Holy Means Whole: According to John (Johann) Albert Bengel

I am now fulfilling an earlier promise to publish what is very valuable material on holy's meaning, but which has been inaccessible to the average English reader. I owe a great debt in this regard to a person who wishes to stay anonymous and who lives in Sheboygan County. That person did the hard work of translating. My role has simply been that of trying to locate where Bengel has published some of his richest material on the subject of holiness. I finally did find a portion of that, in Bengel's commentary on the book of Revelation, which was separate from his most famously translated work which is referred to as the Gnomon. By the way, I will also have to get more things translated later, based on what you will read below.

I must mention, as a side note, that the major portion of what Bengel has to say was never published and is called The Holiness of God. I will be making efforts to see if it is laying somewhere in a dusty room in Germany and to see if it could be published some day. But I am afraid without funding, this could be a long way out from happening, if it is even possible. Now on to the translation of Bengel's comments relevant to holiness in Revelation 4:8.

It reads in part:

1. (Holy, Holy, Holy) in Hebrew and Greek, we find that there are two very different words, which we however both use in German as holy. Namely Hebrew (Kadosh) which is holy and we are considering here and the Greek (Hagios) which is grace or favor. The difference between the two words will be explained at a separate time in Chapter 16, which has been observed at many levels and is correct.

2. Then (merciful) is what God is called when we observe his works, which combine his justice and mercy. But intellectuals, who understand that there is so much more, call Him holy.

3. I have previously authored some writings about (The Holiness of God), and I am not alone as there have ben reports of various others reaching the same, and intellectuals have made speeches on the subject, that God's majesty comes from Him, therefore I am obligated, to include the thoughts of forenamed readers, and I want to bring it out here and in other places of Revelations and the remaining books of the New Testament.

4. The words of praise about His godly majesty in the entire writing, is this, that God is called holy by even those who are there with Him, and His holiness is the sum of all the praises brought to the Almighty Creator, for all that He does, and makes Himself known, until the new suffering, that will bring out the wider interepretation for deliverance.

5. (Holy) in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and German is approximately similar and when God is named Holy, which means that His whole excellence, and His godly characteristics flow together and illuminate His works from within, everything from Him is a dim brilliance, and that He is and remains removed not only from all, that are dishonest, but from all creatures, and His manner is incomparable or unique or incomprehensible.

6. God is separated from everything. He is and works alone, by Himself, for Himself (His pleasure) and through Himself of His own will. For that reason, He is the first and the last, the only one and the eternal one, the living and the blessed, unending and unchanging, almighty, all knowing, wise and truthful, just and true, merciful and compassionate.


There is much more of Bengel that could be quoted, but this is a helpful place to end, because it gets to the very heart of his defining holy. It also makes clear from the use of the word "and" that there is two conjoining meanings of holy in Bengel's mind, with one that links to our concept of whole and the other that links to our concept of separate. In part 5, Bengel focuses mostly on the wholeness aspect, but he also links both meanings in that section. In part 6, he focuses on the separation aspect.

Historically, I think I can say that holiness was defined in this way, with both meanings recognized, from at least the 1500s through the 1800s with wholeness and separateness going their separate ways mainly in the 1900s. In that latter era, the 20th century, the separateness concept has been predominate whether among liberal scholars or fundamentalist separatists. This is ironic, since Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the greatest Baptist, in the late 1800s was making wholeness its primary meaning, when he said: "holiness is wholeness."

So I want to say that I am not sure the right choice was made in the 1900s between the two meanings handed down by traditional scholarship and by Johann Bengel. I think a choice needed to be made, based on the possible roots for the Hebrew word that is translated as holy, but I think we chose incorrectly. I am willing to face into the wind, if that is what it takes for us to reconsider and make sure that we are grounded in reality and not in our own assumptions. God's Word requires that lofty standard. God's blessings on you.



In Christ,

Pastor Jon