Dedicate
King James Dictionary [1]
Dedicate, L To vow, promise, devote, dedicate. See Class Dg. No. 12,15,45. The sense is to send, to throw hence, to set, to appoint.
1. To set apart and consecrate to a divine Being, or to a sacred purpose to devote to a sacred use, by a solemn act, or by religious ceremonies as, to dedicate vessels, treasures, a temple, an altar, or a church, to God or to a religious use.
Vessels of silver, of gold, and of brass, which king David did dedicate to the Lord. 2Sam. Viii.
2. To appropriate solemnly to any person or purpose to give wholly or chiefly to. The ministers of the gospel dedicate themselves, their time and their studies, to the service of Christ. A soldier dedicates himself to the profession of arms. 3. To inscribe or address to a patron as, to dedicate a book.
Dedicate a. Consecrated devoted appropriated.
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): ( p. a.) Dedicated; set apart; devoted; consecrated.
(2): ( v. t.) To devote, set apart, or give up, as one's self, to a duty or service.
(3): ( v. t.) To inscribe or address, as to a patron.
(4): ( v. t.) To set apart and consecrate, as to a divinity, or for sacred uses; to devote formally and solemnly; as, to dedicate vessels, treasures, a temple, or a church, to a religious use.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [3]
(prop. חָנִךְ , Chanak , to initiate, Deuteronomy 20:5; 1 Kings 8:63; 2 Chronicles 7:5; elsewhere הִקְדַּישׁ , Hakdish , to hallow, and other Heb. terms), a religious ceremony whereby any thing is dedicated or consecrated to the service of God; and it appears to have originated in the desire to commence, with peculiar solemnity, the practical use and application of whatever had been set apart to the divine service. Thus Moses dedicated the tabernacle in the wilderness (Exodus 40; Numbers 7); Solomon his Temple (1 Kings 8); the returned exiles theirs ( Ezra 6:16-17); Herod his (Josephus, Ant. 15:11, 6). The Maccabees, having cleansed the Temple from its pollutions under Antiochus Epiphanes, again dedicated the altar ( 1 Maccabees 4:52-59), and an annual festival was established in commemoration of the event. This feast was celebrated not only at Jerusalem, but everywhere throughout the country, in which respect it differed from the feasts of the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, which could only be observed at Jerusalem. See below.
Not only were sacred places thus dedicated, but some kind of dedicatory solemnity was observed with respect to cities, walls, gates, and even private houses ( Deuteronomy 20:5; Psalms 30, title; Nehemiah 12:27). We may trace the continuance of these usages in the custom of consecrating or dedicating churches and chapels, and in the ceremonies connected with the "opening" of roads, markets, bridges, etc., and with the launching of ships. (See Consecration).
