“Holy Priceless Collection of Etruscan Snoods, Batman!”
This is just one of the hundreds of odd “holy” exclamations made by Robin (Burt Ward) on the 1960s Batman TV series.[1] Though we may not exclaim phrases quite so random as this one, people in our culture do exclaim other “holy” phrases when they are surprised, astonished, or in disbelief such as Holy Cow, Holy Moley, Holy Guacamole, Holy Mackerel, Holy Smokes, and other less savory exclamations. The word “holy” is also used in an exclamation in the Bible-
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:8b, ESV
Of course, “holy” is not used the same way in this verse. Our culture has unfortunately modified the meaning of the word, and we no longer understand what it truly means. The Hebrew word for “holy” in the Bible is qadowsh, which also translates as “sacred” or “set apart”. Qadowsh is used to describe someone or something that is “pure, clean, free from defilement of crimes, idolatry, and other unclean and profane things.”[2] R.C. Sproul wrote his own definition for how “holy” is used in the Bible:
“The word holy, as it is applied to God, refers to His purity, His absolute moral and ethical excellence.”[3]
Our God is holy! He is pure, and He is morally and ethically excellent. He is undefiled, and He is free from all evil and wickedness. He is sacred and set apart from all else.
“Our Redeemer – the LORD of hosts is His name – is the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 47:4
Because God is holy, He has always desired for His people to be holy as He is. Israel was surrounded by pagan neighbors who sinned in many ways, but God desired for His children to live holy lives, free from sinfulness and set apart from the other nations. So, God commanded-
“You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be
mine.” Leviticus 20:26
Sadly, Israel was not obedient to this command and often dabbled in the idolatry and sins of the other nations, which caused them to eventually be exiled from their homeland. God still had grace on His people, though, and allowed them to return home after many years. We, like Israel, are not perfect and find ourselves caught up in the sins of the world. But God has graciously given us the Holy Spirit to sanctify (the verb form of holy) us and set us apart from the world.
“But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,” 1 Peter 1:15
God is holy, pure, undefiled, set apart. He has chosen you and called you to also be holy as He is, to be pure and undefiled by sin, to be set apart from the world. You have been placed in this neighborhood, this city, this church, this country, this world to do God’s will, but you must be careful to never be of the world. The sins of this world look very alluring and enticing, but they bring no true fulfillment! You can only find true fulfillment in God and by imitating His holy nature. Don’t exclaim what the world or culture would exclaim! Instead, exclaim the prayer of Hannah-
“There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides You; there is no rock like our God.” 1 Samuel 2:2
[1] Brian Cronin, “Robin’s 20 Oddest ‘Holy’ Exclamations From the Batman TV Series,” ThoughtCo., modified May 25, 2019, accessed July 28, 2020, https://www.thoughtco.com/robins-oddest-holy-exclamations-from-the-batman-tv-series-3896999.
[2] Blue Letter Bible Lexicon, s.v. “Strong’s H6918 – qadowsh,” accessed July 28, 2020, https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6918&t=ESV.
[3] R.C. Sproul, Everyone’s a Theologian: An Introduction to Systematic Theology (Sanford, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2014), 66.
