. With the use of ἀγκάλη in Lk 2%, cf. OG/S 56 (Canopus decree, B.C. 239) (τις) τῶν... ἱερέων πρὸς τὸν στολισμὸν τῶν θεῶν οἴσει ἐν ταῖς ἀγκαλαῖς. For the derived sense of “bundle” (ἡ. δ. ‘‘armful”) see P Lond 131 vecto *7 (a.p. 78-9) (=I. p. 183) δεσμεύων ἀγκάλας, P Oxy VI. 935!8 ". (iii/A.D.) ἡ μεταφὶ ορὰ] τῶν ἀνκαλῶν ἔστε εὐθέως ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός, ““1ῆε transport of the bundles will be performed immediately by my father” (Edd.).

Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon

ἅγιος (hagios) — holy. ἅγιος [ᾰ], α, ον, devoted to the gods:

I. in good sense, sacred, holy:

I.1. of things, especially temples, ἈΦροδίτης ἱρὸν ἅ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἱρο᾽ν Ἡρακλέος ἅ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]; μητρός.. ἐστι πατρὶς ἁγιώτερον[Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἅ., τό, temple, [LXX+NT]Holy of Holies, [NT]

I.2. of persons, holy, pure, [LXX+5th c.BC+] οἱ ἅ. the Saints, [NT] πνεῦμα ἅ. the Holy Spirit, [NT] adverb ἁγίως καὶ σεμνῶς ἔχειν[Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. in bad sense, accursed, execrable, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; rare in Attic dialect (see. above). (Possibly cognate with Sanskrit yajati 'sacrifice'.)

ἅγιος (hagios) — holy: saint. ἅγιος [ᾰ], α, ον, devoted to the gods:

I. in good sense, sacred, holy:

I.1. of things, especially temples, ἈΦροδίτης ἱρὸν ἅ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἱρο᾽ν Ἡρακλέος ἅ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]; μητρός.. ἐστι πατρὶς ἁγιώτερον[Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἅ., τό, temple, [LXX+NT]Holy of Holies, [NT]

I.2. of persons, holy, pure, [LXX+5th c.BC+] οἱ ἅ. the Saints, [NT] πνεῦμα ἅ. the Holy Spirit, [NT] adverb ἁγίως καὶ σεμνῶς ἔχειν[Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. in bad sense, accursed, execrable, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; rare in Attic dialect (see. above). (Possibly cognate with Sanskrit yajati 'sacrifice'.)

Everything we make is available for free because of a generous community of supporters.

Donate