The Kabod In The Hebrew Bible

The word kabod appears one hundred and ninety-nine times in the Hebrew Bible, and twenty-four of those occurrences are found in the Pentateuch. In the Septuagint, the word kabod is translated as doxa and occurs one hundred and seventy-seven times. The etymological meaning of the word kabod, according to the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, “denotes ‘heaviness’ in the physical sense as well as ‘gravity’ and ‘importance’ in the spiritual sense—i.e., ‘honor’ and ‘respect.’” The physical interpretation of the word kabod is connected biblically to the idea of “the weight of a being in existence[, that also] defines its importance, the respect which it inspires, [and] its glory. For the Hebrew, therefore, glory does not designate so much the renown as the real value, estimated according to its weight.” An example of this notion of weight, as an indicator of glory, can be plainly seen in the description of Abraham’s wealth, which is described in Genesis in terms of “cattle, silver, and gold”—all of which have a specific weight accorded to them (cf.

Glory, however, in ancient times was also closely associated with an individual’s social position in society and the power that he wielded. A clear illustration of this type of hierarchical glory can be seen in Joseph’s rise to power and influence in Egypt (cf. Gen 41:37-57). Joseph acknowledges this new social status and the glory that it entails when he says to his brothers, “Tell my father all the glory [(i.e. kabod)] I have in Egypt” (Gen 45:13). In the Hebrew Scriptures, glory is also thought to be the property of the king. As Xavier Léon-Dufour points out in his Dictionary of Biblical Theology, King “Solomon receives from God ‘riches and glory [(i.e. kabod)] such as no other among the kings’ (1 K 3, 9-14;