An im|)ortant corollarj- from this principle is that there is no such thing as natural or inherent holinessinany class of created objects (] laud. p. 45).
• On the analof^es ttetwcen talioo and the Ileb. laws of uneleaniieKH ami hi'lim^s. see J. O. Knuer, Knrjj,: /fri/.t* art* 'TalHH)' ; and W. K. Sjmilb. lirl. Sftn ' pp. Iflllt.', till in. A coolI account of TalXK) will he found Ln Jevou^ Jutrod. to ihi Uvti-ry 0/ liri chs vl.-viil.
396
H0LIXE8S
HOLINESS
Things arc dean or unclean aeconlinj;; to tlieir natural condition,* ami all that man can do is to reeojjnize the fact ami re^'ulate his nttitmle to thcni accorilin''ly. l!ut things become holy \>y being dcilicatoJ to J", and for nearly every "kind of holy object the law prescribes specilic cere- monies of consecration. Naturally, only things inherently clean could be so dedicated ; hen<e, to some extent, holiness and cleanness are practically identical, and in OT the terms are liable to he interchanged. Nevertheless, the ideas are radically distinct, the category of cleanness is much more comprehensive than that of holiness, and nothing but confusion of thought can result from over- looking the distinction. t
Of all material embodiments of the idea of holiness, the most instructive and the most funda- mental is the 'holy jdace' or sanctuary. J With- out a particular place set apart for religious purposes, there could be no such thing as sacred ohieets or times or even persons in the OT sense (W. R. Smith, Rd. Sem.^ p. 141). A holy place is in the lirst instance a space marked oil, ' .separated,' from common ground (see Ezk 42*), and only to be entered liy those who comply with the conditions of sanctity prescribed by us;ige or law. These conditions may in some cases be very simple (Ex 3°, Jos 5"), in others, as in the central sanctuary of Israel, they are extremely complicated ; but they alwnjs exist, and compliance with them consti- tutes the holiness of the persons concerned. Wliat in Isr.ael makes the holiness of a place is the presence of J", whose nature as the lloly One is expressed in the rules which regulate admission to His dwelling-place. Every sjjot where J" appears to men is holy ground (Ex 3\ Jos 5^') ; even the temporary camp in time of war is consecrated by the jircsence of the God of the armies of Israel (Dt 2.'!'*). The sanctuaries frequented by Israelites in pre-exilic times were the stated places where at set seasons the worshippers appeared before J", and prohably were all regarded as having been consecrated by a Theophany, in accordance with Ex 20-^. When the sacredness of these places was abolished by the law of the one sanctuary, the tenirile of Jerusalem became the sole earthly dwelling-place of J" (Ezk 43', Ps 132'-', Zee 2"> etc.), and the centre from which the whole life of the people was sanctified. The symbolism of the second temple in particular, with its graduated series of sacred spaces culminating in the inmo.st shrine or most holy place, its diH'erent classes of ministers, and its minutely regulated ceremonial, was so designed as to form an im|ire.ssive exhibition to the I.sraelites of the ruling idea of holiness. The quality of holiness pertains also to Mount Zion and Jerusalem (Is 11» 27'*, Zeph 3" etc. ; Is 48^ 52', Dn 9^ etc.), and in a less degree to the whole land (Zee 2'° etc.). There is but one pas.sage dating from before the Exile (Ex 15") in which holiness is directly predicated of the land of Canaan ; but the idea is implied in Hos 9*- * and elsewhere, and must be ancient.
Holy seasons, in like manner, are portions of time set apart from ordinary employments and dedicated to J" by acts of worship (Neh 8»-" 10*'). The chief of such sea.sons was the Sabbath (Gn 2', Ex 20'*- ", Is 58'» etc.). The relation to the cultus
• i.e. from the standpoint of the law and the relijinon generally. There is much to be said for the view that orirjinatti/ unclean- nes3 itself denoted a relation, viz. a relation to "false deities.
t The antithesis of v\p, as has been said, is Sn ; the opposite of -li.l? (clean) is Ncp (unclean). See Baud. p. 22 ft.
t The proper de«i(rnation of a sanctuary is P'npp (used even of the sacred places of the heathen Is 1G12, Ezk 28'*) ; but in the Law the central sanctuary (tabernacle) is more frequently described simply as •b:'"p, sometimes also as utlQ cip^ = ' holy place' (but only in such expressions as 'eat [wash] in a holy place '). enp is also used of the temple in Ezk, Ps, Dn, Ch.
is less ajijiarcnt in the case of the year of Jubih'a (Lv •25'-), hut the separation from common time is equally obvious.
Amongst the various objects belonging to the temple ritual the term holy is applied to the sacnjices (Ex 28" etc.), the shewbrcad (1 S 21"), the incense (Ex 30''- "), the annintin/j oil (which the peo]ile were expressly forbidden to compound for common use, r"x SO-"-''' etc.), the jiricstli/ clothivq (Ezk 42'\ Ex '28-- •■ etc.), etc', etc. (For a complete enumeration, see Baud. p. 44 f.).
II. Hoi-i>fi;ss OF God (and Angels). — From a very early time the word 'holiness' ajjpears to have been used by the Northern Semites to ex- press the general idea of Godhead. In this vague sense it occurs in the Phccnician inscrijition of Eshmunazar in the title ' holy gods,' and the same phrase is found in the mouth of heathen speakers in Dn 4'- •■ " 5". In that expression ' holy ' is not intended to convey any inlormation as to the character of the gods ; it is a mere ' otiose epithet, "the holy "ods" meaning nothing more than " the gods." It will be found that no sense less comprehensive than this sutlices to exjilain the Hebrew usage of the term. There are, no doubt, passages where one special attribute is more iin- meiliately suggested to the mind by the context, but there are others where it is clear that no particular divine tjuality is meant to be predicated, and indeed there is no single attribute which will cover all the a]>plications of the word ' holiness' to <!od. The plural c\'^^P (a so-called pi. of majesty formed after the analogy of D'nS.v) is used of J' almost as ii proper name in Pr 0'" 3lr ('; Hos 12'), and similarly the sing, c'nj in Is 40-^, Job (>'", Hab 3'. A predicate which is thus capable of being ele- vated to a proper name may be presumed to be that which includes all speciiic attributes, viz. divinity. Again, when J" is said to swear by His holiness (Am 4-, Ps 89^, cf. GO" 108'), it might be sujiposed that the expression signifies to swear by that special attribute which is to be exerci.sed in the act promised, just as when He swears by His strength (Is (i'2'). Cut the more natural interpre- tation is, that to swear by His holiness is to swear by His divinity, or, as it is elsewhere expressed, by Himself (Am 6', Gn 22" etc.). It is probably in the same vague sense that the adj. is used of the divine arm (Is .52'", Ps 98'), or the divine icord (Jer 23-', Ps 105'''-). So also in the numerous passages where holiness is predicated of the nitme of God (Am 2', Ezk 2(>'», Lv 20^ etc.), the name of J" being the expression of His whole being as revealed in Israel. Nor is the case different in such expres-sions as 'there is none holy as J"' (1 S 2-). The meaning there is not that among divine beings J" alone possesses the specific attri- bute of holiness, but that He alone is worthy to be regarded as truly divine ; in other words, what is asserted is not anything about His character, but simply His supreme Godhead. t