Holy One of Israel

Yahweh is the “Holy One of Israel” (qedosh yisrael). It is a name used almost exclusively in Isaiah. It appears once in Kings (2 Kings 19:22), three times in the Psalms (71:22; 78:41; 89:18), a couple of times in Jeremiah. Isaiah uses the name twenty-five times (significant? 2 x 12 + 1; the number of chief priest + high priest?).

Why would Isaiah use the phrase so frequently? It has something to do with the exilic and second-exodus motifs that are so prominent in his prophecy. Outside of Isaiah, qadosh is often used with maqom to mean “holy place” (Ex 29:31; Lev 6:16, 26; 10:13; etc.). To say Yahweh is Israel’s “holy” is to designate Him as true sanctuary, the protected place.

When the temple has been wrecked, and Israel scattered to the corners of the earth, they still have a sanctuary, a place for gathering, a holy: Yahweh Himself is their refuge, fortress, their living temple.

And He is he Holy One of Israel. In His very “transcendence,” He identifies with His chosen people. We may put a Trinitarian gloss on the name: There is a mutuality within the Triune life: The Father is holy as indwelt by the Son in the Spirit, and the Son is Holy by the Spirit that indwells Him from the Father. And this God of holy perichoresis is the God who indwells Israel, who opens to allow Israel to indwell Him, even to the point of allowing Israel to inhabit His very name.