HOLY OF HOLIES
Holy of Holies
The innermost room of the Tabernacle and of the Temple of Jerusalem . The expression is a Hebrew idiom meaning “the most holy” thing or place. In the Tabernacle this inner room measured 10 X 10 cubits (about 15 X 15 feet) and was separated from the outer room, or holy place, by means of a veil, or portiere, of rich woven fabric, hanging from four pillars overlaid with gold and standing on sockets of silver. In Solomon’s, Zorobabel’s, and Herod’s temples, the holy of holies was 20 cubits square and 20 high. No windows admitted light into it; it was entered into, at least in the first temple, by a double folding door of olive wood with cherubim carved upon it. Whether that door remained closed or open, a veil (2 Par 3) maintained the separation of the two places. In the middle of the holy of holies of Solomon’s temple stood the Ark of the Covenant, overshadowed by the wings of the two colossal cherubim. As the Ark disappeared at the time of the ruin of that temple (586 B.C.), the holy of holies of Zorobabel’s and Herod’s temples contained nothing. The high priest entered into this inner recess only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, to offer incense and the blood of the bullock and of the goat destined to atone for himself, his house, and the people.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Holy Of Holies
SEE TABERNACLE; SEE TEMPLE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Holy of Holies
SEE TABERNACLE; SEE TEMPLE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Holy of Holies (2)
SEE TABERNACLE; SEE TEMPLE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Holy of holies
the second or interior portion of the tabernacle. It was left in total darkness. No one was permitted to enter it except the high priest, and that only once a year. It contained the ark of the covenant only (Ex. 25:10-16). It was in the form of a perfect cube of 20 cubits. (See TABERNACLE)
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Holy of Holies
holiz ( , kodhesh ha-kodhashm, Exo 26:33, , debhir, 1Ki 6:16, etc.; in the New Testament, , hagia hagon, Heb 9:3): The name given to the innermost shrine, or adytum of the sanctuary of Yahweh.
1. In the Tabernacle
The most holy place of the tabernacle in the wilderness (Exo 26:31-33) was a small cube of 10 cubits (15 ft.) every way. It was divided from the holy Ceiled by curtains which bore cherubic figures embroidered in blue and purple and scarlet (Exo 26:1), it contained no furniture but the Ark of the Covenant, covered by a slab of gold called the MERCY-SEAT (which see), and having within it only the two stone tables of the Law (see TABERNACLE; ARK OF COVENANT). Only the high priest, and he but once a year, on the great @@clothed in penitential garments, amid a cloud of incense, and with blood of sacrifice (Lev 16; compare Heb 9:7).
2. In the Temple of Solomon
The proportions of the most holy place in the first temple were the same as in the tabernacle, but the dimensions were doubled. The sacred chamber was enlarged to 20 cubits (30 ft.) each way. We now meet with the word debhir, oracle (1Ki 6:16, etc.), which with the exception of Psa 28:2, belonging perhaps to the same age, is met with in Scripture only in the period of Solomon’s reign. This sanctum, like its predecessor, contained but one piece of furniture – the Ark of the Covenant. It had, however, one new conspicuous feature in the two large figures of cherubim of olive wood, covered with gold, with wings stretching from wall to wall, beneath which the ark was now placed (1Ki 6:23-28; 2Ch 3:10-13; see TEMPLE).
3. In Later Times
In Ezekiel’s temple plans, which in many things may have been those of the temple of Zerubbabel, the prophet gives 20 cubits as the length and breadth of the most holy place, showing that these figures were regarded as too sacred to undergo change (Eze 41:4). There was then no Ark of the Covenant, but Jewish tradition relates that the blood of the great Day of Atonement was sprinkled on an unhewn stone that stood in its place. In Herod’s temple, the dimensions of the two holy chambers remained the same – at least in length and breadth (see TEMPLE, HEROD’S). The holiest place continued empty. In the spoils of the temple depicted on the Arch of Titus there is no representation of the Ark of the Covenant; only of the furniture of the outer chamber or holy place.
4. Figurative
In the Epistle to the Hebrews we are taught that the true holy of holies is the heaven into which Jesus has now entered to appear in virtue of His own sacrifice in the presence of God for us (Heb 9:11). Restriction is now removed, and the way into the holiest is made open for all His people (Heb 10:19, Heb 10:20).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
HOLY OF HOLIES
the most sacred place in the tabernacle and temple
Exo 26:33; 1Ki 6:19; 1Ki 8:6; 1Ch 6:49; 2Ch 3:8; 2Ch 4:22; Eze 44:13
Heb 9:3
–SEE Ark, ARK
Vail (2), VAIL
Mercy Seat, MERCY-SEAT