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In the passive stem the verb means “to prove oneself holy.” So Moses wrote: “This is
the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was
sanctified in them” (Num. 20:13). This proving refers not to an act of judgment against
sin (an ethical-moral holiness) but a miraculom act of deliverance. Some scholars see an
emphasis here on divine power, arguing that at this stage of their history Israel’s concept
of holiness was similar to that of the pagans, namely, that “holy” signified the presence of
extraordinary power. A similar use of the word occurs in the prophet’s promise of the
future restoration of Israel: “When I … am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations
…” (Ezek. 39:27).
Another emphasis of this stem appears in Lev. 10:3 (its first biblical appearance), “to
be treated as holy”: “… I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me [approach me in
formal worship], and before all the people I will be glorified.” Again, the emphasis
appears to be on divine power; God will have people obey Him and view Him as a
powerful (holy) God. There is an ethical-moral overtone here, too, for God desires His
people to obey Him, to hate sin and love righteousness (cf. Isa. 5:16). It is love not fear
that lies at the root of Israel’s relationship to their God (Deut. 6:3, 5ff.).
Finally, this stem may be used as a true passive of the primary stem in the sense of
“to be consecrated or set aside for God’s use”: “And there [the tent of meeting] I will
meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory”
(Exod. 29:43).
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has several emphases in the intensive stem. First, it can mean “to declare
something holy” or to declare it to be med exclusively for celebrating God’s glory. In
Gen. 2:3 (the first biblical occurrence of the word) “God blessed the seventh day, and
sanctified it: became that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and
made.” A related meaning of the word appears in the Ten Commandments: “Remember
the sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exod. 20:8). Israel is to remember the Sabbath by
keeping it holy, by celebrating God’s person or worshiping Him in the way He specifies.
In a still different nuance, “to sanctify” a holy day means to proclaim it, to bind oneself
and one’s fellows to keep it holy when it comes. This sense can be applied to pagan holy
days: “Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it” (2 Kings 10:20). In
Joel 1:14 the verb is applied to Israel’s holy days: “Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn
assembly.…” Thus, the word comes to mean “to declare” and “to make proper
preparations for.” In this sense it is sometimes applied to warfare: “Prepare ye war
against her; arise, and let us go up at noon” (Jer. 6:4; cf. Mic. 3:5). Even pagans declare
holy war: “Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare
the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni …” (Jer.
51:27).
This stem may also be used of putting something or someone into a state reserved
exclusively for God’s use: “Sanctify unto me all the first-born, whatsoever openeth the
womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine” (Exod. 13:2).
The first-born of every beast is to be offered up to God by being given to the temple or
killed (Exod. 13:12-13). The first son may be redeemed (bought back from the Lord;
Num. 18:15-16) or given to the temple (1 Sam. 1:24).
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may also be used in the sense of making something or someone cultically
pure and meeting all God’s requirements for purity in persons or things used in the
formal worship of Him. This act appears in Exod. 19:10, where God told Moses to “go