Holy of Holies

Calque of Biblical Hebrew קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים.

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Holy of Holies

1. The inner sanctum of the Temple in Jerusalem.
   • 1882, . Franz von Reber, Joseph Thacher Clarke, History of Ancient Art, page 146:

     The holy of holies, a cubical space of ten cubits on the side, was separated from the larger antechamber by four columns, which were also covered with gold and stood upon silver sockets; they bore a second curtain of four colors.

2. (by extension) The most sacred place within a sacred building.
3. (informal, humorous) One's private retreat, inner sanctum.
4. that which is holiest among holy things
   • 1996, Macy Nulman, The Encyclopedia of Jewish Prayer, page 305:

     Rabbi Akiba declared that if the other books of the Bible are holy, Shir Hashirim is the "holy of holies."