מִקְדָּשׁ74 H4720
A sacred place or sanctuary; the consecrated space set apart for the worship and presence of God.
Miqdash refers to any place made holy by God's consecrated presence — from Israel's earliest shrines to Solomon's temple and Ezekiel's visionary sanctuary. The word carries weight: it is the place where the holy God condescends to dwell among his people ('let them make me a miqdash, that I may dwell among them,' Exod 25:8). In its plural form it can denote the various precincts of the temple complex or, ominously, the sanctuaries God threatens to destroy (Lev 26:31). Across languages the translations converge on holiness — Spanish 'santuario,' French 'sanctuaire,' German 'Heiligtum' — underscoring that the defining feature is not architecture but divine consecration.
3. sense 3 — A unique occurrence in Num 18:29 where the word denotes a consecrated portion rather than a physical place — the best part (literally 'its holy portion') separated from the Levitical tithe as an offering to the Lord. English 'its consecrated portion,' Spanish 'su porción consagrada,' and French 'son consacra portion' all reflect this shift from sacred space to sacred allocation, an extension where the holiness of the sanctuary is projected onto the dedicated gift itself. 1×
AR["مُقَدَّسَهُ"]·ben["তার-পবিত্র-অংশকে"]·DE["sein-weihte-Anteil"]·EN["its-consecrated-portion"]·FR["son-consacra-portion"]·heb["מקדשו"]·HI["उसका-पवित्र-भाग"]·ID["bagian-kudusnya"]·IT["suo-consacro-porzione"]·jav["barang-suci-piyambakipun"]·KO["그것-의-거룩한-것-을"]·PT["porção-santa-dele"]·RU["святого-его"]·ES["su-porción-consagrada"]·SW["sehemu-yake-takatifu"]·TR["kutsanmışını"]·urd["اُس-کی-مقدّس-چیز"]
▼ 2 more senses below
Senses
1. sanctuary, holy place — The primary sense of a singular sacred place — the tabernacle, temple, or any site set apart for divine worship and the dwelling of God's presence. This covers the vast majority of occurrences, from the Song of the Sea's 'sanctuary which your hands established' (Exod 15:17) to the detailed Levitical regulations about approaching the holy place (Lev 12:4; 16:33). The multilingual consensus — 'sanctuary/santuario/sanctuaire/Heiligtum' — confirms this as the core meaning. 65×
AR["ال-مَقْدِسِ","الْ-مَقْدِسَ","الْ-مَقْدِسُ","الْ-مَقْدِسِ","الْـ-مَقْدِسِ","الْمَقْدِسَ","الْمَقْدِسِ","مَقْدِسِي"]·ben["-পবিত্র-স্থানের","-পবিত্রস্থান","-পবিত্রস্থানের","পবিত্র-স্থান","পবিত্র-স্থান-আমার","পবিত্র-স্থানের","পবিত্র-স্থানের-আমার","পবিত্রস্থান","পবিত্রস্থানের","মন্দির","মন্দিরকে","মন্দিরের"]·DE["Heiligtum","[המקדש]","das-Heiligtum","der-Heiligtum","zu-Heiligtum"]·EN["my-sanctuary","of-the-sanctuary","the-sanctuary"]·FR["le-sanctuaire","pour-sanctuaire","sanctuaire"]·heb["ה-מקדש","ל-מקדש","מקדשי"]·HI["पवित्र स्थान","पवित्र-स्थान","पवित्र-स्थान-का","पवित्र-स्थान-की-हैं","पवित्र-स्थान-को","पवित्रस्थान","पवित्रस्थान-का","पवित्रस्थान-के","मन्दिर","मेरे-पवित्र-स्थान"]·ID["dari-tempat-kudus","tempat-kudus","tempat-kudus-Ku","tempat-kudus-itu"]·IT["a-santuario","da-le-mie-cose-sante","il-santuario"]·jav["Papan-Suci","panggenan-suci","papan-suci","pasucen-Kawula","pasucen-punika","pasucenipun","pasucian","pasucèn"]·KO["그-거룩한-곳의","그-거룩한곳","그-성소","그-성소-의","그-성소가","그-성소를","그-성소에서","그-성소의","내-성소로","내-성소를","에-그-성소에"]·PT["meu-santuário","o-santuário"]·RU["Моё","к-","святилища","святилище"]·ES["el-santuario","santuario-mío"]·SW["la-patakatifu","mahali-patakatifu","patakatifu","patakatifu-pangu","wa-patakatifu"]·TR["ha-tapınağı","kutsal-yerden","kutsal-yere","kutsal-yerime","kutsal-yerimi","kutsal-yerin","kutsal-yerin-","kutsallığı","tapınak","tapınaktan","tapınağı","tapınağın"]·urd["-مقدِس","مقدس","مقدس-مقام-سے","مقدس-مقام-میرے","مقدس-مقام-کے","مقدس-کی","مقدس-کے","مقدّس-مقام-کا","مَقدِس-اپنے"]
2. sanctuaries, holy places — The plural form designating multiple sacred places or the various precincts within a temple complex. Sometimes it refers to legitimate divisions of the sanctuary (Ps 68:35; 73:17, 'I went into the sanctuaries of God'), but it can also denote the condemned high places and illegitimate shrines that God promises to lay waste (Lev 26:31) or the defiled sanctuaries of Jerusalem (Jer 51:51; Ezek 21:7). The pluralization signals either architectural complexity or multiplied apostasy. 8×
AR["الْمَقْدِسَاتِ","مَقادِسِ-","مَقَادِسَكُمْ","مَقَادِسِ","مَقَادِسِي","مَقْدِسَيْكَ","مِنْ-مَقادِسِكَ","وَ-مَقَادِسُ"]·ben["আমার-পবিত্র-স্থানগুলো","ও-পবিত্র-স্থানসমূহ","তোমাদের-পবিত্র-স্থানগুলি;","তোমার-পবিত্র-স্থানগুলো-থেকে","তোমার-পবিত্রস্থান","পবিত্র-স্থানগুলির","পবিত্র-স্থানগুলোর","পবিত্র-স্থানে"]·DE["Heiligtum","[ומקדשי]","[מקדשי]","dein-sanctuaries","der-sanctuary-von-","mein-sanctuaries","von-Allerheiligste","von-dein-sanctuary"]·EN["and-the-sanctuaries-of-","from-Your-sanctuary","my-sanctuaries","sanctuaries","the-sanctuaries-of","the-sanctuary-of-","your-sanctuaries"]·FR["de-sanctuaire","et-sanctuaire","mon-sanctuaire","mon-sanctuaries","sanctuaire","ton-sanctuaries"]·heb["וּ-מקדשי","מ-מקדשיך","מקדשי","מקדשי-","מקדשיך","מקדשיכם","מקדשים"]·HI["और-पवित्रस्थान","तुम्हारे-पवित्र-स्थानों","पवित्र-स्थान","पवित्र-स्थानों","पवित्रस्थानों-अपने-को","मेरे-पवित्रस्थान"]·ID["dari-tempat-kudus-Mu","tempat-kudusmu","tempat-tempat-kudus","tempat-tempat-kudus-","tempat-tempat-kudus-Ku","tempat-tempat-kudusmu;"]·IT["e-da-le-mie-cose-sante","mio-sanctuaries","santuario","tuo-sanctuaries"]·jav["lan-papan-suci","panggenan-suci-","papan-suci-","pasucen-pasucen-panjenengan","pasucèn-pasucèn,","pasucèn-pasucèn-Kawula","pasucèn-sira","saking-panggenan-suci-Panjenengan"]·KO["거룩한-곳들을","그리고-성소들이","나의-성소들","너희의-성소들을","성소들-의","성소들을","성소들을-너의","주-의-거룩한-곳-들-에서"]·PT["de-teus-santuários","e-santuários-de","meus-santuários","os-santuários","santuário","santuários-de","teus-santuários","vossos-santuários"]·RU["и-святилища","из-святилищ-Твоих","святилища","святилища-Мои","святилища-ваши","святилища-твои"]·ES["desde-tus-santuarios","santuarios","santuarios-de","tus-santuarios","vuestros-santuarios","y-los-santuarios-de"]·SW["kutoka-patakatifu-pako","mahali-patakatifu","na-mahali-patakatifu-pa","patakatifu","patakatifu-pako","patakatifu-pangu","patakatifu-penu"]·TR["kutsal-yerlere","kutsal-yerlerimin","kutsal-yerlerinden-","kutsal-yerlerine","tapınaklarını","tapınaklarınızı","tapınağına-","ve-kutsal-yerleri"]·urd["اور-مقدس-مقام","مقدس-جگہوں","مقدس-مقامات","مقدسوں","مقدسوں-تمہارے","مَقدِس-اپنے","مِن-تیرے-مقدسوں-سے","میرے-مقدسات"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
מִקְדָּשׁ74 n.m. Am 7:9 sacred place, sanctuary;—מ׳ Ex 25:8 +; מִקְדָשׁ 15:17 (Ges§ 20 h Köii. 1, 471); cstr. מִקְּדַּשׁ Lv 16:23 +; sf. מִקְדָּשִׁי Lv 20:3 +, etc., מִקְדְּשׁוֹ Nu 18:29 (Köii 1, 97); pl. מִקְדָּשִׁים Ez 21:7, cstr. מִקְדְּשֵׁי Je 51:51 + 2 times; sf. מִקְדָּשַׁי Lv 21:23; מְקַדְשֵׁיהֶם Ez 7:24 (on anomalous pointing v. Ew§ 215 a Hi-Sm; but prob. Pi. Pt. was in mind, Ges§ 9300…