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Hebrew is a unique language when it comes to word studies. Every word carries the meaning of the root word that it derived from originally. In this way, the Hebrew word for “holy”, kodesh, comes from the root word “Kadash”.

 

The idea of “holy” is important for an understanding of Yahweh, of worship, and of the people of Yahweh in the Bible.

 

Holy has four distinct meanings (Holman Bible Dictionary):

1. To be set apart. This applies to places where Yahweh is present, like the Temple and the tabernacle, and to things and persons related to those holy places or to Yahweh Himself. [Thus, what is holy is separated from common use, or held sacred, especially by virtue of its being clean and pure.]

2. To be perfect, transcendent, or spiritually pure, evoking adoration and reverence. This applies primarily to Yahweh, but secondarily to saints or godly people. 

3. Something or someone who evokes veneration or awe, being frightening beyond belief. This clearly applies to Yahweh and is the primary meaning of “holy.” 

4. Filled with superhuman and potential fatal power. This speaks of Yahweh, but also of places or things or persons which have been set apart by Yahweh's presence. To be sanctified is to be made holy.

 

Yah is holy. Fire is the symbol of holy power. Jealousy, wrath, remoteness, cleanliness, glory, and majesty are related to it. He is unsearchable, incomprehensible, incomparable, great, wonderful, and exalted. His name is Holy. (See numerous references to this in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Psalms).

 

Holiness is in tension with relational personhood. Holiness tends toward separation and uniqueness. Personhood determines relations and close communion. Holiness inspires awe and fear. Personhood inspires love and the wish to be near. Both are in the Bible as necessary ways to think of and experience Yahweh. Both are necessary if one is to avoid shallow, one-sided thinking about Yahweh. Neither holiness nor personhood alone can do justice to the biblical portrayal of Yahweh. Both in their mutual tension help capture a more adequate understanding and experience of Yahweh. (This is clearly demonstrated in Exodus 33 and also in Leviticus 16, 17 and 19.)

 

Peter tells us that people who obey Yah’s righteous laws are considered “holy and acceptable to Yah”:

1 Peter 1:14-17 "14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former desires you used to conform to in your ignorance, 15 but as the one who called you is holy, you yourselves be holy in all your conduct, 16 for it is written, “You will be holy, because I am holy.”  17 And if you call on Him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves with fear during the time of your temporary residence." Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

When Yah told Israel to be holy in Leviticus 11 and 19, He was instructing them to be distinct from the other nations by giving them specific regulations to govern their lives. Israel is Yah’s chosen nation and Yah has set them apart from all other people groups. They are His special people, and consequently they were given standards that Yah wanted them to live by so the world would know they belonged to Him. 

 

When Israel left Egypt, Exodus 12:37 states that there were 600,000 "men of foot." Men of foot is generally considered men of fighting age. This does not include women, children, or the elderly. It is estimated that over 2 million people left Egpyt.

 

For 40 years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness (Numbers 32:13). 2 million people living in tents for 40 years in the desert can be complicated from cleanliness and hygiene perspective. This could be why Yah gave Israel additional rules to follow that were less about righteousness and more about maintaining a healthy body, a healthy community and a healthy campground. These rules may be found in the following passages:

• Leviticus 5:2, 3; Numbers 19:16 - Touching dead bodies.
• Leviticus 13:45,46 - A diseased, unclean person had to be quarantined outside the camp until the infection ceased.
• Leviticus 13:58 - Clothing contaminated by mold or mildew had to be washed.
• Leviticus 14:8-9 - When the disease was gone, the person had to “wash his clothes, shave off all his hair and bathe with water.”
• Leviticus 15:13 - Diarrhea and urethral discharges meant disease, uncleanness and the ill person as well as all those around him had to wash their clothes and “bathe in fresh (running) water.”
• Leviticus 15:4-27 - Bathing and clothes washing.
• Leviticus 15:16-33 - Semen and menstrual blood were unclean and required water cleansing.
• The seemingly tedious lists in Leviticus of “clean” and “unclean” that required water cleansing were in reality “medical methods” of preventing the spread of infectious diseases as well as practical practices that reinforced the need to be “clean” outside. To be clean outside was a metaphor (and a precursor) for inward, spiritual purity.

 

In Deuteronomy 23, we learn that the holiness of the camp of Israel and the people of Israel is directly linked to the literal presence of Yah who is Holy and therefore where He “walks” or dwells is holy and must be kept holy by His people. There, Yah adds rules in regard to how to keep defilement away from the camp so it remains “holy”:

• While a man is asleep, semen may come from his sex part. That makes him unclean so he must go outside the camp. He must stay there all day. In the evening, he must wash himself. At sunset he can return into the camp.
• Do not defecate within the camp boundaries. Defecating is considered indecent, unsanitary and unhealthy.
• Always carry a small spade with your other tools. When defecate outside the camp, dig a hole with your spade. Then bury your dung in it and cover it with earth.
• Yah must not see anything that would bring shame on you. Do not make Him turn away from you.

 

But, beyond the physical boundaries of the camp, time and again, Yah’s people were made aware of the correlation between their external cleanliness and internal purity (as outside, so inside):

Exodus 19:14 “And Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and he consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes.”

Isaiah 1:16 “Wash! Make yourselves clean! Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes! Cease to do evil!” Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

Ezekiel 36:25 “25 And I will sprinkle on you pure water, and you will be clean from all of your uncleanness, and I will cleanse you from all of your idols.”

Psalms 51:7 “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

2 Corinthians 7:1 “let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and spirit, accomplishing holiness in the fear of God.”

Hebrew 10:22 “ let us approach with a true heart in the full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Lexham English Bible (LEB)

 

To sum it all up, the benefit of keeping the camp/habitat “holy” is multifold:

1. Building up obedience and righteousness,
2. Preserving personal (and “public”) health and promoting physical fitness,
3. Preserving His continuous presence in our midst, and
4. Enabling a relational personhood (or personal relationship) with Him.