H1964 H1964
Temple or palace — a grand edifice serving as God's sanctuary or a king's royal residence.
Borrowed from Sumerian 'e-gal' (great house), this word carries a dignified ambiguity: it can denote the sacred Temple of YHWH in Jerusalem — or His heavenly dwelling — as well as the splendid palace of an earthly king. When the boy Samuel sleeps in the heykal of the LORD (1 Sam 3:3), the word evokes holy mystery; when Ahab covets Naboth's vineyard beside the heykal of Jezreel (1 Kgs 21:1), it speaks of royal power. The multilingual evidence is revealing: Spanish and French consistently use 'templo/temple' for the sacred sense but shift to 'palacio/palace' for royal contexts, while German 'Tempel' covers both, reflecting the word's original architectural grandeur.
Senses
1. temple, sacred building — The temple as a place of worship, especially the Temple of YHWH in Jerusalem or God's heavenly dwelling. Covers 68 of 80 occurrences, from the tabernacle at Shiloh where young Samuel ministers (1 Sam 1:9; 3:3) to David's cry heard 'in his temple' (2 Sam 22:7). Spanish 'el templo,' French 'le temple,' and German 'der Tempel' unanimously identify this sacred-building sense across nearly all translation languages. 68×
AR["الـ-هَيْكَلُ","الـ-هَيْكَلِ","الهَيكَلَ","الْ-هَيْكَلِ","الْهَيْكَلُ","الْهَيْكَلِ","هَيْكَلًا","هَيْكَلَ","هَيْكَلِ"]·ben["-মন্দির","-মন্দিরে","-মন্দিরের","মন্দির","মন্দিরে","মন্দিরের"]·DE["Tempel","der-Tempel","der-Tempel-"]·EN["temple","temple-of","the-temple","the-temple-of"]·FR["le-palais","le-temple","temple"]·heb["ה-היכל","היכל"]·HI["मंदिर","मंदिर-के","मन्दिर","मन्दिर-के"]·ID["Bait-Suci","bait","bait-suci","tempat-kudus-itu"]·IT["il-tempio","tempio"]·jav["Hèikal","Padaleman","Sang-Yehuwah","bait","bait-suci","bait-suci-","bait-suci-punika","padaleman","pèndapa"]·KO["궁전","그-성전","그-성전의","그-전이","성전","성전-을","성전을","성전의","성전이었다"]·PT["O-templo","do-templo","o-templo","o-templo-de","templo","templo-de","um-templo"]·RU["-храма","Храм","храм","храма","храму"]·ES["El-templo","el-templo","templo","templo-de"]·SW["Hekalu","hekalu","hekalu-la","na-akasimamisha","wa-hekalu"]·TR["ana-oda","ana-odanın","tapinagi","tapinaginin","tapınak","tapınak-","tapınağa","tapınağın","tapınağına","tapınağını"]·urd["ہیکل","ہیکل کے-","ہیکل-","ہیکل-میں","ہیکل-کی","ہیکل-کے"]
1 Sam 1:9, 1 Sam 3:3, 2 Sam 22:7, 1 Kgs 6:3, 1 Kgs 6:17, 1 Kgs 6:33, 1 Kgs 7:21, 2 Kgs 18:16, 2 Kgs 24:13, 2 Chr 3:17, 2 Chr 26:16, 2 Chr 27:2 (+38 more)
2. palace, royal residence — A palace or royal residence — the grand architectural dwelling of a king or ruler, used of both Israelite and foreign courts. Seen in Ahab's palace beside Naboth's vineyard (1 Kgs 21:1) and Isaiah's prophecy that Hezekiah's sons will serve in the palace of Babylon (2 Kgs 20:18). Spanish shifts decisively to 'palacio' and French to 'palais,' while the Psalm 45 uses (vv. 8, 15) beautifully straddle both senses in their wedding-hymn imagery of royal splendor. 12×
AR["إِلى-قَصْرِ","الْهَيْكَلِ","بِ-قُصورِ","فِي-قَصْرِ","فِي-قُصُورِ","فِي-هَيْكَلِ","قَصْرِ","قُصورِ","هَياكِلَ","هَيْكَلٍ","وَالْهَيْكَلُ"]·ben["-প্রাসাদে","এবং-প্রাসাদ","প্রাসাদ","প্রাসাদগুলি","প্রাসাদে","মধ্যে-প্রাসাদ","মন্দিরের","মন্দিরের।"]·DE["Tempel","Tempel-","ein-Tempel","im-Tempel","in-palace-von","palace-von","und-der-Tempel"]·EN["a-palace","and-the-palace","in-palace-of","in-palaces-of","in-the-palace","palace-of","palaces-of","temples","the-palace"]·FR["dans-le-temple","dans-palace-de","dans-palais","dans-בהיכלי","et-temple","le-palais","palace-de","temple"]·heb["ב-היכל","ב-היכלי","היכל","היכלות","היכלי","ו-ה-היכל"]·HI["और-महल","बे-महल-में","मंदिर-के","मन्दिर","मन्दिर-की","महल","महलों-के","महलों-में","में-महल","में-महलों-"]·ID["bait-bait","dan-istana","di-istana","di-istana-istana","istana"]·IT["e-il-tempio","in-in-palaces-di","in-palace-di","nel-tempio","palace-di","tempio"]·jav["Padaleman","ing-kraton","ing-kraton-saking","ing-puri","juru-kandha","kedhaton","kraton","lan-kratone","wonten-ing-kratonnipun"]·KO["-궁전-에","-궁전들-의","~에-궁전들","궁전-의","궁전들-에서","궁전들을","궁전에서","궁전의","그-궁전의","그리고-그-궁전-이","에-궁전","에-궁전에서"]·PT["de-palácio","e-o-palácio","no-palácio-de","no-palácio-do","nos-palácios-de","palácio-de","palácios-de","templo","templos"]·RU["в-чертог","в-чертоге","во-дворцах","во-дворце","дворца","дворцом","дворцы","и-дворец","чертогов"]·ES["en-el-palacio","en-el-palacio-de","en-palacio-de","en-palacios-de","palacio","palacio-de","palacios","palacios-de","templo","y-el-palacio"]·SW["hekalu","jumba-la-kifalme-la","katika-jumba","katika-jumba-la","katika-jumba-la-kifalme","katika-majumba","katika-majumba-ya","mahekalu","majumba-ya","na-jumba-la-kifalme"]·TR["-sarayında","sarayinda","saraylar","saraylarda","saraylardan","saraylarında","sarayın","sarayına","sarayında-","sarayının","tapınağın","ve-saray-o"]·urd["اور-محل","محل","محل-میں","محل-کا","محل-کے","محلوں","محلوں-میں","مندر","میں-محل","میں-محلوں"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† הֵיכָל n.m. Na 2:7 (on Is 44:28 cf. Che Di) palace, temple (v. also NH id. temple, Aramaic הֵיכָלָא, הֵיכְלָא, ܗܰܝܟܰܠ, palace, temple, Palm. הכלא temple Vog 16; cf. Arabic هَيْكَلٌ (prob. Aramaic loan-wd. according to Frä 274), Ethiopic ሀይከል temple; Assyrian ekallu, palace, temple;—prob. loan-wd. from Sum. e-gal, great house, cf. SchrHI 148 COT 2 K 20:18 HptE-vowel 11 f. LehmannŠamaššumukîn…