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קֹ֫דֶשׁ

holiness

also: apartness, sacredness, separateness fuller range ↓

H6944 Strong's Hebrew
qôdesh Transliteration
/ko'-desh/ Pronunciation
Usage in the Hebrew Bible 467 appearances

Compare with another word →

About this entry

At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.

קדש — transliterated qôdesh — is a Hebrew noun carrying the sense “holiness.” Where the King James Version says “holy,” newer translations reach for “holiness” (unfoldingWord Literal Text); the renderings breakdown has the detail. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 380 verses — common. Debuting at Exodus 3:5, it then recurs through the corpus. Alongside “holiness” the lexicon also lists “apartness”, “sacredness”, and “separateness” — part of its full sense range. See the sense tree, 380-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.

Gloss history

Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship

Strong's · 1890
consecrated
Modern gloss
holiness
Strong's 1890 sometimes compressed multiple senses — or homonymous roots — under one number, and used 19th-century English phrasing that no longer carries the same connotation. The modern gloss reflects current BDB scholarship; open the Lexicon Entry tab for the full sense breakdown. Download share card

About this word

Strong's H6944 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.

These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →

380
distinct verses
The word appears in 380 distinct verses.
29 / 39
OT books
The word appears in 29 of 39 Old Testament books.
Exodus 3:5
first appearance
The earliest occurrence is in Exodus 3:5.
Malachi 2:11
last appearance
The latest occurrence is in Malachi 2:11.
#107
by frequency
Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 107 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).

View all 380 occurrences in the concordance →


Most concentrated in

By section of the Old Testament

  • Pentateuch 173 · 46%
  • Historical 64 · 17%
  • Wisdom 46 · 12%
  • Prophets 97 · 26%

By traditional corpus

Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 380 distinct verses.

  • Torah (Pentateuch) 173 verses · 46%
  • Writings (Ketuvim) 106 verses · 28%
  • Prophets (Nevi'im) 101 verses · 27%

How translations render this word

Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).

  • King James Version: Holy 169×, Sanctuary 60×, Holiness 25×
  • American Standard Version: Holy 158×, Sanctuary 65×, Holy things 21×
  • Berean Standard Bible: Holy 167×, Sanctuary 43×, Sacred 28×
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text: Holiness 120×, Holy 95×, Holy place 72×

King James Version Public Domain

Renders H6944 across 469 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Holy” 169×
  • “Sanctuary” 60×
  • “Holiness” 25×
  • “Holy things” 25×
  • “Most” 18×
  • “Is most” 9×
  • “Is holy” 8×
  • “Shall be an holy” 8×
  • “Shall be holy” 8×
  • “Holy thing” 5×
  • “Be holy” 4×
  • “Dedicated things” 4×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 79 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.

American Standard Version Public Domain

Renders H6944 across 470 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Holy” 158×
  • “Sanctuary” 65×
  • “Holy things” 21×
  • “Most” 15×
  • “Shall be holy” 11×
  • “Is most” 10×
  • “Holiness” 9×
  • “Holy thing” 7×
  • “Shall be a holy” 7×
  • “Ye shall have a holy” 6×
  • “Is holy” 5×
  • “Be holy” 4×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 91 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.

Berean Standard Bible Public Domain

Renders H6944 across 437 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Holy” 167×
  • “Sanctuary” 43×
  • “Sacred” 28×
  • “Most” 16×
  • “Most holy place” 13×
  • “Both according to the sanctuary” 12×
  • “Holy place” 12×
  • “According to the sanctuary” 11×
  • “Holy things” 11×
  • “Holiness” 9×
  • “Sacred offerings” 9×
  • “Is holy” 8×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 44 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 31 further occurrences.

unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Renders H6944 across 489 tagged occurrences — most commonly:

  • “Holiness” 120×
  • “Holy” 95×
  • “Holy place” 72×
  • “Holy things” 39×
  • “Sanctuary” 17×
  • “Holies” 15×
  • “Holy thing” 11×
  • “Place” 9×
  • “Holy of” 8×
  • “Holiest” 7×
  • “Holy things of” 5×
  • “Is a holy thing” 5×

Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 31 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.


24 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB

What do BDB’s symbols mean?

BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:

Symbol Meaning
𝔊 the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX)
𝔙 the Vulgate (the Latin translation)
𝔖 the Syriac version (the Peshitta)
𝔗 the Targum (the Aramaic translation)
ψ the Psalms
√ root (the underlying root or stem)
‖ parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel)
† the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited

The 24 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.

  • 1. apartness, sacredness, holiness, of God:
    • a. of divine activity, syn. majesty, בַּקֹּדֶשׁ (of victory), Ex 15:11 (song) ψ 68:18; 77:14; זְרוֹעַ ק׳ holy arm Is 52:10 ψ 98:1. e.g. Exodus 15:11
    • b. to attest his word as inviolable נשׁבע בק׳ Am 4:2 ψ 89:36; cf. דִּבְרֵי ק׳ Je 23:9, דְּבַר ק׳ ψ 105:42. e.g. Amos 4:2
    • c. of his name as sacred, inviolable, separate from all defilement, etc.: שֵׁם קָדְשִׁי Lv 20:3; 22:2, 32 (P), Am 2:7 1 Ch 16:10, 35; 29:16 + 9 times Ez, 5 times ψψ; זֵכֶר ק׳ ψ 30:5 = 97:12; and so e.g. Leviticus 20:3
    • d. רוּחַ קָדְשׁוֹ his holy Spirit Is 63:10, 11, cf. ψ 51:13. e.g. Isaiah 63:10
  • 2. of places set apart as sacred by God’s presence:
    • a. heavenly abode; מעון ק׳ Dt 26:15 Je 25:30; Zc 2:17; 2 Ch 30:27 ψ 68:6; הֵיכַל ק׳ Mi 1:2; Hb 2:20; Jon 2:5, 8 ψ 11:4; מְרוֹם ק׳ ψ 102:20; זְבֻל ק׳ Is 63:15; שְׁמֵי ק׳ ψ 20:7 כסּא ק׳ 47:9; בְּקָדְשׁוֹ 150:1. e.g. Deuteronomy 26:15
    • b. on earth: אַדְמַת ק׳ Ex 3:5 (E), cf. Jos 5:15 (JE) 2 Ch 8:11; הַר קם אלהים Ez 28:14 (cf. p. 249 b). e.g. Exodus 3:5
    • c. (only P and Ch) the tabernacle and its courts Ex 40:9 Nu 3:28 +; tabernacle by itself Ex 38:24; Lv 10:4 +; court Lv 10:17, 18 + (so קדשׁ הקדשׁים †Nu 18:10); the outer room (specific designation; הַקּ׳) Ex 26:33; 28:29 +; inner room Lv 4:6; 16:2 +, but specif. design. קדשׁ הקדשׁים Ex 26:33, 34; 1 Ch 6:34; שֶׁקֶל הק׳ shekel of the sanctuary Ex 30:13 + 24 times P. e.g. Exodus 40:9
    • d. the temple and its precincts 2 Ch 29:7; Dn 8:13 +; שָׂרֵי ק׳ Is 43:28; 1 Ch 24:5; דבּר בְּקָדְשׁוֹ ψ 60:8 = 108:8 (oracle; al. by his holiness, as נשׁבעתי בקדשׁי 89:36), temple by itself 2 Ch 29:5; †בית (ה)ק׳ Is 64:10; 1 Ch 29:3; †הֵיכַל קדשׁך ψ 5:8 = 138:2, 79:1; הַקּ׳ outer room 1 K 8:10 = 2 Ch 5:11; courts of priests Ez 42:14; 44:27(×2); †חצרות קדשׁי Is 62:9; inner room Ez 41:21, 23, specif. †דְּבִיר קדשׁך ψ 28:2; †קדשׁ הקדשׁים 1 K 6:16; 7:50; 8:6; 2 Ch 3:8, 10; 4:22; 5:7; Ez 41:4; †לִשְׁכוֹת הַקּ׳ Ez 42:13; 44:19; 46:19 (v. לִשְׁכָּה 1 c). e.g. 2 Chronicles 29:7
    • e. Jerus. and its hills: מקום קדשׁו Ezr 9:8, עיר הק׳ Is 48:2; 52:1; Ne 11:1, 18, ע׳ קדשׁך Dn 9:24, הר (ה)ק׳ Is 11:9 + 6 times Is 2:3; Je 31:23; Ez 20:40 Jo 2:1; 4:17; Ob 16; Zp 3:11; Zc 8:3; Dn 9:16, 20; 11:45 + 6 times ψψ; גְּבוּל ק׳ ψ 78:54, הַרֲרֵי ק׳ 87:1 prob. also 110:3, ק׳ of city and suburbs in Mess. future Je 31:40 Jo 4:17. Cf. e.g. Ezra 9:8
    • f. (ה)קדשׁ of Zion Ob 17 ψ 20:3; 24:3; 63:3; 68:25, ק׳ קדשׁים Ez 43:12; נְוֵה ק׳ Ex 15:13 of Zion (or Shiloh). e.g. Obadiah 1:17
    • g. of holy land Zp 3:4, אדמת הק׳ Zc 2:16, עָרֵי קדשׁך Is 64:9; future portion of priests ק׳ Ez 45:1(×2) + 11 times Ez; קדשׁ קדשׁים Ez 45:3; 48:12; of Levites קדשׁ Ez 48:14. e.g. Zephaniah 3:4
  • 3. things consecrated at sacred places:
    • a. furniture of tabern. †קדשׁ (ה)קדשׁים Ex 30:10, 29; Nu 4:4, 19; altar of burnt-offering Ex 29:37; 40:10; Dn 9:24; ארון הק׳ 2 Ch 35:3. e.g. Exodus 30:10
    • b. sacrifices of animals Nu 18:17; Ez 36:38; 2 Ch 29:33; sacrificial food Lv 21:22; Nu 5:9 +; †קדשׁ (ה)קדשׁים Lv 2:3, 10; 6:10, 18, 22; 7:1, 6; 10:12, 17; 14:13; Nu 18:9(×2) (all P), Ez 42:13(×2) 2 Ch 31:14 Ezr 2:63 = Ne 7:65; tithe was קדשׁ Lv 27:30 +, also first loaves of new harvest Lv 23:20; fruit of trees of 4th year Lv 19:24. e.g. Numbers 18:17
    • c. any consecrated thing: ‖ vows Dt 12:26; Pr 20:25 +, house Lv 27:14, field Lv 27:21, 23; treasures consecrated to treasury of tabern. or temple Jos 6:19 (E) 1 K 7:51 +; consecrated things in gen. Ex 28:38 (P); Ez 20:40; 22:8 +; these may be †קדשׁ (ה)קדשׁים Ez 44:13, so חֵרֶם Lv 27:28. e.g. Deuteronomy 12:26
    • d. anointing oil of priest Ex 30:25(×2) + 5 times (P), ψ 89:21; incense Ex 30:35, 37, ק׳ קדשׁים v 36; shew-bread 1 S 21:5, קדשׁ (ה)ק׳ Lv 24:9 (P); foretold of common articles, ק׳ לי׳ Zc 14:20, 21. On ק׳ הקדשׁים v. also Di Ex 26:33; Lv 21:22 WeComp. 160 f. Dr Dn 9:24. e.g. Exodus 30:25
  • 4. persons sacred by connex. with sacred places:
    • a. priests Lv 21:6; 2 Ch 23:6; 31:18 Ezr 8:28, garments of priesthood Ex 28:2, 4 + 7 times Ex, Lv 16:4, 32 Ez 42:14, specif. of h. priest כתנת ק׳ Lv 16:4, נֵזֶר הק׳ Ex 29:6; 39:30 Lv 8:9; inscription on head piece קדשׁ ליהוה Ex 28:36; 39:30. e.g. Leviticus 21:6
    • b. of Israel, קדשׁ לי׳ Je 2:3, היתה לקדשׁו ψ 114:2, עם (ה)קדשׁ Is 62:12; Dn 12:7, עם קדשׁך Is 63:18; (ה)קדשׁ זֶרַע Is 6:13; Ezr 9:2; אַנְשֵׁי קדשׁ Ex 22:30 (R), and so spoil for their use Is 23:18; holy adornment הַדְרַת ק׳ 1 Ch 16:29; 2 Ch 20:21 ψ 29:2; 96:9; הַדְרֵי ק׳ ψ 110:3 (but read הַרְרֵי see 2 e; הָדָר 1); covt. between God and his people ברית ק׳ Dn 11:28, 30(×2). e.g. Jeremiah 2:3
  • 5. times consecrated to worship: שׁבת Ex 16:23; 31:14, 15; 35:2 (P) Ne 9:14; of שׁבת also יום ק׳ Is 58:13; disting. from שׁבת Ne 10:32; יובל Lv 25:12 (P); assembly called at stated times for worship מקרא(י) ק׳ Ex 12:16(×2) + 17 times Lv 23 Nu 28 (all P). e.g. Exodus 16:23
  • 6. of things and persons ceremonially cleansed, and so separated as sacred; things 1 S 21:6; flesh Je 11:15; Mal 2:11; priests cleanse thus, 1 Ch 23:13, 28; בין (ה)קדשׁ לחל Ez 22:26; 42:20; 44:23; בין הק׳ ובין החל Lv 10:10; דֶּרֶךְ הק׳ Is 35:8 way of the clean; שְׂאוּ יְדֵכֶם ק׳ ψ 134:2; לְבֵיתְךָ נֵאֲוָה־קּ׳ ψ 93:5.— e.g. 1 Samuel 21:6
  • מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ Dt 33:2 is lit. from myriads of sacredness, sacred myriads; but ‖ suggests n.pr.loc., 𝔊 σὺν μυριάσιν Καδής, מִמְּרִבַת קָדֵשׁ from Meribah Kadesh Di Buhl Steuern.; or (מִן om.) to M. Kadesh WeProl. 364; 3rd ed. 359; Hist. 344; v. קָדֵשׁ and Dr Dt. e.g. Deuteronomy 33:2

Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.


Word origin

n.m. apartness, sacredness (opp. חֹל Lv 10:10 + 4 times Ez);—abs. ק׳ Ex 3:5 +; קוֹדֶשׁ Dn 11:30; cstr. קֹדֶשׁ Ex 30:36 +; sf. קָדְשִׁי Lv 20:3 +, etc.; pl. קָֽדָשִׁים Ex 29:37 +, הַקֳּדָשִׁים 26:33 +; cstr. קָדְשֵׁי Lv 22:15 +; sf. קָֽדָשַׁי Ez 22:8 + 3 times, קֳדָשֶׁיךָ †Dt 12:26, קֳדָשָׁיו Nu 5:10; 2 K 12:19, קָֽדָשָׁיו †2 Ch 15:18, etc.;—

— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.

Derived from קדש (qâdash) (H6942) — to consecrate.

Part of speech: Noun Masculine TWOT: 1990a


Jastrow Dictionary

A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.

קָדשׁ

  • , v. קָדוֹשׁ

קָדַשׁ

  • (b. h.) [to be cut off, separated, v. Ges. Hebr. Dict.12 s. v.; cmp. פָּרַשׁ,] to be, become pure, sacred, holy. Y. Sabb. III, 5ᵈ bot.; ib. IV, end, 7ᵃ ק׳ עליו היום the day became holy upon him, i.e. the Sabbath commenced while he was engaged in doing something. Meïl. II, 8 (10ᵃ) קָדְשׁוּ בכלים (Talm. ed. קדשן) after they have become sacred by being put in a sacred vessel (v. infra); Shebu. 11ᵃ (Ms. F. קידשן). Bekh. 4ᵇ קדשו בכורות וכ׳ the firstborn in the desert were consecrated; a. fr.
    • 1. to sanctify, esp. ק׳ שם שמים, or ק׳ את השם to sanctify the name of the Lord, to manifest fidelity to religion by noble deeds, by martyrdom &c. Sot. 10ᵇ; 36ᵇ יוסף שק׳ שם וכ׳ Joseph who sanctified the name … in secret (when he resisted temptation); יהודה שק׳ וכ׳ Judah who sanctified … in public (when he admitted his guilt, Gen. XXXVIII, 26); a. fr. e.g. Genesis 38:26
    • 2. to sanctify, consecrate; to purify, keep pure. Ber. 17ᵃ טהר וקַדֵּשׁ עצמך מכל וכ׳ keep thyself clean and pure (aloof) from every guilt &c. Yoma 39ᵃ (ref. to Lev. XI, 44) … אדם מְקַדֵּשׁ מְקַדְּשִׁין אותו הרבה if a man sanctifies himself a little (trains himself to self-restraint), they (the divine agencies) will help him much to sanctify him; מלמטה מקדשין אותו מלמעלה if he (sanctifies himself) below, they will sanctify him from above; בעולם הזה מקדשין וכ׳ he in this world, they will declare him holy in the hereafter. Yeb. 20ᵃ, a. e. קדש עצמך במותר לך sanctify thyself by self-restraint from what is permitted to thee. Ḥag. 3ᵇ, a. e. קִדְּשָׁהּ לשעתה, v. קְדוּשָּׁה. Sebu. 15ᵃ … כל הכלים מְקַדַּשְׁתָּן as regards all vessels that Moses made, the ointing of them gave them their sacred character; Snh. 16ᵇ מקדשן (corr. acc.). Men. 95ᵇ תנור מְקַדֵּשׁ the oven (the baking of the showbread) gives it its sacred character. Ib. 100ᵃ כלי שרת מְקַדְּשִׁין the vessels of the service consecrate (the things put into them); a. v. fr.—Part. pass. מְקוּדָּשׁ; f. מְקוּדֶּשֶׁת; pl. מְקוּדָּשִׁים &c. Sabb. 55ᵃ (ref. to Ez. IX, 6) א"ת מקדשי אלא מְקוּדָּשַׁי וכ׳ read not miḳdashi (my sanctuary) but m’ḳuddashai (my sanctified ones), that means those who fulfilled the whole Law &c.; Ab. Zar. 4ᵃ. Zeb. 115ᵇ (ref. to Ps. LXVIII, 36 מִמִּקְדָּשֶׁיךָ) read מִמְּקוּדָּשֶׁיךָ וכ׳ ‘from thy sanctified ones’, when the Lord passes judgment on his holy servants &c.; a. fr. e.g. Leviticus 11:44
    • 3. (with, or sub., ידיו ורגליו) to wash hands and feet prior to a sacred act. Yoma III, 6. Ib. IV, 5. Ib. 22ᵃ; a. fr.
    • 4. to prepare the water of lustration (Num. XIX). Par. VI, 1 המקדש ונפל הקִדּוּשׁ על ידו if he prepares the lustration, and some of the consecrated water falls upon his hand. Ib. 2 נוטל ומקדש he may take (of the ashes) and prepare the water with them. Ib. 3 המקדש בשוקת וכ׳ he who puts ashes into a large vessel of water; a. fr.
    • 5. (of seasons) to proclaim the sanctity of esp., a) (ק׳ החדש) to proclaim in court that the new month had begun (v. infra). R. Hash. II, 7 אם לא … אין מקדשין אותו שכבד קִדְּשׁוּהוּ שמים unless the new moon is seen in its due time (on the evening of the twenty-ninth day), no announcement is made, for the heavens have already proclaimed it (and the new month begins with the thirty-first day). Ib. 24ᵃ בין כך שנים אתה מקדש וכ׳ … in neither case is the ceremony of announcement required, for we read (Lev. XXV, 10), ‘ye shall sanctify the fiftieth year’, years thou must sanctify &c. Ex. R. s. 15 אני ואתם נְקַדֵּשׁ את החדש I and you, let us (as a court) proclaim the month (of Nisan); a. fr.—Part. pass. as ab. R. Hash. II, 7 ראש ב"ד אומר מק׳ וכ׳ the president of the court says, ‘(the new month is) proclaimed’, and all the people say after him, ‘proclaimed, proclaimed.’ Ib. III, 1 נחקרו … ולא הספיקו לומר מק׳ וכ׳ when the witnesses were examined, and the court had no time to say m’ḳuddash before night set in; a. e.—b) ק׳ השבת, היום to pronounce the sanctity of the Sabbath, the Holy Day &c., to recite the Sabbath or the festive benediction (over wine), to say Ḳiddush. Pes. 105ᵃ מי שלא ק׳ בע"ש מקדש וכ׳ he who fails to bless the Sabbath on the Sabbath eve, may do so during the entire day. Ib. 106ᵇ טעם אינו מקדש if a man tasted something without Ḳiddush, he must not bless the Sabbath; Ib. 107ᵃ טעם מקדש even if he has tasted something, he must bless the Sabbath. Ib. כגון זה ראוי לקַדֵּשׁ עליו a beverage like this is fit for Ḳiddush; a. fr. e.g. Leviticus 25:10
    • 6. ק׳ אשה [to consecrate a woman,] a) to betroth (expl. Kidd. 2ᵇ לישנא דרבנן דאסר לה … כהקדש the rabbinical term, in place of the Biblical קנה,—because he makes her forbidden to others like a consecrated object, v. הֶקְדֵּשׁ). Kidd. II, 1 האיש מקדש בו וכ׳ a man may betroth a woman either in person or through a deputy. Ib. 41ᵃ אסור לאדם שיְקַדֵּשׁ … עד וכ׳ a man is forbidden to betroth a woman to himself, before he has seen her. Ib. II, 4 האומר … צא וקַדֵּשׁ … והלך וקִדְּשָׁהּ וכ׳ if a man said to his deputy, go and betroth to me that certain woman in that certain place, and he went and betrothed her in a different place, she is not betrothed (the betrothal is invalid); a. v. fr.—Part. pass. מְקוּדֶּשֶׁת; pl. מְקוּדָּשׁוֹת. Ib. הרי זו מק׳ in such a case the betrothal is binding. Ib. 7; a. fr.—b) (of the father of a minor נַעֲרָה) to accept a betrothal in behalf of one’s daughter. Ib. 1 האיש מקדש את בתו וכ׳ a man may accept his daughter’s betrothal, if she is a naʿărah, either in person or through a deputy. Ib. 41ᵃ אסור לאדם שיקדש את בתו וכ׳ a man is forbidden to betroth his daughter as a child, (but must wait,) until she is grown up and says, I like this man; a. fr.
    • 7. to cause a thing to be prohibited, esp. (by ref. to Deut. XXII, 9) by planting seeds in a vineyard, or vines among seeds; to cause condemnation. Kil. IV, 5 הזורע … ק׳ שורה אחת if a person sows within four cubits of a vineyard, he has caused the condemnation of one row of vines. Ib. V, 5 הרי זה מקדש ארבעים וכ׳ he has made forty-five vines forbidden. Ib. VII, 2 גפן … ואינה מְקַדֶּשֶׁת to plant seeds near a dried-up vine is forbidden, but it (the vine) does not cause the condemnation of the seeds. Ib. 3 אלו אוסרין ולא מְקַדְּשִׁין the following plants make the planting of seeds in their neighborhood forbidden, but do not cause condemnation of the seeds, if planted, or their own condemnation. Ib. 5 אין אדם מקדש דבר וכ׳ no man can cause condemnation of a thing not his own. Ib. הרי זה ק׳ וכ׳ he has caused the condemnation of his neighbor’s seeds and must pay damages; a. fr. e.g. Deuteronomy 22:9
    • 1. to be sanctified, glorified as holy. Yeb. 79ᵃ מוטב … ויִתְקַדֵּשׁ שם וכ׳ let a letter of the Law be uprooted (disregarded), but let the name of God be sanctified in public. Tanḥ. Sh’mini 1 מִתְקַדֵּשׁ אני שם במכבדי there (at the dedication of the Tabernacle) I shall be sanctified by (the death of) those that honor me. Lev. R. s. 12; a. fr.
    • 2. to be consecrated, dedicated; (of the New Moon) to be proclaimed. R. Hash. 21ᵇ יכול … עד שיִתְקַדְּשׁוּ וכ׳ you may have thought, as well as the Sabbath is to be disregarded (by the witnesses travelling to the seat of the court), until they (the months) are proclaimed, it may also be disregarded (by the messengers carrying the announcement), until they are established. Ex. R. s. 15 היה הכהן … והכלי מִתְקַדֶּשֶׁת the priest received in it some sacred object, by which the vessel was consecrated; וכלי חול מִתְקַדֵּשׁ and a profane vessel became sacred. Shebu. 15ᵃ אין העזרה מִתְקַדֶּשֶׁת וכ׳ the Temple hall was not consecrated, until the priests ate therein the remnants of the meal-offering. Ib. 16ᵃ תחתונה נִתְקַדְּשָׁה בכל אלו the lower reservoir became consecrated through all these (ceremonies mentioned); a. fr.
    • 3. (of mixed seeds) to be condemnable, condemned. Kil. VII, 7 מאימתי … מתקדשת from what time are seeds of grain (planted among vines) to be condemned? Ib. אין מִתְקַדְּשׁוֹת are not to be condemned; a. fr.
    • 4. to be betrothed. Kidd. II, 1 האשה מתקדשת בה וכ׳ a woman may be betrothed in person or through her deputy. Ib. האומר … הִתְקַדְּשִׁי לי וכ׳ if a man says to a woman, be betrothed to me with this fig. Ib. 45ᵇ נִתְקַדְּשָׁה לדעת אביה וניסת וכ׳ if she (the minor) was betrothed with her father’s consent, but was married without it; a. fr.
    • 5. to sanctify one’s self. Sifra Vayikra, N’dab., ch. II, Par. 2 מי שהוא עתיד להִתְקַדֵּשׁ he that is ready to sanctify himself (by vowing a sacrifice).
    • 1. to be sanctified; to become consecrated. Tem. 14ᵃ כאן לִיקָּדֵשׁ כאן ליקרב in the one case it refers to being consecrated (by being put in a sacred vessel), in the other to being offered. Bekh. 4ᵇ הוֹזהרו … ליקדש they were admonished concerning the firstborn, that they be consecrated; a. e.
    • 2. to be betrothed. Kidd. 48ᵃ if she says, עשה לי … ואֶקָּדֵשׁ וכ׳ make for me chains &c., and I shall be betrothed unto thee.
    • 1. to cause sanctification. Zeb. 115ᵇ לא מתו … להַקְדִּישׁ שמו וכ׳ thy (Aaron’s) sons died only in order to give thee an opportunity to sanctify the name of the Lord.
    • 2. to sanctify, dedicate an object as Temple property (Lev. XXVII, 14-24). Arakh. VI, 2 המַקְדִּישׁ נכסיו וכ׳ if a person dedicates his property to the Temple, but owes his (divorced) wife her k’thubah (כְּתוּבָּה) &c. Ib. VII, 1 אין מַקְדִּישִׁין לפני היובל וכ׳ you cannot dedicate landed property within less than two or three years before the jubilee. Ib. 3 הִקְדִּישָׁהּ וגאלה if he dedicated and then redeemed it. Ib. 5 אין אדם מַקְדִּישׁ דבר וכ׳ nobody can dedicate a thing not belonging to him. B. Kam. VII, 2; a. v. fr. e.g. Leviticus 27:14
    • to be dedicated, consecrated. Meïl. II, 8 המנחות … משהוּקְדָּשׁוּ the law concerning misappropriation of sacred things applies to meal-offerings as soon as they have been dedicated. Ib. 1 משהוּקְדָּשָׁה as soon as it has been designated for a sin-offering; a. fr.—Part. מוּקְדָּשׁ; f. מוּקְדֶּשֶׁת; pl. מוּקְדָּשִׁים &c. Ned. V, 6 (48ᵃ) אם … הרי הם מוק׳ לשמים if they are mine, be they dedicated to the Lord. Ib. כל מתנה … מקודשת אינה מתנה (read: מוקדשׁת) a gift which is not made so that if the recipient dedicates it to sacred use, it is dedicated, is no gift. Bekh. V, 1 כל פסולי המוק׳ all dedicated sacrifices which became unfit for the altar; a. fr.

קְדַשׁ

  • , to be sanctified, sacred (v. קְדוֹשׁ). Shebu. 15ᵇ שתי הלחם … דקַדְשֵׁי (Rashi דמִיקַּדְּשֵׁי Ithpa.) it is through the slaughtering of the sheep that the two loaves received their sacred character. Bekh. 4ᵇ דקְדוּשׁ קדוש וכ׳ those firstborn that were consecrated, were consecrated &c.
    • as preced. Pi., to sanctify; to proclaim; to betroth &c. Targ. Ex. XXVIII, 41. Ib. XXIX, 1 לקַדָּשָׁא (Y. לקַדְשָׁא). Ib. 44; a. fr.—Targ. Y. Deut. XX, 7 (not דקָדֵישׁ; h. text ארש). Ib. XXII, 16 (h. text נתתי); a. e.—Shebu. 16ᵃ ועזרא קַדּוּשֵׁי ק׳ וכ׳ and Ezra consecrated (the various places), although the Urim and Tummim were no longer extant. Pes. 106ᵃ עיקר קידושא … דכי ק׳ תחלת יומא בעי לקַדּוּשֵׁי the actual sanctification of the Sabbath must take place in the evening, for when one sanctifies the Sabbath, one must sanctify the beginning of the day. Ib. ליקַדֵּישׁ לן וכ׳ please, sir, recite for us the great Ḳiddush, v. קִידּוּשָׁא. Ib. 101ᵃ לקדושי בביתא to recite the Ḳiddush in the house. Ib. 106ᵇ זימנין … מקדש אריפתא at times, when he cared more for bread, he recited the Ḳiddush over bread.—R. Hash. 25ᵃ זיל … וקַדְּשֵׁיה וכ׳ go to ‘En-Ṭab and proclaim the New Moon Day. Ib. אמר … בעינן לקדושי בך וכ׳ he said (to the moon), to-night we desire to initiate the new month through thee, and thou standest here? Ib.ᵇ ולִיקַדְּשֵׁיה בליליא Ms. M. and we may proclaim it at night. Shebu. 15ᵇ דעד דקַדֵּישׁ יומא וכ׳ so that immediately after one has recited the blessing at the exit of the day (הַבְדָּלָה), one might finish the building and consecrate it.—Kidd. 50ᵇ באתרא דמְקַדְּשֵׁי והדר מסבלי where it is customary to send the gifts after betrothal, v. סְבַל. Ib. 59ᵃ לקדושי … לבריה to betroth a wife for his son (as his deputy); a. v. fr.—Part. pass. מְקַדַּשׁ; f. מְקַדְּשָׁא, &c. Shebu. l. c. תרוייהו … מְקַדְּשֵׁי both of them are consecrated at the same time. Ib. חדא מי מק׳ how can even one of them be consecrated?—Pes. 101ᵃ ולא מק׳ לכו בבית אכילה (Ms. M. 2 מתקדש) and no Ḳiddush will be recited for you in your dining place; a. fr.
    • ; Ithpe. אִיקְּדִישׁ to sanctify one’s self; to be sanctified; (of mixed seeds) to be condemnable; (of woman) to be betrothed. Targ. Ex. XXIX, 37. Targ. Lev. XX, 7. Targ. O. ib. X, 3; a. fr.—Kidd. 54ᵃ ירושלים מי מִיקַּדְּשָׁא is Jerusalem itself consecrated ground? Ned. 31ᵃ כיון דאיק׳ אברהם וכ׳ when Abraham was consecrated (as the bearer of religion), they (the Israelites) were called after him (they are no longer included among ‘the sons of Noah’).—Keth. 62ᵇ אי מִיקַּדַּשְׁנָא (some ed. מְקַדַּשְׁנָא) if I consent to be betrothed unto thee, wilt thou go to college? Ib. אִיקַּדְּשָׁא ליה וכ׳ she was betrothed to him in secret, and she sent him (Akiba) away (to study). Kidd. 9ᵃ אי … מִיקַּדְּשַׁת לי if I give it thee, wilt thou be betrothed to me? Ib. 12ᵃ אשה … לא מִיקַּדְּשָׁא a woman cannot be betrothed with a P’ruṭah; a. fr.—Pes. 105ᵃ זיל חזי אי מִקְּדִישׁ יומא (Ms. M. קדיש) go and see whether the sacred day has begun.
    • 1. to sanctify, dedicate. Targ. Lev. XXVII, 14 (Y. ed. Vien. יִקְדַּשׁ). Ib. 15. Targ. Jud. XVII, 3; a. fr.
    • 2. to betroth. Kidd. 9ᵇ עד דמַקְדִּישׁ והדר בעיל (Rashi דמקדש) until he betroth her and consummates. Ib. 12ᵃ ההוא גברא דא׳ וכ׳ a man betrothed a woman with a piece of &c., v. כּוֹחֲלָא. Ib. 12ᵇ; a. fr. (interch. with Pa.).

קַדֵּשׁ

  • m., v. קַדִּישׁ

קָדֵשׁ

  • [cut off, rejected, cmp. חרם] sodomite. Sifré Deut. 260 ק׳ חמור the sodomite whose crime is the severer one (v. infra).—Pl. קְדֵשִׁים. Esth. R. to I, 9 (expl. מעולל, Is. III, 12) ק׳ בהון sodomites were among them (with ref. to ויתעללו, Jud. XIX, 25).—Fem. קְדֵשָׁה prostitute. Sifré l. c. ק׳ קלה the Ḳ’deshah whose crime is a minor one (compared with that of the Ḳadesh). e.g. Isaiah 3:12

קֶדֶשׁ

  • (b. h.) pr. n. pl. Kedesh in Naftali, one of the cities of refuge. Macc. 9ᵇ. Y. Meg. I, 70ᵃ bot., v. אַגָּנָא.

קַדַשׁ

  • , v. נוּנָא

קֹדֶשׁ

  • , v. קוֹדֶשׁ, קוֹדַשׁ, קוּדְשָׁא.

A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.


Forms in the corpus

The 128 distinct written forms H6944 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.

Form Parsing Example Uses
הַ/קֹּ֑דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 28:29 34
קֹ֖דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Daniel 12:7 25
קֹ֥דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Daniel 9:20 22
קֹ֑דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Daniel 11:28 21
קֹ֣דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 29:37 20
הַ/קֹּ֔דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 26:33 19
הַ/קֹּֽדֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 35:21 18
קֹֽדֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Daniel 8:14 13
הַ/קֹּ֖דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 29:6 13
הַ/קֹּ֨דֶשׁ֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 29:29 13
קָדְשֽׁ/וֹ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Isaiah 63:11 12
קֹ֨דֶשׁ֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezra 8:28 10
קָדְשׁ֑/וֹ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Ezra 9:8 9
הַ/קֳּדָשִֽׁים Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Exodus 26:33 8
קֹ֔דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 12:16 8
קֹ֤דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezekiel 22:26 7
הַ/קֳּדָשִׁ֑ים Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Ezekiel 42:13 7
קָדְשִׁ֑/י Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Ezekiel 36:20 7
קָדְשִֽׁ/י Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Amos 2:7 7
קָדְשֵׁ֣י Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct Ezekiel 42:13 6
קָֽדָשִׁ֖ים Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Exodus 30:36 6
הַ/קֳּדָשִׁ֗ים Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Exodus 28:38 5
הַ/קֹּ֜דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 28:35 5
קָדְשֶׁ֑/ךָ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Daniel 9:16 5
קָדְשֶֽׁ/ךָ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Exodus 15:13 5
קֹ֛דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 16:23 5
בַּ/קֹּ֑דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 15:11 4
הַ/קֳּדָשִׁ֖ים Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Leviticus 21:22 4
קָֽדָשִׁ֖ים Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Leviticus 2:3 4
בַּ/קֹּ֔דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 28:43 3
בַּ/קֹּ֖דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Leviticus 6:30 3
בַּ/קֹּֽדֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 29:30 3
הַ/קֳּדָשִׁ֔ים Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 2 Chronicles 3:8 3
הַ/קֳּדָשִׁים֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 1 Chronicles 26:26 3
הַ/קֹּ֗דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezekiel 42:13 3
קָ֝דְשְׁ/ךָ֗ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Psalms 5:7 3
קָדְשְׁ/ךָ֖ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Isaiah 63:15 3
קָדְשִׁ֔/י Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Joel 2:1 3
קֹ֜דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 28:4 3
בְּ/קֹ֖דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Numbers 4:16 2
קֹ֨דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Exodus 30:31 2
קֹדֶשׁ֩ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Leviticus 23:36 2
בְּ/קָדְשׁ֗/וֹ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Psalms 60:6 2
בַּ/קֹּ֗דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Numbers 4:12 2
בַּ/קֹּ֣דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Psalms 63:2 2
הַ/קְּדָשִׁ֑ים Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Ezekiel 44:13 2
הַ/קֹּ֣דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Deuteronomy 26:13 2
הַ/קֹּדֶשׁ֮ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute Ezekiel 48:10 2
וְ/קָדְשֵׁ֖י Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct 1 Kings 15:15 2
לְ/קֹ֣דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct 1 Kings 7:50 2
מִ/קָּדְשֵׁ֖י Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct Leviticus 5:15 2
מִ/קֹּ֣דֶשׁ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Ezra 2:63 2
קָֽדָשִׁ֔ים Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Exodus 29:37 2
קָֽדָשִׁ֥ים Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Absolute Leviticus 27:28 2
קָדְשׁ֔/וֹ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct 1 Chronicles 16:10 2
קָדְשׁ֗/וֹ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Psalms 11:4 2
קָדְשׁ֣/וֹ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Psalms 3:4 2
קָדְשִׁ/י֙ Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Ezekiel 20:39 2
קָדְשִׁ֖/י Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Ezekiel 39:7 2
קָדְשִׁ֗/י Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct Ezekiel 43:8 2

The 60 most common forms are shown; 68 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.


Same root — word family

Other BDB entries built from the same root as H6944, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.

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Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 6 — not the complete family. 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.


Septuagint verse parallels

This word appears in 356 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 380 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.

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