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Holy of Holies
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Holy of Holies
The Holy of Holies (Biblical Hebrew: קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים, romanized: Qoḏeš haq-Qŏḏāšim) or Devir (הַדְּבִיר had-Dəḇir 'the Sanctuary') is a term in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle, where the Shekhinah (God's presence) appeared. According to Hebrew tradition, the area was defined by four pillars that held up the veil of the covering, under which the Ark of the Covenant was held above the floor. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Ark contained the Ten Commandments, which were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. The first Temple in Jerusalem, called Solomon's Temple, was said to have been built by King Solomon to keep the Ark.
Jewish traditions viewed the Holy of Holies as the spiritual junction of the Seven Heavens and Earth, the "axis mundi".
As a part of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies was situated somewhere on Temple Mount; its precise location is a matter of dispute, with some classical Jewish sources identifying its location with the Foundation Stone, which sits under the current Dome of the Rock. Other Jewish scholars argue that contemporary reports would place the Temple to the north or east of the Dome of the Rock.
The Crusaders associated the Holy of Holies with the Well of Souls, a small cave that lies underneath the Foundation Stone in the Dome of the Rock.
The construction "Holy of Holies" is a translation of the Hebrew, which is intended to express a superlative. Examples of similar constructions are "servant of servants" (Gen 9:25), "sabbath of sabbaths" (Ex 31:15), "God of gods" (Deut 10:17), "vanity of vanities" (Eccl 1:2), "Song of Songs" (Song of Songs 1:1), "king of kings" (Ezra 7:12), etc.
The translators of the King James Version of the Christian Bible always translated "Holy of Holies" as "Most Holy Place" — in keeping with the intention of the Hebrew idiom to express the utmost degree of holiness. Thus, the name "Most Holy Place" was used to refer to the "Holy of Holies" in many English documents.
A related term, debir, transliterated in the Septuagint (Koine Greek: δαβιρ, romanized: dabir), either means the back (i.e. western) part of the Sanctuary, or else derives from the verb stem ד־ב־ר "to speak", justifying the translation in the Vulgate as oraculum, which the traditional English translation "oracle" (KJV, 1611) derives from.
The Latin terms adytum and penetralia parallel the designation of the Holy of Holies as an inner sanctuary.
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Holy of Holies
The Holy of Holies (Biblical Hebrew: קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים, romanized: Qoḏeš haq-Qŏḏāšim) or Devir (הַדְּבִיר had-Dəḇir 'the Sanctuary') is a term in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle, where the Shekhinah (God's presence) appeared. According to Hebrew tradition, the area was defined by four pillars that held up the veil of the covering, under which the Ark of the Covenant was held above the floor. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Ark contained the Ten Commandments, which were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. The first Temple in Jerusalem, called Solomon's Temple, was said to have been built by King Solomon to keep the Ark.
Jewish traditions viewed the Holy of Holies as the spiritual junction of the Seven Heavens and Earth, the "axis mundi".
As a part of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies was situated somewhere on Temple Mount; its precise location is a matter of dispute, with some classical Jewish sources identifying its location with the Foundation Stone, which sits under the current Dome of the Rock. Other Jewish scholars argue that contemporary reports would place the Temple to the north or east of the Dome of the Rock.
The Crusaders associated the Holy of Holies with the Well of Souls, a small cave that lies underneath the Foundation Stone in the Dome of the Rock.
The construction "Holy of Holies" is a translation of the Hebrew, which is intended to express a superlative. Examples of similar constructions are "servant of servants" (Gen 9:25), "sabbath of sabbaths" (Ex 31:15), "God of gods" (Deut 10:17), "vanity of vanities" (Eccl 1:2), "Song of Songs" (Song of Songs 1:1), "king of kings" (Ezra 7:12), etc.
The translators of the King James Version of the Christian Bible always translated "Holy of Holies" as "Most Holy Place" — in keeping with the intention of the Hebrew idiom to express the utmost degree of holiness. Thus, the name "Most Holy Place" was used to refer to the "Holy of Holies" in many English documents.
A related term, debir, transliterated in the Septuagint (Koine Greek: δαβιρ, romanized: dabir), either means the back (i.e. western) part of the Sanctuary, or else derives from the verb stem ד־ב־ר "to speak", justifying the translation in the Vulgate as oraculum, which the traditional English translation "oracle" (KJV, 1611) derives from.
The Latin terms adytum and penetralia parallel the designation of the Holy of Holies as an inner sanctuary.
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