Question: When was the Bible first referred to as the "Holy" Bible?

[Rabrrrrrr]

Someone asked me that a while ago, and I have no idea.

And it doesn't have to be in English - in whatever language, when was the first time that the collection of Christian scriptures was called "Holy"?

Any idea?

Clearly it had to be between about 400 and 1611, but I can't narrow it down any more than that.

[Critters2]

1. Interesting question. I have no idea, I'll try find out. nt

[54anickel]

2. Wow, that is an interesting question. The word "holy" wasn't even around until

the 13th century, at least according to this wiki article...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred

Etymology
Main article: Hailag
The word "sacred" descends from the Latin sacrum, which referred to the gods or anything in their power, and to sacer, priest; sanctum, set apart. It was generally conceived spatially, as referring to the area around a temple.

The origin of the word "holy" comes from the 11th Century Old High German hulis and Old English holegn meaning Holly as in Holly Tree, considered a sacred plant to both pre-Christian Celtic and Roman worship. The word hulis originates from an even older proto-Germanic word khuli a shortened derivation of the ancient Gaelic cuilieann both meaning Holly. The distinction of the word holy appeared around the 13th Century with the Old English word hālig derived from hāl meaning health, happiness and wholeness. As “wholeness”, holiness may be taken to indicate a state of religious completeness or perfection.

In non-specialist contexts, the term "holy" is used in a more general way, to refer to someone or something that is associated with a divine power, such as water used for Baptism.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. In English, yes; but, the concept of "holiness" has been around for millenia

existing in Hebrew, and, I assume, pre-Hebraic Akkadian and more than likely Ugaritic.

[54anickel]

4. Ah, I misunderstood your quotes around "Holy" as referring to the exact term rather than the

concept of the Bible being holy/sacred/sanctified/etc. Sorry, my bad.

[Critters2]

5. True. The Hebrew word most commonly translated as "holy" is

kaddish. Or qadesh, or, well, pick your favorite transliteration. Those who are greater experts on Hebrew than me (and who isn't?) say that its meaning is really closer to "separate", or "set apart" than the connotations we usually intend when we use the word "holy".

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. Ah... Hebrew. How I love it!

And how reading it makes me wish I'd been raised in a Jewish household.

And yes, you're right, it's really more about being set apart as a sacred item/person/whatever than our modern day sense of "holy" which seems to have an inference that the item/person/whatever has somehow magically been hocus-pocused into holiness.

A somewhat slight distinction, but it is, I think, an important one.