Hagioi/Hagios

The Greek word hagios can refer to God’s redeemed people, the saints (Rom 8:27; Eph 1:1; Phil 1:11). Their status as such comes from God (Eph 1:4; 5:27; Col 1:22; 2 Pet 3:11). While the word designates a status, those who are spoken of as hagios may also be commanded to continue in holiness (Rev 22:11).

In certain places, the word describes the quality of a person’s behavior. A believer’s conduct can be contagious so that by an unholy person’s close association with a holy person they can, in some sense, be made hagios (“holy”; 1 Cor 7:14). This verse originates in the context of Paul’s discussion on marriage, where one spouse is a believer and the other is not. The presence of the Christian spouse in the family does not make the other spouse righteous or holy before God. Rather, the unbeliever is considered hagios in the sense of possibly exhibiting some “holy” conduct, or values because of the godly, moral or holy influence on them by their Christian spouse. This influence may ultimately lead to the unbeliever’s conversion.

In some ways the designation of hagios (“holy”) does not so much focus on a particular state of holiness, but upon a loving relationship with God (Rom 5:5). Individuals are brought into an extraordinary new relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Hagios is a term that also can describe that which is divine, separated from sin and cannot sin. Appropriately, it is applied to God (John 17:11). The hagios title applied to God is repeated three times in Rev 4:8, designating the superlative—an exalted honorary epithet, which attributes absolute holiness to God the Father. Likewise, hagios is ascribed to the Spirit (e.g., Matt 1:20), Jesus (Mark 1:24) and even the angels (Mark 8:38; Acts 10:22).

The term hagios (“holy”) is attributed to places (Matt 4:5; 27:53). In a few passages, rather than being used as an adjective to modify places set apart for divine purposes, hagios (“sanctuary”) stands for the actual building itself, the tabernacle used during the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites (e.g., Acts 6:13; Heb 9:1, 2) and the later temple (e.g., Heb 10:19). Hagios can also more specifically represent the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle, the holy of holies or most holy place (e.g., Heb 9:3).

Hagios is also used to modify persons dedicated to divine service, such as John the Baptist (Mark 6:20) who is set apart for God. To be in service for God, one must be set apart from all that God abhors (e.g., 1 Cor 3:17). Matthew 7:6 conveys this idea of separation: something or someone that is hagios is withheld from ordinary or profane use and consequently is treated with special care or consideration; it is devoted to sacred purposes.

David Seal