Topic
Holy of holies
45 passages cited, from 3 classic reference works.
These works date from 1897–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Exodus 26:31–33ISBE · Torrey Divided from the outward tabernacle by a vail
¶ And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made: And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four…
- Exodus 26:33ISBE · Torrey CONTAINED — Ark of testimony
¶ And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.
- 1 Kings 6:16ISBE · Torrey WAS CALLED THE — Oracle
And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place.
- 1 Kings 6:23–28ISBE · Torrey CONTAINED — Cherubim
¶ And within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree, each ten cubits high. And five cubits was the one wing of the cherub, and five cubits the other wing of the cherub: from the uttermost part of the one wing unto the uttermost part of the other…
- Hebrews 9:3ISBE · Torrey WAS CALLED THE — Holiest of all
And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
- Hebrews 9:7ISBE · Torrey THE HIGH PRIEST — Alone to enter, once a year
But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
- Hebrews 10:19ISBE · Torrey Saints have boldness to enter the true
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
- Exodus 16:33Torrey CONTAINED — Pot of manna
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.
- Exodus 25:10–16Easton
¶ And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou…
- Exodus 25:18–22Torrey CONTAINED — Cherubim
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends…
- Exodus 25:22Torrey God appeared in
And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
- Exodus 26:1ISBE
Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.
Show 33 more
- Exodus 26:34 Torrey CONTAINED — Mercy-seat
- Exodus 28:29 Torrey WAS CALLED THE — Holy place
- Exodus 40:3 Torrey CONTAINED — Ark of testimony
- Exodus 40:21 Torrey CONTAINED — Ark of testimony
- Leviticus 4:6 Torrey WAS CALLED THE — Sanctuary
- Leviticus 16:1–34 ISBE
- Leviticus 16:2 Torrey WAS CALLED THE — Holy place
- Leviticus 16:3 Torrey WAS CALLED THE — Holy place
- Leviticus 16:4 Torrey THE HIGH PRIEST — Entered, in ordinary priest's dress
- Leviticus 16:12 Torrey THE HIGH PRIEST — Offered incense in
- Leviticus 16:14 Torrey THE HIGH PRIEST — Entered, not without blood of atonement
- Leviticus 16:15 Torrey THE HIGH PRIEST — Entered, not without blood of atonement
- Leviticus 16:16 Torrey THE HIGH PRIEST — Made atonement for
- Leviticus 16:20 Torrey THE HIGH PRIEST — Made atonement for
- Leviticus 16:33 Torrey WAS CALLED THE — Holy sanctuary
- Numbers 4:5 Torrey The priests allowed to enter, and prepare the holy things for removal
- Numbers 17:10 Torrey CONTAINED — Aaron's rod
- Deuteronomy 31:26 Torrey CONTAINED — A written copy of the divine law
- 1 Kings 6:5 Torrey WAS CALLED THE — Oracle
- 1 Kings 6:20 Torrey WAS CALLED THE — Oracle
- 2 Kings 22:8 Torrey CONTAINED — A written copy of the divine law
- 2 Chronicles 3:10–13 ISBE
- Psalms 20:2 Torrey WAS CALLED THE — Sanctuary
- Psalms 28:2 ISBE
- Psalms 102:19 Torrey A type of heaven
- Ezekiel 41:4 ISBE
- Matthew 27:51 Torrey Laid open to view at Christ's death
- Hebrews 9:4 Torrey CONTAINED — Golden censer
- Hebrews 9:11 ISBE
- Hebrews 9:12 Torrey A type of heaven
- Hebrews 9:13 Torrey A type of heaven
- Hebrews 9:24 Torrey A type of heaven
- Hebrews 10:20 ISBE
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 1 references
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.)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 15 references
ho'-liz (qodhesh ha-qodhashim, Ex 26:33, debhir, 1Ki 6:16, etc.; in the New Testament, hagia hagion, 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 (Ex 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 (Ex 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 THE 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 (Le 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 Ps 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 10:19,20).
W. Shaw Caldecott
In the topical indexes
Torrey's New Topical Textbook (1897) · 45 references, grouped by sub-topic
- Divided from the outward tabernacle by a vail Ex 26:31-33
- WAS CALLED THE
- CONTAINED
- God appeared in Ex 25:22; Le 16:2
- THE HIGH PRIEST
- The priests allowed to enter, and prepare the holy things for removal Nu 4:5
- Laid open to view at Christ's death Mt 27:51
- A type of heaven Ps 102:19; Heb 9:12,13,24
- Saints have boldness to enter the true Heb 10:19
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Torrey's New Topical Textbook (1897), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.