DEDICATE, DEDICATION (קָדַשׁ, H7727, be holy, set apart, חָנַכְ, H2852, dedicate, consecrate; ἁγιάζω, G39, set apart, ἐγκαινίζω, G1590, make new, then initiate, dedicate).

Qādēš and its cognates are used of: God, denoting His apartness or holiness (Isa 6:3); places set apart for God (Jer 31:40); the Temple (2 Chron 29:5); persons set apart to God (Exod 28:3); and things set apart for sacred use (29:37). Hānaḵ and ḥănukkâ are applied to the Temple (1 Kings 8:63), the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 12:27), etc. (Ḥănukkâ was later applied to the Jewish Feast of Dedication [Hanukkah], q.v.; cf. egkainia in John 10:22.) Hagiazō and its cognates in the NT have connotations similar to qādēš (e.g., persons: John 10:36; Acts 9:13; things: Matt 23:17; places: Heb 9:1). Egkainizō is used of the inauguration or dedication of the first covenant (Heb 9:18) and of Christ’s dedication of a new and living way (10:20).

Related to the ideas of dedication and devotion is the Heb. root ḥrm. The verb means “to seclude from society,” usually by complete destruction, and the noun, “a thing secluded or devoted (to God).” They were generally used of Canaanite and neighboring cities, peoples, and things, which were hostile to Israel’s religion and therefore to be exterminated or, in the case of certain objects, set apart for sacred use.

Bibliography Trench (1865); R. B. Girdlestone, Synonyms of the Old Testament (1897); BDB (1907); W. E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (1940); Arndt (1957); NBD (1962), under “Curse.”