G39 — ἅγιος
(from τό ἀγός religious awe, reverence; ἄζω, ἅζομαι, to venerate, revere, especially the gods, parents (Curtius, § 118)), rare in secular authors; very frequent in the sacred writings; in the Sept. for קָדושׁ;
1. properly reverend, worthy of veneration: τό ὄνομα τοῦ Θεοῦ, [Luk 1:49]; God, on account of his incomparable majesty, [Rev 4:8] ([Isa 6:3], etc.), equivalent to ἔνδοξος. Hence, used:
a. of things which on account of some connection with God possess a certain distinction and claim to reverence, as places sacred to God which are not to be profaned, [Act 7:33]; τόπος ἅγιος the temple, [Mat 24:15] (on which passage see βδέλυγμα, c.); [Act 6:13]; [Act 21:28]; the holy land or Palestine, 2 Macc. 1:29 2Macc. 2:18; τό ἅγιον and τά ἅγια (Winer's Grammar, 177 (167)) the temple, [Heb 9:1], [Heb 9:24] (cf. Bleek on Heb. vol. ii. 2, p. 477f); specifically that part of the temple or tabernacle which is called 'the holy place' (מִקְדָּשׁ, [Eze 37:28]; [Eze 45:18]), [Heb 9:2] (here Rec.st reads ἅγια); ἅγια ἁγίων (Winer's Grammar, 246 (231), cf. [Exo 29:37]; [Exo 30:10], etc.) the most hallowed portion of the temple, 'the holy of holies,' ([Exo 26:33] (cf. Josephus, Antiquities 3, 6, 4)), [Heb 9:3], in reference to which the simple τά ἅγια is also used: [Heb 9:8], [Heb 9:25]; [Heb 10:19]; [Heb 13:11]; figuratively of heaven, [Heb 8:2]; [Heb 9:8], [Heb 9:12]; [Heb 10:19]; ἅγια πόλις Jerusalem, on account of the temple there, [Mat 4:5]; [Mat 27:53]; [Rev 11:2]; [Rev 21:2]; [Rev 22:19] ([Isa 48:2]; [Neh 11:1], [Neh 11:18] (Complutensian LXX), etc.); τό ὄρος τό ἅγιον, because Christ's transfiguration occurred there, [2Pe 1:18]; ἡ (Θεοῦ) ἅγια διαθήκη i. e. which is the more sacred because made by God himself, [Luk 1:72]; τό ἅγιον, that worshipful offspring of divine power, [Luk 1:35]; the blessing of the gospel, [Mat 7:6]; ἁγιωτάτῃ πίστις, faith (quae creditur i. e. the object of faith) which came from God and is therefore to be heeded most sacredly, Jude 1:20; in the same sense ἅγια ἐντολή, [2Pe 2:21]; κλῆσις ἅγια, because it is the invitation of God and claims us as his, [2Ti 1:9]; ἅγιαι γραφαί (τά βιβλία τά ἅγια, 1 Macc. 12:9), which came from God and contain his Words, [Rom 1:2].
b. of persons whose services God employs; as for example, apostles, [Eph 3:5]; angels, [1Th 3:13]; [Mat 25:31] (Rec.); [Rev 14:10]; Jude 1:14; prophets, [Act 3:21]; [Luk 1:70] (Wis. 11:1); (οἱ) ἅγιοι (τοῦ) Θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι, [2Pe 1:21] (R G L Tr text); worthies of the O. T. accepted by God for their piety, [Mat 27:52]; [1Pe 3:5].
2. set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively his; followed by a genitive or a dative: τῷ κυρίῳ, [Luk 2:23]; τοῦ Θεοῦ (equivalent to ἐκλεκτός τοῦ Θεοῦ) of Christ, [Mar 1:24]; [Luk 4:34], and according to the true reading in [Joh 6:69], cf. [Joh 10:36]; he is called also ὁ ἅγιος παῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ, [Act 4:30], and simply ὁ ἅγιος, [1Jo 2:20]. Just as the Israelites claimed for themselves the title οἱ ἅγιοι, because God selected them from the other nations to lead a life acceptable to him and rejoice in his favor and protection ([Dan 7:18], [Dan 7:22]; [Dan 7:2] Esdr. 8:28), so this appellation is very often in the N. T. transferred to Christians, as those whom God has selected ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ([Joh 17:14], [Joh 17:16]), that under the influence of the Holy Spirit they may be rendered, through holiness, partakers of salvation in the kingdom of God: [1Pe 2:9] ([Exo 19:6]), cf. [Exo 19:5]; [Act 9:13], [Act 9:32], [Act 9:41]; [Act 26:10]; [Rom 1:7]; [Rom 8:27]; [Rom 12:13]; [Rom 16:15]; [1Co 6:1], [1Co 6:2]; [Phi 4:21]; [Col 1:12]; [Heb 6:10]; Jude 1:3; [Rev 5:8], etc.; (cf. B. D. American edition under the word ).
3. of sacrifices and offerings; prepared for God with solemn rite, pure, clean (opposed to ἀκάθαρτος): [1Co 7:14] (cf. [Eph 5:3]); connected with ἄμωμος, [Eph 1:4]; [Eph 5:27]; [Col 1:22]; ἀπαρχή, [Rom 11:16]; θυσία, [Rom 12:1]. Hence,
4. in a moral sense, pure, sinless, upright, holy: [1Pe 1:16] ([Lev 19:2]; [Lev 11:44]); [1Co 7:34]; δίκαιος καί ἅγιος, of John the Baptist, [Mar 6:20]; ἅγιος καί δίκαιος, of Christ, [Act 3:14]; distinctively of him, [Rev 3:7]; [Rev 6:10]; of God pre-eminently, [1Pe 1:15]; [Joh 17:11]; ἅγιαι ἀναστροφαί, [2Pe 3:11]; νόμος and ἐντολή, i. e. containing nothing exceptionable, [Rom 7:12]; φίλημα, such a kiss as is a sign of the purest love, [1Th 5:26]; [1Co 16:20]; [2Co 13:12]; [Rom 16:16]. On the phrase τό ἅγιον πνεῦμα and τό πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον, see πνεῦμα, 4 a. Cf. Diestel, Die Heiligkeit Gottes, in Jahrbb. f. deutsch. Theol. iv., p. 1ff; (Baudissin, Stud. z. Semitisch. Religionsgesch. Heft ii., p. 3ff; Delitzsch in Herzog edition 2, see 714ff; especially) Cremer, Wörterbuch, 4te Aufl., p. 32ff (translation of 2nd edition, p. 84ff; Oehler in Herzog 19:618ff; Zezschwitz, Profangräcität as above with, p. 15ff; Trench, § lxxxviii; Campbell, Dissertations, diss. vi., part iv.; especially Schmidt, chapter 181).