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Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Six times that the words "Jesus Said" or "Jesus reassures them" appear together in Spicq






δόξα, δοξάζω, συνδοξάζω
doxa, expectation, opinion, reputation, honor, glory; doxazō, to think, hold an opinion, imagine, praise, glorify; syndoxazō, to sanction, agree to, glorify with

doxa, S 1391; TDNT 2.233–253; EDNT 1.344–348; NIDNTT 2.44–52; MM 168–169; L&N 1.15, 12.49, 14.49, 25.205, 33.357, 76.13, 79.18, 87.4, 87.23; BAGD 203–204 | doxazō, S 1392; TDNT 2.253–254; EDNT 1.348–349; NIDNTT 2.44–45, 874; MM 169; L&N 33.357, 87.8, 87.24; BDF §§235(2), 392(3); BAGD 204 | syndoxazō, S 4888; TDNT 2.253–254, 7.766–797; EDNT 3.299; NIDNTT 2.44; L&N 87.10; BAGD 785


The noun doxa derives from dokeō (future doxō, aorist edoxa), “think, admit, claim.” It means a subjective appraisal, an internal mental judgment, made by an individual or an assembly.1 But, beginning with its first usages, doxa means “expectation, what is thought possible”; “In accord with our expectation, she goes straight to the mark”;2 hence by far the most widespread meaning in secular Greek, “opinion, thought, sentiment,”3 as   V 1, p 363  distinct from noēsis (Plato, Resp. 7.534.a) and epistēmē.4 There are both true and false opinions,5 especially among the axiōmata, the maxims of the philosophers (Resp. 3.413 a), the kyriai doxai,6 and also illusions produced by the imagination or a miscalculation.7
This “opinion” can also be that held by others concerning a person; so doxa is renown, reputation. Usually this is favorable: “Philip is in love with fame, he has a passion for it.”8 Hence in the Koine, especially in the inscriptions and the papyri, the meaning “esteem, honor” (expressed by the Latin gloria and our word glory), is often linked with timē (Pap.Graec.Mag. 4, 1616), aretē, epainos. In an honorific decree of Ptolemy IV for the Cretan auxiliaries (around 150 BC), Aglaos of Cos, through his deeds and his excellent counsel, showed himself “worthy of his country and of the glory (good reputation) that he enjoys.”9 Around the same period, in a decree at   V 1, p 364  Miletus, “Eirenias has shown the finest zeal for the interests of the city and gives his cooperation to all that pertains to the renown and the glory of our country.”10 According to his epitaph, the officer Apollonius received from the benefactors “the garland, the sacred allotment of the glory that belongs to the king’s ‘kinsmen.’ ”11 A prytanis is acclaimed as “glory of the city” (doxa poleōs, P.Oxy. 41, 4).
The semantic evolution of doxa is probably the most extraordinary in the Bible. Not once in the LXX (except for Eccl 10:1) or the NT does this noun mean “opinion.” It translates most often the Hebrew kāẖôḏ, but also hôḏ, peʾēr, tip̱ʾereṯ. Kāẖôḏ, from the root kbd, “be heavy,” evokes the idea of weight or that which confers weightiness (cf. 2 Cor 4:17, an eternal weight of glory) and hence esteem or respect, especially power and wealth.12 In   V 1, p 365  this secular meaning, doxa can be translated sometimes “majesty” (2 Macc 15:13) or “dignity,”13 sometimes “renown.”14
Because Yahweh is the supreme sovereign, he is described as the “king of glory.”15 The whole universe is full of his doxa,16 that is, the splendor of his majesty.17 We should understand this to mean his mighty deeds, his glorious interventions (Exod 14:18; 16:7) both in overturning his adversaries (Exod 15:7) and in saving his people.18 In fact, more than once it is said   V 1, p 366  that “the glory of Yahweh appeared,”19 conceived sometimes as a manifestation of the deity (Isa 40:5), sometimes as an image of Yahweh;20 it is visible.21 “The spirit of the glory of Yahweh was like a raging fire on the peak of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel” (Exod 24:17; Deut 5:24), a sparking of light (Ezek 1) that flames out (Isa 60:1–3). This is how biblical doxa, the manifestation of the presence and activity of the invisible and transcendent God answers to sense experience: even though its brilliance cannot be perceived by the eyes of the flesh (Ezek 33:22; Acts 22:11; Asc. Isa. 9.37), it is contemplated by the spirit.22 Biblical doxa therefore has a touch of luminescence.23
It is worth noting that Hellenistic Jewish writers know nothing of the religious meaning of doxa. Nevertheless, the Letter of Aristeas has the word in the sense of splendor and brilliance.24 Philo (in 180 occurrences) has only the meaning “opinion,” in accord with the classical tradition, whether true or false opinion (Philo, Sacr. Abel and Cain 2–3; Worse Attacks Better 32). This latter25 is described as vicious (Sacr. Abel and Cain 5), atheistic (Alleg. Interp. 23; Post. Cain 42), and especially as vain or empty;26 it is over   V 1, p 367  against the truth.27 Doxa (often synonymous with dogma) refers also to philosophical opinions28 and especially to wealth, power, honor, and pleasure.29 These are images and shifting shadows (Spec. Laws 1.28), they are uncertain (Rewards 29), intoxicating vapors and lies (Rewards 21).
For Josephus, doxa is opinion, conception, judgment,30 but especially reputation, renown.31 In contrast to Philo, he almost always uses doxa in a favorable sense (“esteem”), linking it to piety and virtue;32 but neither of them seem to have been influenced by the LXX.
The NT writers are familiar with almost all of the above-mentioned secular and religious meanings. The Synoptics already attest the meaning “honor, distinction, reputation” for the guest placed by the host in the best place, resulting in “honor before all” (doxa enōpion pantōn, Luke 14:10). The devil promises the Messiah royal glory—that attaching to domination, magnificence, splendor (Matt 4:8; Luke 4:6). This was the kind of glory Solomon had (Matt 6:29; Luke 12:27). This glory is luminous,33 like that of Moses and Elijah at Tabor,34 signaling a heavenly appearance, a divine manifestation. Peter and his companions, awakened by the dazzling light, “saw his (Christ’s) glory” (Luke 9:32). This is a divine state, a condition of honor, of   V 1, p 368  preeminent dignity, of splendor; it belongs especially to Jesus (Mark 10:37), and contrasts with his earthly morphē and his passion (Luke 24:26). When the Son of Man appears at the end time as judge and sovereign, his glory will fill the heavens from one end to the other, instantaneously, like lightning.35 Finally, God’s glory (kāẖôḏ) manifests his presence and his intervention, bathing the shepherds of Bethlehem in light.36 Also, the angels who praise God (Luke 2:13) acclaim the intervention of God’s mercy and might to save humans: “Glory in the highest to God” (doxa in hypsistois theō).37
St. Paul is the writer who uses the word glory most often. As a part of his largely Septuagint-based vocabulary, doxa has a depth of meaning that cannot be expressed by a simple translation. Certainly there is the quite basic sense of honor and repute,38 even beauty and splendor: “If a woman wears her hair long, it is a glory for her”;39 but there is also a religious nuance with those who “seek glory, honor (doxan kai timēn) and immortality.”40 To the Israelites “belong the adoption and the glory and the   V 1, p 369  alliances and the temple worship and the promises” (Rom 9:4). There is the light of this doxa, like the shining forth of luminous rays, like the stars, which each have their brilliance and thus a variety of beauty.41 Thus Moses’ face, when he returned from speaking with God, shone brilliantly, even though the light was dissipating (Exod 34:29–35); but the administration of the new covenant according to the Spirit prevails with a preeminent and definitive glory (tēs hyperballousēs doxēs),42 because its light comes from “the knowledge of God’s glory (shining) on the face of Christ.”43 The two splendors are not comparable. There is so much variety in luminousness: “man is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man.”44 If Adam and Eve are both the image of God, then the man manifests the royal authority of his Creator and the honor of God (cf. Num. Rab. 3.15—“the honor [kāẖôḏ] of God ascends from men”) and the woman “procures honor [i.e., for her husband]” (Prov 11:17). These latter texts can be understood well only as a function of OT kāẖôḏ. “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) cannot refer to the good opinion that God would have of the righteous (Cajetan), nor to the grace that would be inaugurated glory (a later theological distinction), but to the splendor and beauty that shine out from the divine splendor and   V 1, p 370  holiness.45 The idolatrous pagans “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images representing a mortal man.”46
This glory is God in the splendor of his majesty and the omnipotence of his interventions,47 “the Father of glory” (ho patēr tēs doxēs).48 But this predicate doxa, which is peculiar to God, is attributed also to Christ, the “Lord of glory.”49 Heb 1:3 adds the description: “the Son (of God), the effulgence of his (the Father’s) glory (apaugasma tēs doxēs autou) and the   V 1, p 371  image of his substance.”50 If Christ is the refulgence of God’s doxa, it is because his origin is divine; he has the same nature as the Father while having his personal independence. The Council of Nicea would give the definition “light from light” (phōs ek phōtos). In proclaiming Jesus as his Son at Tabor, God conferred honor and glory upon him (2 Pet 1:17, timēn kai doxan); but as a human, Jesus—after the shame of his passion—was glorified by his resurrection,51 and at the end of time he will appear as an almighty sovereign and in blinding light. His disciples await “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”52 for they will participate in it (2 Thess 2:14).
Actually, the great innovation of the new covenant is that it calls all believers to share the “eternal glory (of God) in Christ” (1 Pet 5:10). The economy of salvation is order “for our glory” (eis doxan hēmōn, 1 Cor 2:7). God calls us “to his kingdom and his glory” (1 Thess 2:12; Rom 5:2; 8:18, 21), and the goal of Jesus’ advent on earth was “to lead many sons to glory” (Heb 2:10). Beginning in the present, these contemplate Christ’s glory and are metamorphosed in his image “from glory to glory,”53 the objects of   V 1, p 372  increasing illumination. The life-giving glory of Christ becomes ours and emphasizes our spiritual likeness to the Lord; through this refraction we resemble his image more and more “with unveiled faces.” Furthermore, “when Christ, our life, is manifested, then you will be manifested with him en doxē,”54 that is, in splendor and in the greatest dignity (2 Cor 4:17), symbolized as an incorruptible crown.55 If doxa became almost synonymous with the heavenly state, the emphasis is on the nobility of this state and the light received from God. This insistence on dignity and eternity—whereas we think especially of “beatitude”—contrasts with the imperfections of earthly, mortal existence but also refers to the glorious condition of the first human being, clothed with God’s glory. Finally, it is part of the light mysticism characteristic of inhabitants of the Orient and the Mediterranean.
There is nothing to do but give glory to God, after the fashion of Abraham (Rom 4:20), do everything for God’s glory (1 Cor 10:31; 2 Cor 8:19), as an expression of our gratitude and adoration,56 homage to the almighty and faithful God (2 Cor 1:20; Phil 1:11; 2:11). The fact is that the whole economy of salvation in God’s intention has as its goal to draw from the saved a hymn “to the praise of the glory of his grace.”57 Hence more or less developed doxologies acclaim either God’s excellence, nature, and activity,58   V 1, p 373  or Christ as king, heavenly priest, archēgos, shepherd: “Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever and ever.”59
In the Fourth Gospel, the term doxa is almost always placed in the mouth of Jesus, notably in the sense of honor, praise, repute, and to contrast honors given by humans with those that come from God.60 But St. John worked out a theological concept of glory, Christianized it, attributing it to Jesus Christ, while setting it in relation to the glory of God. It was actually in order to reveal his doxa that God sent his Son here below,61 and because Jesus never failed to glorify God, God in turn glorifies him (8:50, 54; 17:5). In the “Prologue,” which sketches a portrait of the person of Christ and the character of his mission, the evangelist first states that “the Word was God” (verse 1); then he was “the true light that illuminates every man, coming into the world” (verse 9); “he sojourned among us.”62 All of this leads up to “We beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son of his Father.”63 Just as in   V 1, p 374  the LXX, the apostles saw64 the doxa, the luminous manifestation of the Word incarnate, that is, his divine stature, for this glory is precisely that of the Father.65 Jesus possesses it by right in his capacity as only Son, that is, by virtue of his eternal filiation (cf. 2 Pet 1:16–17).
This divine glory or power in Jesus was manifested perceptibly in the miracles66 and first of all in the one at Cana: “He manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him” (ephanerōsen tēn doxan autou kai episteusan eis auton hoi mathētai autou, John 2:11). This doxa comprises three elements: (a) a manifestation (phanerōsis), a light (phōs); (b) the seeing (theōria) of this manifestation; (c) the faith and praise (timē) of the witnesses.67 Doxa is the outcome for Jesus of the faith of the disciples, who recognize him as Messiah or Son of God.68 Through the miracle, Jesus accomplished a   V 1, p 375  self-revelation; in this sign, the disciples discerned his very nature, his “glory,” namely, that he was the Messiah (the Word incarnate).
For St. John, it is especially in his passion that Jesus is glorified, because his death is not only that of a martyr showing his patience, faith, and confidence in God, but is also the manifestation of God present and acting in him to save the world (2 Cor 5:19) and ratifying the accomplishment of his mission: “Father, the hour is come; glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you”69 through the redemption of humanity, a common labor manifesting the love of the Father and of the Son. In carrying out the Father’s thelēma, Jesus glorifies him through his obedience and his love (John 17:4). Jesus wants his disciples to behold this heavenly glory openly, to see (theōrōsin, present subjunctive) the brilliance and splendor of his divine nature (John 17:24; Heb 12:14). Christ’s last will is that his own may see and hence share his doxa, which he possesses in common with the Father; for in this order of reality, it is not possible to behold without in some way becoming a participant (2 Cor 3:18). So Jesus asks that his disciples be made capable of receiving this vision face to face with his divinity, “as he is” (1 John 3:2), which they have not seen here below except through the veil of his flesh (1:14). As St. Augustine says concerning spiritual realities, “to see them is to have them” (“videre est ea habere”).
Jesus makes believers sharers in precisely this divine doxa, which in the OT was incommunicable: “I have given (dedōka) to them the glory that you   V 1, p 376  gave me, so that they may be one as we are one” (John 17:22, both verbs in the perfect). This is a reference to divine filiation (1:2), high nobility. This participation in the divine nature (1 Pet 1:23; 2:2; 2 Pet 1:4) and thus in eternal life, this communion in Christ, imparts to all members the same life that belongs to him; obtained through Christ’s passion and his Eucharist, it is the principle that unites all Christians with each other and with the three divine persons. Believers are ushered into the presence of the Holy Trinity, receive its splendor, and share in its glory.
So we understand that Jesus continues in heaven the ministry that he carried out on earth; he “finds himself glorified by his disciples” (John 17:10; dedoxasmai, perfect passive), as much through their faith as through their fruitful ministry (verse 8; 1 Thess 2:20; Phil 4:1). Similarly, the Father is glorified by their spiritual fruit (John 15:8), after the fashion of a proud vineyard owner who derives honor from the fruitfulness of his vines. Moreover, in the time of the church, the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth, will glorify Christ (John 16:14) by making his teachings ever better known, by illuminating them. He never stops re-announcing them, re-proclaiming them (anangellō). This manifestation will be simultaneously an interior light and a power of visible radiance. Finally, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son, Jesus promises to do whatever his own ask in his name (14:13). Thus the heavenly Christ continues to act as he did on earth, for the glory of his Father.70
Doxazō.—In classical Greek this denominative verb expresses both meanings of doxa: “think, hold an opinion, imagine,”71 and “honor, exalt, praise, celebrate.”72 This latter meaning is the only one in the LXX: human   V 1, p 377  honors are offered to the king of Israel (2 Sam 6:20; 10:3; 1 Chr 17:18; 19:3) as well as to a slave (Jdt 12:13), to a father, a mother, a priest, a judge, the rich, etc.73 But in the song of Moses after the crossing of the Red Sea, Yahweh is said to be clothed in glory (Hebrew gāʾâh) and is exalted (hiphil of nāwâh); he wins fame and demonstrates his magnificence by his might (niphal of ʾāḏar). “Who is like him, majestic in holiness?” (Exod 15:1, 2, 6, 11; cf. 1 Macc 3:14). Since God manifests his glory in Israel74 and glorifies his own,75 it follows that his people will exalt and praise him.76 This gratitude is the elect people’s raison d’être.
In the NT, doxazō sometimes retains its secular meaning, “praise, acclaim,”77 while here and there a shade of OT doxa is present.78 But the   V 1, p 378  meaning of “glorifying God” is exactly as in the LXX: like lights that shine and give forth light, the good works of the disciples “glorify the Father who is in heaven” (Matt 5:16). God is exalted and praised in view of the manifestations of his sovereignty and power,79 especially in the miracles whose brilliance draws adoration and thankfulness.80 If Christians are commanded to “glorify God in your bodies” (1 Cor 6:20; imperative, doxasate), it is because the body is the temple of God; not only must it be preserved pure and holy, it is also the locus of sacred acts, of worship that praises and glorifies God (cf. Rom 12:1). All the faithful are joined together in this thanksgiving liturgy.81 “In everything let God be glorified (acclaimed) through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 4:11; a doxology follows).
As for St. John, he uses doxazō almost exclusively82 for Christ’s glory and his relationship with the Father,83 exactly as with doxa. If “the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified” (7:39, passive of doxazō, as at 12:16, 23), this must be understood as a reference to the reintegration into eternal glory after the passion and the resurrection, i.e., in the splendor of his majesty and sovereign omnipotence.
Syndoxazō.—This extremely rare verb,84 a biblical hapax, is only attested three or four times and in each case in a different meaning. Aristotle understands it to mean common approbation: “No profit will be had from   V 1, p 379  the most beneficent laws, even if they are sanctioned by the unanimity of the citizens (syndedoxasmenōn hypo pantōn tōn politeuomenōn), if these latter …” (Pol. 5.9.12). In Porphyry, it means “agree, consent to.”85 According to Rom 8:17, it is a matter of being “glorified with,” together in heaven: “we will suffer with him (Christ) so that we may be glorified with him,”86 united to him, eternally in his presence, participants in his honor, his joy, and the riches of his kingdom.


S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

NIDNTT Colin Brown, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, 1986.

MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

NIDNTT Colin Brown, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, 1986.

MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BDF F. Blass and A. Debrunner. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Trans. and rev. of the 9 th–10th German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner by R. W. Funk. Chicago, 1961.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

NIDNTT Colin Brown, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, 1986.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

1 Demosthenes, Fun. Orat. 60.5: “it seems to me that” (δοκεῖ μοι); Herodotus 7.103: “for myself, I think that”; Plato, Menex. 241 b: “The Persians seemed to be invincible by sea”; Sophocles, Trach. 718: “Yes, I feel that he will kill him”; Xenophon, Hell. 7.5.21: “He gave the enemy the impression that he did not want to join battle that day”; An. 2.1.17: “the advice that seems best to you”; Thucydides 2.11.3: “even if we seem (δοκοῦμεν) to be about to attack, having numbers on our side”; A. Bernand, Philae, n. 12 bis, 11: “we ask you, if it please you, to order” (δεόμεθά σου, εἰ δοκεῖ). A. Bernand, Fayoum, n. 112, 18; 113, 20; 114, 33; etc. Cf. Matt 3:9; 6:7; 17:25; Luke 1:3; Acts 15:22.

2 Homer, Od. 11.344; cf. Il. 10.324: “I will not be a vain scout for you, nor will I fall short of your expectation”; Herodotus 1.79: “Croesus found himself in a very awkward position, his affairs having taken an unexpected turn, altogether different from what he had supposed”; 7.203: “whoever came to attack them had to risk being disappointed.” Josephus constantly uses παρὰ δόξαν, “contrary to all expectation,” for a surprising, unexpected happening: “having escaped alive, by some miracle, from the royal palace at Jerusalem” (Life 46; cf. 96; War 1.95, 614; 3.289, 518; 4.529; Ant. 2.280; 3.210; 5.40; 15.255, 316, 388; 17.330; 18.129, 219; 19.243). Cf. P. Chantraine, Dictionnaire étymologique, pp. 290ff. J. Schneider, Doxa: Eine bedeutungsgeschichtliche Studie, Gütersloh, 1932.

3 Plato, Plt. 260 b: “Have we made a just division? Yes, in my opinion at least”; Pindar, Nem. 11.30; Aeschylus, Pers. 29; Philostratus, Gym. 17: “following the opinion of certain people (ὡς μὲν δόξα ἐνίων), the Eleans tested during the summer to see if the gymnasts could resist vigorously and burn themselves in the sun”; P.Mich. XIII, 666, 27: ἐν καιρῷ τοῦ δημοσίου πρὸς τὰ δόξαν = as that seems good; Stud.Pal. XXII, 87, 12: ἀξιῶ τὸ δόχαν σοι; SB 7558, 11: τὸ δόξαν σοι κελεῦσαι γενέσθαι; 9066, 23: τὸ δόξαν σταθῆναι.

Resp. Respublica

4 Plato, Tht. 187 b. Cf. J. Sprute, Der Begriff der DOXA in der platonischen Philosophie, Göttingen, 1962, pp. 90ff., 109ff. H. D. Voigtländer, Der Philosoph und die Vielen, Wiesbaden, 1980, pp. 177–183; Y. Lafrance, La Théorie platonicienne de la doxa, Montreal, 1981.

5 Plato, Phlb. 36 c; Grg. 458 a: δόξα ψευδής; Resp. 4.423 a; Xenophon, Cyr. 1.6.22; Mem. 1.7.4.

Resp. Respublica

6 Of Epicurus (Cicero, Fin. 2.7); cf. αἱ κοιναὶ δόξαι (Aristotle, Metaph. 2.2.996b28; 3.3.1005b29; K. Held, Heraklit, Parmenides und der Anfang von Philosophie und Wissenschaft, Berlin-New York, 1980, pp. 72, 469–471).

7 Herodotus 8.132; Aeschylus, Ag. 275; Thucydides 1.32.4–5: what formerly seemed to be wisdom appeared definitively as folly and weakness. Plato, Symp. 218 e; G. Kittel, “Δόξα,” in Forschungen und Fortschritte, vol. 7, 1931, pp. 457–458. On preSocratic δόξα, cf. M. Heidegger, Einführung in die Metaphysik, Tübingen, 1953, pp. 79ff. = ET, An Introduction to Metaphysics, trans. R. Manheim, New Haven, 1959, pp. 103ff. Parmenides used this word for the world of appearance as grasped by the senses, cf. E. Pax, “Ex Parmenide ad Septuaginta: De notione vocabuli doxa,” in VD, 1960, pp. 92–102.

8 Demosthenes, 2 Olynth. 2.15; cf. 3 Olynth. 3.24: “The Athenians through their actions have left a renown that defies the envious”; C. Lept. 20.10: “the present law deprives our city of this glorious fame”; Euripides, HF 157: Heracles has a reputation of bravery for his fights with wild animals; cf. Hec. 295: well-known or famous men (τῶν δοκούντων) contrasted to obscure folk (ἀδοκούντων); Tro. 613; Diodorus Siculus 15.61.5; Josephus, Ant. 4.14: Korah thought that he had a greater right to honor than Moses himself; 19.307; Life 274: “They said that the esteem in which I was held was an honor to themselves.” Cf. G. Steinkopf, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Ruhmes bei den Griechen, Halle, 1937, pp. 60ff.

Pap.Graec.Mag. Papyri Graecae Magicae. Ed. K. Preisendanz. 2 vols. Leipzig-Berlin, 1928–1931.

9 I.Delos 1517, 17 = J. Pouilloux, Choix, n. 17. The end of an (imperial) decree refers to a dispute concerning the names or rank of cities (πρωτεία). Certain ones are puffed up with a glory that is recent, new (καινῇ δόξῃ, MAMA VI, 6, 2) “because a title has been granted them” (L. Robert, “Les Inscriptions,” in J. des Gagniers, Laodicée, p. 287).

10 NCIG, n. 7, col. I, 3. Dittenberger, Or. 244, 20: “In the future he shall benefit from all the advantages that confer honor and glory (εἰς τιμῆν καὶ δόξαν); this will be our concern” (= IGLS 992); Syl. 700, 35; 724 E 20; 796, 28; I.Priene 53, 15: ἀξίως ἐπαίνου καὶ τιμῶν (= C. Michel, Recueil, n. 468); 119, 9: μεγίστου τέτευχεν ἐπαίνου καὶ δόξης ἀταράκτου; I.Olymp. 472, 12: ἀρετῆς καὶ σωφροσύνης καὶ παιδείας ἕνεκεν καὶ τῆς ὑπὲρ τὴν ἡλικίαν δόξης; I.Magn. 53, 48; 131, 3: γένει καὶ δόξῃ καὶ ἀρετῇ καὶ σωφροσύνῃ; 138, 5: ἐπὶ τε τῇ περισσῇ ἀρετῇ τε καὶ δόξῃ καὶ τῇ εὐνοίᾳ.

11 E. Bernand, Inscriptions métriques, n. 5, 5: συγγενικῆς δόξης ἱερὸν γέρας. According to Aphrodisia’s epitaph, her husband Ptolemaeus “raised to the heavens the glory of being king’s kinsman” (ibid. 35, 10). In the vision of Maximus, the god Mandoulis is “glad for the glory of the Romans,” i.e., rejoices in the temple that the imperial government built for him (ibid. 168, 27). “At Elea, the sacred olive tree retains its ancient glory free of profanation” (τὴν ἐκ παλαιοῦ δόξαν, Philostratus, Gym. 45). The gymnastai dream only of their profits and “do not care for the glory of the athletes” (τῆς μὲν τῶν ἀθλητῶν δόξης, ibid.). The winner in a chariot race notes that he “won a share of glory in life” (τῆς ἐν βίῳ δόξης μετείληφα νεικήσας, P.Oxy. 3116, 5); cf. P.Oslo 85, 13; SB 8542, 2: μεγίστη δόξα διὰ βίου; 8639, 2; 9286, 5; P.Ross.Georg. II, 26, 2: ἐν μείζονι δόξῃ; CIRB 57, 7: μεγάλης δόξης ὁ ἀνὴρ ἔτυχεν; 121, 1; 992, 8; P.Alex. 216 (p. 44); τῆς ὑμετέρας μεγαλοπρεποὺς δόξης; C.P.Herm. 2,26.

P.Oxy. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. 51 vols. London, 1898–1984.

12 Beginning with the first occurrence, Gen 31:1—Jacob “gained all this fortune from what was our father’s”; verse 6; 45:13—Joseph says, “You shall tell my father about all my power in Egypt”; Exod 28:2—“Aaron your brother in glory and in majesty” (same link between δόξα and τιμή, Ps 8:5—“You have crowned man with glory and honor” [cf. the Hebrew text of Sir 49:16—“Above every living thing is the glory of Adam”; T. Abr. A 11; 1 QS 4.23; CD 3.20; 1 QH 17.15]; Ps 21:6; Job 40:10; 1 Macc 14:21; 2 Macc 5:16); Num 27:20—Moses will confer on Joshua “a little of his majesty”; 1 Kgs 3:13; 1 Chr 29:12, 28; 2 Chr 1:11–12; 17:5; 18:1; 32:27; Esth 6:3; 10:2; Ps 112:3; Prov 3:16; 8:18; 11:16; 22:4; Eccl 6:2; Sir 24:17; 1 Macc 14:4, 9; 15:32, 36, “the wise shall have a share of honor” (Prov 3:35); “the beauty of heaven is the glory of the stars” (Sir 43:9, 12). There is “the glory of the great Raphael” (Tob 3:17), “the glory of athletes” (2 Macc 4:15), and “Yahweh, you are my glory (my pride, my honor)” (Ps 3:3, 46:2; 106:20). Glory is like a garment (Job 19:9; 40:10; Sir 6:31; 27:8; 45:7; 50:11; Isa 52:1; Bar 5:1) or an adornment. So there is mention of a crown of glory (Jer 13:18; Bar 5:2) and of a throne of glory (1 Sam 2:8; Isa 22:23; Jer 14:21; 17:12; Bar 5:6; Esth 5:1; Wis 9:10; Sir 7:4; 40:3; 47:11). Glory is preeminently a royal attribute: Solomon is clothed with royal majesty (δόξαν βασιλέως, 1 Chr 29:25; cf. the liturgical acclamation Δόξα σοι οὐράνιε βασιλεῦ, SB 6584, 10; 7512, 2; 7906, 13; IGLS 294, 1; 318, 1; 426, 1; 587; 598); cf. Isa 8:7; 17:4; 21:16; 33:17; Dan 2:37; 4:26–33; 7:14; 11:20; Esth 1:4; Ps 45:13; Prov 14:28; 25:2.

13 Hos 4:7; Hab 2:16; Isa 16:14; 1 Macc 1:40; 10:58, 64, 86; 11:42; 2 Macc 14:7; Esth 4:17; Job 29:20; Wis 15:9; Sir 1:11, 19; 3:10–11; 8:14; 35:12; 45:2, 20, 23. In the plural, the ἐξουσίαι καὶ δόξαι are high offices (Diodorus Siculus 15.58.1; cf. PSI 158, 24 and 41: πάντων ἄλλων δόξας ποιεῖς; 1422, 6), those high dignitaries of the heavenly court that angels are; Philo, Spec. Laws 1.45: “Your glory, I mean the Powers that stand guard around you”; T. Jud. 25.2—αἱ δυνάμεις τῆς δόξης; Jude 8; 2 Pet 2:10; P.Princ. 159, 10: κύριοι ἄγγελοι (= P.Oslo 1, 44 and 246), “the cherubim of glory” (Heb 9:5); Ezek 10:4; Sir 49:8), whose spread wings over the place of propitiation symbolize the presence of Yahweh and his powerful interventions on behalf of his people (J. Trinquet, “Gloires,” in Catholicisme, vol. 5, col. 55). Some have also understood the false teachers of 2 Pet 2:10, who slander the “glorious ones” as those who reject the risen Christ, his extraordinary deeds (2:1—δεσπότην ἀρνούμενοι) or his teachings (κυριότητος καταφρονοῦντας); δόξας would then have its classical meaning “opinion, verdict, axiom, philosophical doctrine,” but the plural here would be obscure indeed.

14 1 Macc 2:51; 3:3; 9:10; 14:10, 29; 15:9; in all lands (1 Chr 22:5), among the multitudes (Wis 8:10). The forest of cedars is the glory of Lebanon (Isa 35:1 ff.; 60:13), Yahwh is the glory of Israel (Ps 3:4; 106:20; Jer 2:2); so also the ark (1 Sam 4:22).

15 Ps 24:7–10; Isa 24:14; 26:10; 30:30. The glory of Yahweh “is above the heavens” (Ps 113:4); “great is the glory of Yahweh” (Ps 145:5, 11, 12); “Ascribe to Yahweh glory and power” (Ps 29:1–3, 9).

16 Isa 6:3; 59:19. Not only does God act for his glory (Isa 43:7; 48:11), but his faithful ones “tell of Yahweh’s glory to all the nations” (1 Chr 16:24–28; Isa 42:12; 66:19; Ps 96:3, 7–8). Cf. H. Kittel, Die Herrlichkeit Gottes, Giessen, 1934; B. Stein, Der Begriff Kebod Jahwe, Emsdetten i. W., 1939; A. Plé, “La Gloire de Dieu,” in VSpir, n. 306, 1946, pp. 479–490; L. Brockington, “The Greek Translator of Isaiah and His Interest in δόξα,” in VT, 1951, pp. 23ff. P. Deseille, “Gloire de Dieu dans l’Ancien et le Nouveau Testament,” in Dict. spir., vol. 6, col. 422–436; J. Duplacy, “Gloire,” in Catholicisme, vol. 5, col. 47–54.

17 Isa 2:10, 19, 21; 4:2, 5; 40:1; cf. Bar 4:24—“The splendor of the Eternal.”

18 Isa 12:2; 35:1–4; 44:23; 46:13; Ezek 39:21–29.

19 Exod 16:10; Lev 9:6, 23; Num 14:10; 16:19; 17:7; 20:6.

20 Num 12:8 (Hebrew temûnâh); Ps 17:15; cf. Ezek 1:28—“the vision of the surrounding brightness was the vision of the image of the glory of Yahweh. I saw and fell on my face.” In this epigram from Gofna, on the tomb of an old woman: εἰκόνα δόξης (GVI, n. 1185, 3).

21 Exod 16:7—“You shall see the glory of Yahweh” (who will save you); Exod 33:18–22: Moses asks, “Let me see your glory,” and God answers, “I will make all my goodness pass before you”; Deut 5:24—“Yahweh our God made us see his glory and his greatness”; Tob 13:16; Isa 40:5; 60:2; 66:18; Ezek 3:23; Ps 63:2—“I beheld your power and your glory”; 97:6; Sir 17:13; 42:25; 49:8.

Asc. Isa. Ascension of Isaiah

22 Cf. Ezek 1:3; 2:2; 11:24; 2 Cor 3:7; John 1:14—“We have contemplated his glory, glory like that belonging to a Father’s only Son”; 2:11—“He manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him.” This doxa, which fills the earth (Isa 6:3; Ps 72:19) and the heavens (Ps 8:2; 19:2; 24:7), is manifested especially in the temple (1 Kgs 8:11; Ps 26:8; 2 Chr 5:13–14; 7:1–3; Isa 6:1; Ezek 10:4, 18; 43:4–5).

23 Cf. Pap.Graec.Mag. 13, 189: τὴν δόξαν τοῦ φωτός; 298ff. Cf. C. Mohrmann, “Note sur doxa,” in Sprachgeschichte und Wortbedeutung: Festschrift A. Debrunner, Bern, 1954, pp. 321–328.

24 Ep. Aristides 96, 98; or dazzling (196); the other occurrences have to do with reputation (3, 37, 226, 234, 242, 269, 283), honor (39, 45), dignity (218, 282, 290). Among all, kings are illustrious and glorious (79, 223, 224).

Sacr. Abel and Cain On the Sacrifice of Abel and Cain (De Sacrificiis Abelis et Caini)

Worse Attacks Better The Worse Attacks the Better (Quod Deterius Potiori Insidiari Solet)

25 Ψευδὴς δόξα, Cherub. 9, 66, 71; Post. Cain 52; Drunkennes 70, 76, 162; Unchang. God 172; Conf. Tongues 106; Heir 71; Dreams 1.218; Joseph 147; Spec. Laws 1.59; 4.53, 188.

Sacr. Abel and Cain On the Sacrifice of Abel and Cain (De Sacrificiis Abelis et Caini)

Alleg. Interp. Allegorical Interpretation (Legum Allegoriae)

Post. Cain On the Posterity and Exile of Cain (De Posteritate Caini)

26 Κεναὶ δόξαι, Unchang. God 172; Husbandry 56; Drunkennes 36, 38, 144; Sobr. 57; Migr. Abr. 21; Prelim. Stud. 6, 15; Flight 47, 128; Change of Names 92–94; Dreams 1.82; 2.95, 155; Decalogue 4; Spec. Laws 1.27; Good Man Free 66, 158; Contemp. Life 17.

27 Alleg. Interp. 2.56–57; Cherub. 83; Post. Cain 13; Joseph 59; Spec. Laws 2.244; 3.164; 4.71; Rewards 28; To Gaius 279.

28 Cf. Post. Cain 34; Giants 39, 62; Sobr. 67; Migr. Abr. 184; Heir 169; Abraham 70; Decalogue 65; Spec. Laws 1.328; Virtues 65, 214; Rewards 162; Good Man Free 3; Etern. World 7, 12, 47. The religious meaning is found only in the quotation of Exod 33:18 (Spec. Laws 1.45). There is a single instance in Josephus also (Ant. 1.155).

29 Philo, Creation 79; Alleg. Interp. 1.75; 3.86; Cherub. 117; Worse Attacks Better 33, 122, 136, 157; Post. Cain 112, 117; Giants 15; Drunkennes 52, 57, 75; Sobr. 3, 61; Conf. Tongues 112; Prelim. Stud. 27; Flight 25, 33, 35, 39; Abraham 184; Moses 2.53; Decalogue 153; Spec. Laws 1.311; 2.208; 3.1.

Spec. Laws On the Special Laws (De Specialibus Legibus)

Rewards On Rewards and Punishments (De Praemiis et Poenis)

Rewards On Rewards and Punishments (De Praemiis et Poenis)

30 War 1.375; 2.154, 160; 4.288; 6.264; Ant. 2.286; 4.147; etc. (δόξαν παρασκεῖν, cf. PSI 1422, 6), the doctrine of the philosophers (Ag. Apion 1.165; 2.169) and religious belief (2.179, 221, 224, 239, 254–256, 258).

31 War 1.108, 331; 3.358; 6.260, 267, 442; Ant. 1.2, 165, 275, 280; 2.78; 5.290, 351; 7.44, 52 (20.205; Life 193, 274); Ant. 8.43; 10.59, 272; 11.158; 12.350; 13.63; 17.226; etc. There is the glory of the Olympic games (War 1.426), of a victory (4.372; 5.498; Ant. 7.304; 8.24), of a success (Ant. 5.267; 12.49), of domination (2.175; 7.195), of past glories (1.121).

32 Ant. 2.205; 6.18, 80, 343; 8.196; 9.16; 10.264, 268; 11.121; 12.160; 18.297; 19.211; cf. δόξα καὶ τιμή, 2.268; 6.200; 10.266; 11.217; 12.118.

33 Cf. Luke 2:32 (relying on Isa 42:6; 49:6): the Messiah is a “light (φῶς) to lighten the nations, and the glory (δόξαν, honor and repute) of your people Israel.” Cf. Acts 22:11, Saul on the Damascus road: “I could not see because of the brilliance of that light” (ἀπὸ τῆς δόξης τοῦ φωτὸς ἐκείνου).

34 Ὀφθέντες ἐν δόξῃ, Luke 9:31. Cf. H. Riesenfeld, Jésus transfiguré, Copenhagen, 1947; A. M. Ramsey, La Gloire de Dieu et la Transfiguration du Christ, Paris, 1965.

35 Matt 16:27 (Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26); 19:28; 24:30 (Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27); 25:31.

36 Luke 2:9 (περιλάμπω = shine about, illumine); like a shining garment. This Semitism appears in Acts 7:2—“the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham” (ὁ θεὸς τῆς δόξης ὤφθη). This brilliant light is characteristic of God (Ps 24:7, 9; 29:3; with the article) and shines out from God (M. Black, “The Recovery of the Language of Jesus,” in NTS, vol. 3, 1957, p. 312); Acts 7:55—Stephen, “his eyes fixed on heaven, saw God’s glory” (Exod 16:7; 24:17; Ezek 8:4; 43:2).

37 Luke 2:14; there is no article and no verb; the style is lapidary (cf. E. Delebecque, Etudes grecques, pp. 25–38; cf. C. Westermann, “Alttestamentliche Elemente in Lukas II, 1–20,” in Tradition und Glaube: Festgabe K. G. Kuhn, Göttingen, 1971, pp. 317–327). On Palm Sunday, the crowd acclaimed the Messiah: “Glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38). After the healing of the ten lepers, “No one was found to return and give glory to (= thank) God except this foreigner” (Luke 17:18). Herod Agrippa, having uttered sacrilegious words and usurped God’s glory, is struck dead “because he did not give the glory to God” (Acts 12:23; cf. Rev 19:7).

38 1 Thess 2:6—“We have not sought glory from people”; 2:20—“You are our glory and our joy”; Eph 3:13—“The trials that I endure for you are your glory”; the apostle commends himself in his ministry “in the midst of glory and dishonor” (διὰ δόξης καὶ ἀτιμίας, “scorn, shame,” 2 Cor 6:8); “Their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame” (ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν, Phil 3:19); “it is sown in shame, it is raised in glory” (the resurrection, 1 Cor 15:43); “Jesus Christ will transform our body of misery (ταπεινώσεως), conforming it to his glorious body” (Phil 3:21). Cf. M. Carrey, De la souffrance à la gloire: La Doxa dans la pensée paulinienne, Neuchâtel, 1964; H. Schlier, “La Notion de doxa dans l’histoire du salut d’après S. Paul,” in Essais sur le Nouveau Testament, Paris, 1968, pp. 379–412.

39 1 Cor 11:15 (for the textual criticism, cf. G. Zuntz, in RB, 1952, p. 15); cf. 1 Pet 1:24—“All flesh is like grass, and its glory like a flower of grass” (= Isa 40:6); F. W. Danker, “I Petr. I, 24–II, 7: A Consolatory Pericope,” in ZNW, 1967, pp. 93–102.

40 Rom 2:7, 10; 1 Pet 1:7—“Let your faith … be found worthy of praise and glory and honor (ἔπαινον καὶ δόξαν καὶ τιμὴν) at the revealing of Jesus Christ.”

41 1 Cor 15:40–41: “the brilliance (doxa) of heavenly bodies is different from the brilliance of earthly bodies; there is the brilliance of the sun, and the brilliance of the moon, and the brilliance of the stars, for one star differs from another in its brilliance”; cf. Aratus, Phaen. 454; Philodemus of Gadara, Inf. 9.36; C. Mugler, Terminologie optique, pp. 191ff., 352ff.

42 2 Cor 3:7–11 (cf. S. Schulz, “Die Decke des Moses,” in ZNW, 1958, pp. 1–30; R. Le Déaut, “Traditions targumiques dans le Corpus Paulinien,” in Bib, 1961, pp. 43–47).

43 2 Cor 4:6 (cf. C. M. Martini, “Alcuni temi letterari di II Cor. IV, 6 e i racconti della conversione de San Paolo negli Atti,” in AnBib 17, Rome, 1963, pp. 461–474; G.W. MacRae, “Anti-Dualist Polemic in II Cor. IV, 6?” in F. L. Cross, SE, vol. 4, Berlin, 1968, pp. 420–431); cf. 2 Cor 4:4—“the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (τὸ φωτισμὸν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς δόξης τοῦ Χριστοῦ); 1 Tim 1:11—“the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, which was entrusted to me personally,” an evocation of the transcendent character of the revealed message, the manifestation of divine power: the epiphany of the Son of God, the Savior. Cf. 2 Cor 8:23—the emissaries of the churches “are the glory of Christ.”

44 1 Cor 11:7 (Gen 1:26; 2:18–23); cf. the tomb inscription, “[here lies one who was] the glory of Sophronius, blessed Lucilla” (ἡ δόξα Σωφρονίου Λουκίλλα εὐλογημένη, CII 135). Cf. C. Spicq, Théologie morale, p. 130, n. 7; 690, n. 4; A. Feuillet, “L’Homme ‘gloire de Dieu’ et la femme ‘gloire de l’homme,’ ” in RB, 1974, pp. 161–182; idem, “La Dignité et le rôle de la femme,” in NTS, vol. 21, 1975, pp. 159ff. S. V. McCasland, “ ‘The Image of God,’ according to Paul,” in JBL, 1950, pp. 85ff. E. E. Ellis, Paul’s Use of the Old Testament, London, 1957, p. 63; P. Grelot, Le Couple humain dans l’Ecriture, Paris, 1962; K. Stendhahl, The Bible and the Role of Women, Philadelphia, 1966.

Adam and Eve Life of Adam and Eve

Rab. Rabbah

45 Cf. Job 19:9—“He has stripped me of my glory”; Bar 5:1—“Put on forever the beauty and glory of God,” 4 Ezra 7:122–125; 2 Apoc. Bar. 51.1, 3; 54.15; cf. 2 Thess 1:9—the condemned are “separated from the Lord’s presence and from the glory of his might.” According to rabbinic theology, the first man, created shining with splendor, shared in the divine kāḇôḏ; he lost this privilege through sin. Glory is one of the six things that were taken from Adam and will be restored to humanity by the Messiah (Gen. Rab. 12.5; Exod. Rab. 30.2; Num. Rab. 13.11, on Num 7:13; cf. b. Sanh. 38b). Naked, Adam and Eve were clothed with light; sin deprived them of this garment. After eating the forbidden fruit, Eve saw that she had lost the righteousness that had enveloped her and reproached the serpent thus: “Why did you do this? You have robbed me of the glory in which I was clothed” (Adam and Eve 20.1–2). Cf. P. Bonnetain, “Grâce,” in DBSup, vol. 3, col. 775–776; J. B. Frey, “L’Etat originel et la chute de l’homme d’après les conceptions juives au temps de Jésus-Christ,” in RSPT, 1911, p. 554; W. D. Davies, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism, London, 1948, pp. 45ff.; L. Ligier, Péché d’Adam et péché du monde, Paris, 1961, pp. 209–210, 245.

46 Rom 1:23; cf. N. Hyldahl, “A Reminiscence of the Old Testament at Romans I, 23,” in NTS, vol. 2, 1956, pp. 285–288; M. D. Hooker, “Adam in Romans I,” NTS, vol. 6, 1960, pp. 297–306.

47 Eph 1:18—ὁ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης; 3:16; Phil 4:19; Col. 1:27; Rom 9:23; 2 Thess 1:9—τῆς δόξης τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ; Col. 1:11—τὸ κράτος τῆς δόξης. God has called us ἰδίᾳ δόξῃ καὶ ἀρετῇ (2 Pet 1:3). Cf. L. Cerfaux, Théologie de l’Eglise suivant saint Paul, Paris, 1965, p. 35ff., 78, 309ff. Christ, who was raised by the glory of his Father (Rom 6:4), acts to secure the glory of God (15:7), which is manifested through his word, his truth, his faithfulness (3:7). This glory, which appeared on Tabor, is described as “magnificent” or “majestic” (2 Pet 1:17).

48 Eph 1:17; P. Benoit in the Bible de Jérusalem comments: “that is to say, who possesses in fullness and causes to shine on his elect (verse 18) this brilliant splendor of ‘glory’ in which all the wealth of the divine essence is expressed.” The formula is probably liturgical and of priestly origin (M. Barth, Ephesians, vol. 1, p. 148); cf. “God of glory” (Ps 29:3; Acts 7:2), “king of glory” (Ps 24:7), “Lord of glory” (1 Cor 2:8); “Father of mercies” (2 Cor 1:3), “Father of lights” (Jas 1:17).

49 1 Cor 2:8; Jas 2:1. Here kyrios is a title of supremacy and even of divinity. Cf. Heb 2:7—“You crowned him with glory and honor” (δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ, quoting Ps 8:5–7: a lordly crown; cf. F. J. Moloney, “The Re-interpretation of Psalm VIII and the Son of Man Debate,” in NTS, vol. 27, 1981, pp. 656–672); everything is put under the Messiah’s feet (cf. P. Grelot, Sens chrétien de l’Ancien Testament, Paris-Tournai, 1962, p. 473; W.H. Schmidt, “Gott und Mensch in Ps. 8,” in TZ, 1969, pp. 1–15). Christ’s glory is superior to that of Moses (πλείονος δόξης), for the builder of a house is more worthy of honor than the house itself (Heb 3:3).

50 Heb 1:3 is reminiscent of Wis 7:25–26 (cf. Philo, Plant. 50; Dreams 1.72; Spec. Laws 4.123). Ἀπαυγάζω = shine out, emit rays of light and perceive emitted rays; ἀπαυγασμός = shining, rays of light (C. Mugler, Terminologie optique, p. 43). In its choice of the word ἀπαύγασμα, Hebrews suggests rays of light emanating from a bright fire, with the idea of splendor, magnificence, beauty: the brilliance of Majesty. Hence, in the passive sense: refulgence, defined by Littré: “the great brilliance formed by the expansion, the reflection of light,” perceptible by mortals.

51 1 Pet 1:11—the Holy Spirit attested in advance through the prophets “the sufferings in store for the Christ and the glories that would follow” (τὰς μετὰ ταῦτα δόξας); the plural suggests the multiplicity and the greatness of the glorious events following the passion: resurrection, appearances, ascension, session “at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb 1:3; 1 Pet 3:22). The object of Christian faith is God’s having raised Christ from the dead and having given him glory (1 Pet 1:21; cf. Acts 3:13). At the ascension, Christ was received up (ἀνελήμφθη ἐν δόξῃ, 1 Tim 3:16). This triumph is not only a transfer to another location, nor the acquisition of almighty exousia, but a close communion with God (C. Spicq, Epîtres Pastorales, vol. 1, p. 474; J. Coppens, “La Glorification céleste du Christ dans la théologie néotestamentaire,” in E. Dhanis, Resurrexit, Vatican City, 1974, pp. 31–55).

52 Titus 2:13 (C. Spicq, Epîtres Pastorales, vol. 1, p. 640; M. J. Harris, “Titus II, 13 and the Deity of Christ,” in D. A. Hagner, M. J. Harris, Pauline Studies: Essays Presented to Professor F. F. Bruce, Exeter, 1980, pp. 262–277); M. E. Boismard, “Notre glorification dans le Christ d’après saint Paul,” in VSpir, 1946, pp. 502–517); 1 Pet 4:13.

53 2 Cor 3:18 (J. Dupont, “Le chrétien miroir de la grâce divine d’après II Cor. III, 18,” in RB, 1949, pp. 392–411. N. Hugedé, La Métaphore du miroir dans les épîtres de saint Paul aux Corinthiens, Neuchâtel-Paris, 1957; C. Mugler, Terminologie optique, p. 221; C. Spicq, Epîtres Pastorales, vol. 1, pp. 130, 741); Col 1:27—“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This immanent spiritual metamorphosis is progressive and will not be “manifest” until the final eschatological glory, of which it is actually the firstfruits and an anticipation. It is also the work of the “Spirit of glory” (1 Pet 4:14), so designated because he procures the heavenly glory. For the textual criticism of this text, cf. K. Aland, Die alten Übersetzungen des Neuen Testaments, Berlin, 1972, p. 100.

54 Col 3:4. We can translate ἐν δόξῃ “full of glory” (P. Benoit) or “with glory” (C. Masson) or “in glory” (E. Osty). What is certain is that this will be in Christ’s glory (cf. Phil 3:21), that which surrounds the Lord at the Parousia (1 Pet 5:1).

55 1 Pet 5:4. The crown is the emblem of royalty, or conquerors, or of victors, a symbol of power, success, prosperity, and virtue, cf. J. Köchling, De Coronarum apud Antiquos Vi atque Usu, Giessen, 1914; C. Spicq, Epîtres de saint Pierre, p. 169.

56 2 Cor 4:15 (B. Noak, “A Note on II Cor IV, 15,” in ST, 1963, pp. 129–132); cf. John 9:24—Δὸς δόξαν τῷ θεῷ (cf. Jos 7:19; 1 Sam 6:5; Jer 13:16).

57 Eph 1:6, 12, 14. Cf. A. M. Ramsey, La Gloire de Dieu et la Transfiguration du Christ, pp. 111–122; F. Dreyfus, “Pour la louange de sa gloire (Eph. I, 13, 14): L’Origine Vétéro-Testamentaire da la formule,” in L. de Lorenzi, Paul de Tarse apôtre de notre temps, Rome, 1979, pp. 233–248; D. Cohn-Sherbok, “A Jewish Note on τὸ ποτήριον τῆς εὐλογίας,” in NTS, vol. 27, 1981, pp. 704–709.

58 Rom 11:36; 16:27—“To God be the glory for ever and ever”; Gal 1:5; Eph 3:21; Phil 4:20; 1 Tim 1:17—“To the King of the ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever”; 2 Tim 4:18; Jude 24—“To the one who is able to preserve you from stumbling and establish you spotless before his glory (his majesty and holiness) with joy”; the whole heavenly court acclaims God (Rev 4:9, 11; 7:12; 19:1). Cf. C. Spicq, Epîtres Pastorales, pp. 346ff.; A. Solignac, “Honneur de Dieu,” in Dict. spir., vol. 7, 704ff.; R. Deichgräber, Gotteshymnus und Christushymnus, Göttingen, 1967. Christian tomb inscriptions usually formulate their doxologies to the glory of the Trinity, SB 6035, 21; 7429, 19; 7430, 18; 7432, 21; 8235, 2; 8728, 23; 8765, 21; cf. O.Bodl. 415, 7; 2164, 8. Cf. E. C. E. Owen, “Δόξα and Cognate Words,” in JTS, 1932, pp. 132–150; M. Steinheimer, Die Δόξα τοῦ θεοῦ in der römischen Liturgie, Munich, 1951.

59 Heb 13:21; 1 Pet 4:11; 2 Pet 3:18; Jude 25: “To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and power before all ages and now and for all ages”; Rev 1:6; 5:12–13. IGLS 2108: “To the glory of Christ our God”; 2157.

60 John 5:41, 42; 7:18; 8:50; 12:43.

61 John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; 7:16; 12:49; 14:24. St. John’s Christ is a “divine, incarnate being who is always in the guise of a revealer,” seen by his disciples; his Gospel is a revelation discourse, and this revelation is essentially that of the doxa that belongs to God (A. J. Festugière, Observations stylistiques sur l’Evangile de saint Jean, Paris, 1974, pp. 9 ff.; B. Botte, “La Gloire du Christ dans l’Evangile de saint Jean,” in Les Questions liturgiques et paroissiales, vol. 12, 1927, pp. 65–76; W. Thüsing, Die Erhöhung und Verherrlichung Jesu im Johannesevangelium, Münster, 1960; G. B. Caird, “The Glory of God in the Fourth Gospel,” in NTS, vol. 15, 1969, pp. 265–277).

62 Glory is often linked to dwelling (Hebrew šāḵan, σκηνή; Num 35:34; Ps 85:10; Sir 24:8; Ezek 43:7). In addition, in Revelation the temple was filled with smoke because of God’s glory and power (15:8); thus it was inaccessible; and the heavenly Jerusalem has within it the glory of God (his presence, his dwelling), and its brilliance is splendid like that of a precious stone (21:11). This divine glory illuminates the city (ἐφώτισεν αὐτήν) and its light is the Lamb (21:23); the nations come to it as pilgrims (vv. 24, 26); cf. the earth illuminated by the glory of the angel (18:1).

63 Ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός; John 1:14 (cf. A. Feuillet, Le Prologue du Quatrième Evangile, Paris, 1968; T. C. de Kruijf, “The Glory of the Only Son,” in Studies in John Presented to Professor Dr J. N. Sevenster, Leiden, 1970, pp. 111–123). John 12:41—“Isaiah (6:1–5) saw Christ’s glory and spoke concerning him.” This can mean only Christ’s glory before the Incarnation (1 Cor 10:4), hence as God.

64 Θεάομαι, see with the eyes of the body (1:32, 38; 4:36; 6:5; 11:45; 1 John 1:1; 4:12, 14); but this verb can also suggest spiritual perception, for divine realities are not the object of physical sight. Nevertheless, the “Word made flesh” is revealed to the senses, at least in part; his divine power and splendor, veiled by the flesh, are perceptible to those who believe; cf. τοῖς πιστεύουσιν, 1:12.

65 Ὡς is not comparative, but here means “in the capacity of”; παρὰ πατρός is to be connected to δόξαν, not to μονογενοῦς. This doxa of the Son belongs to the historical Christ as well as to the Word, since he is the same Person.

66 Σημεῖα. These signs lead to faith and are revelatory; they must lead to the Son of God and elicit a decision (John 20:30–31); cf. J. P. Charlier, “La Notion de signe (sèméion) dans le IVe Evangile,” in RSPT, 1959, pp. 434–448; D. Mollat, “Le Semeion johannique,” in Sacra Pagina, Paris-Gembloux, 1959, vol. 2, pp. 209–218; W. Nicol, The Semeia in the Fourth Gospel, Leiden, 1972; L. Erdozáin, La función del signo en la fe según el quarto Evangelio, Rome, 1968; S. S. Smalley, “The Sign in John 21,” in NTS 20, 1974, pp. 275–288; X. Léon-Dufour, “Autour du semeion johannique,” in Die Kirche des Anfangs, for H. Schürmann, Freiburg-Basel-Vienna, 1978, pp. 363–378; cf. H. C. Youtie, Scriptiunculae, “σημεῖον in the Papyri,” in ZPE, vol. 6, 1970, pp. 105–116, 245ff.

67 Cf. John 11:4—“This illness is not unto death, but it is for the glory of God (a brilliant manifestation of his power), so that through it the Son of God (the performer of the miracle and sharer in the divine power) might be glorified”; 11:40—“If you believe, you will see God’s glory,” the brilliant triumph of the divine omnipotence over death and corruption (verse 39); ὁράω is always used for a spiritual vision of heavenly realities (1:51). Martha’s faith would enable her to see in the miracle the power of God made manifest in Christ.

68 Cf. John 11:14; 17:10. The one glorified is glorified through an intermediary (instrument), in (ἐν), through (διά) another: the man is glorified in the woman (1 Cor 11:7), God in his creatures, the Father in the Son (John 14:13; Heb 1:3) and in Christians (John 15:8). The basis of this glorification appears to consist in this: the object that is manifested/seen/praised is taken for what it is, in its essence, but in its essence asan act of visibility, i.e., insofar as it is light (Eph 5:13–14). In the case of an intermediary, when A is glorified in B it is because B participates in A. In so participating, B manifests A to one who sees and praises, because the presence of a cause in its effect, of a principle in that which proceeds from it, manifests this cause or this principle and thus glorifies it; “Omne quod est ab alio, manifestat id a quo est” (St. Thomas Aquinas, In Jo. 16.14).

69 John 17:1 (G. Ferraro, “L’‘hora’ della glorificazione del Figlio dell’uomo,” in Aloisiana, vol. 10, Rome 1974, pp. 178–201); cf. 13:31—when Judas went out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him” (the aorist ἐδοξάσθη is a prophetic anticipation of the future; the Savior’s victory over sin, death, and Satan would be completed in heavenly triumph; or better, the hour of death is already the hour of glory, that of the elevation on the cross and the exaltation/manifestation of the exousia of Jesus); 13:32—“If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in them, and he will glorify him soon,” not only in a brilliant manner, in a sovereign and final state, but in accepting him into his intimacy (ἐν αὐτῷ, the glorification fulfilled in God himself, in his presence or pouring out into the Father’s bosom); 17:5—“Now, O Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world was.” This is no longer only the heavenly glory that followed the passion, but the specifically divine glory whereby the Son manifests the Father in an original fashion, the glory that Jesus had before the incarnation (1:1); it is the glory of the Son as the second person of the Trinity (παρὰ σοί), God’s personal glory. This points to the identity of nature and the equality of the Father and the Son, who are “consubstantial.” A. Laurentin (Doxa, Paris, 1972, 2 vols.) has collected nearly 400 texts from Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Armenian authors from the second through the thirteenth centuries that comment on John 17:5.

70 In Revelation, “giving glory to God” means being converted to worship him, recognizing him as the only God, 11:13; 14:7; 16:9; 19:7.

71 Plato, Grg. 461 b: “Is that your real opinion?”; Tim. 46 d: “most think that …”; Resp. 1.327 c: “You do not think amiss”; Tht. 189 c; 201 c; Thucydides 1.120.5: “The formation of opinions is carried out in safety”; Philo, Creation 19: “one must think that.…”; Alleg. Interp. 3.35; Sacr. Abel and Cain 95; Etern. World 106; Post. Cain 25: the fool “has different opinions at different times on the same topics”; Unchang. God 21: “professing such opinions”; Dreams 1.91, 185. Josephus, Ant. 10.281: “If a person wants to judge otherwise.…” The nuance “picture to oneself, imagine, suppose” is common; Plato, Resp. 2.363 e: “they pass for wicked”; Aeschylus, Cho. 844: “Am I to imagine that what I am told is truthful and real?”; Ag. 673: “we think his fate will be the same”; Suppl. 60: “he will think that he is hearing the voice of Tereus’s wife”; Euripides, Supp. 1043: “she must be found here, I suppose”; Philo, Cherub. 37: “if you imagine such things with regard to us”; 69; Josephus, Ant. 4.49: “godless imaginings”; Ag. Apion 1.225: “these altogether impudent and foolish men … were used to false ideas concerning the gods.”

72 Diodorus Siculus 16.82: Cephalus of Corinth, “celebrated for his knowledge and judgment”; Thucydides 3.45.6: “each one thought too highly of himself”; Josephus, Ant. 1.160: “Abram’s name is still celebrated in the region of Damascus”; 4.183: “make yourselves more glorious than the foreign races.” This author never gives a religious meaning to the verb δοξάζω; nor does Philo, who only uses it with this meaning in quoting Exod 15:1, 21 (Husbandry 82; Dreams 2.269). On the other hand, although they are late, the magical papyri; Moulton-Milligan cite P.Lond. 121, 502 (third century AD): Κυρία Ἶσις … δόξασόν μοι (l. με), ὡς ἐδόξασα τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ υἱοῦ σου Ὥρου; Dittenberger, Or. 168, 56: ἐν Ἐλεφαντίνῃ δεδοξασμένου ἔτι ἐξ ἀρχαίων (= SB 8883, 56; C.Ord.Ptol. 58, 10; second century BC). Cf. P.Oxy. 924, 13: ἵνα τὸ ὄνομά σου ᾖ διὰ παντὸς δεδοξασμένον; 1874, 14 (Christian letter of condolence, sixth century): “We glorify God, because he has taken back that which he gave.”

73 Sir 3:4, 6, 10; 7:27, 31; 10:24, 30; 44:7; 46:2, 12; 48:4; 49:16; Prov 13:18; Mal 1:6; 1 Macc 2:18, 64; 5:63; 10:65, 68; 11:42, 51; 14:39. Cf. Esth 3:1—King Xerxes honored Haman (elevating him in dignity); 6:6, 7, 9, 11.

74 Lev 10:3 (niphal of kāḇēḏ); Isa 44:23; 49:3; 55:5; 60:7, 13: “I will give splendor to the house of my majesty”; 66:5; Ezek 39:13; 1 Macc 14:15; 2 Macc 3:2.

75 Cf. Moses’ face, shining after he has spoken with God (Exod 34:29, 30, 35). God honors those who fear him (Ps 15:4); “You have glorified us after calling us” (Wis 18:8; 19:22; Sir 3:2; 24:12). Cf. Isa 52:13—“My Servant will be raised and lifted up and exalted on high.”

76 Isa 5:16; 24:23; 25:1; 33:10; 42:10; Ps 22:13—“I will praise you in the midst of the congregation” (Sir 35:7; 43:28, 30); 50:15—“I will save you and you will honor me” (v. 23; Isa 43:23); 86:9, 12; Sir 3:20—“The Lord is glorified by the humble”; Dan 4:31 (Theodotion): “I praised and glorified the one who lives eternally”; verse 34. Cf. Judg 9:9—the oil with which gods and men are honored; 13:17; 1 Sam 2:29–30; 15:30.

77 Matt 6:2—the hypocrites do alms to be praised by people; Luke 4:15—Jesus is acclaimed for his teaching; 1 Cor 12:26—when one member is honored, the other members rejoice; Heb 5:5—Christ did not arrogate to himself the honor of the high priestly office; Rev 18:7—however exalted and vaunted Babylon is, so much torture and grief shall she receive.

78 2 Cor 3:10—in comparison with the preeminent glory of the new covenant, the administation of the old was not attended with glory (its illumination was too partial and transitory); Rom 8:30—“those whom God has justified, he has also glorified” (aorist ἐδόξασεν, certain anticipation; cf. M. J. Lagrange); 11:13—“I do honor to my ministry”; 1 Pet 1:8—loving Christ, believers experience an ineffable and glorified (δεδοξασμένη) glory of the same sort as that experienced by the blessed, for it comes from the divine agapē and is infused by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5; Gal 5:22; cf. 1 John 4:7).

79 Matt 9:8 (Mark 2:12; Luke 5:25–26); Matt 15:31; Luke 2:20; Rom 1:21—the heathen did not return to God the glory or thanksgiving that was his due; 1 Pet 2:12; Rev 15:4—“Who, O Lord, could fail to glorify your name?”

80 Luke 7:16; 13:13; 17:15; 18:43. The feeling of the divine presence (23:47); the gift of grace (Acts 11:18), the fruits of the apostolic ministry (3:13; 4:21; 13:48; 21:20; Rom 15:9; Gal 1:24), works of brotherly love (2 Cor 9:13), faithfulness to Christ in persecutions (1 Pet 4:16) are so many signs of God’s action and cause him to be glorified.

81 Rom 15:6—“so that with one heart and one mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”; 2 Thess 3:1—“Pray for us, that the word of the Lord may complete its course and be glorified,” i.e., may manifest its power to convert and be received with joy, drawing adoration from those converted. According to B. Rigaux (on this text), this is an instance of hendiadys: “ ‘run gloriously’ means ‘successfully, triumphing over opposition.’ ”

82 With the exception of John 21:19, where it is said that Peter’s death would glorify God, providing a witness to the Christian faith.

83 John 8:54—“It is my Father who glorifies me,” by miracles that demonstrate that Jesus shares in the Father’s power (11:4), especially in the passion and the resurrection (12:28; 13:31–32; 14:13); cf. Acts 3:13—“the God of our Fathers glorified his servant Jesus” by all the miracles that manifested his messiahship.

84 Unknown in Philo, the papyri, the lexicons (Hesychius, Phrynichus, Julius Pollux). J. J. Wettstein gives no references at all.

Pol. Politica

85 Διὸ ἐν ταῖς καθάρσεσι τὸ μὲν μὴ συνδοξάζειν τῷ σώματι, ἀλλὰ μόνην ἐνεργεῖς, ὑφίστησι τὸ φρονεῖν (in Stobaeus, Flor. 1.123; vol. 3, p. 91, 2–3).

86 Aorist passive subjunctive συνδοξασθῶμεν. Peace having returned to Antioch, thanks to the prayers of the church, Ignatius asks the Christians of Smyrna “to send one of your people … to celebrate with them (ἵνα συνδοξάσῃ) the calm that has been restored to than thanks to God” (Ign. Smyrn. 11.3).

Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 362–379.






ζωγρέω
zōgreō, to capture alive, spare the life of

zōgreō, S 2221; EDNT 2.109; MM 274; L&N 37.1; BAGD 340


Formed from zōon-agreō, this verb is defined by the Suda: zōgrei—zōntas lambanei.1 It means “capture alive, spare the life of” and belongs to the vocabulary of hunting and war.2 Its eight occurrences in the OT all have military meanings,3 while the two NT occurrences are metaphorical, suggesting a fish or a small animal caught in a net.4
After the miraculous catch of fish, “Jesus said to Simon, ‘Fear not; from now on you will catch men.’ ”5 This is not so much an order as a   V 2, p 162  prophecy announcing the apostolic task to which the disciple will be exclusively dedicated (cf. Luke 18:28–29). He will no longer catch dead fish, in order to eat them; rather, he will catch living people, not to reduce them to servitude, after the fashion of prisoners, but to give them liberty and true life.6
In Greek literature, zōgreō is most often opposed to verbs meaning kill, massacre, annihilate: “The Persians massacred a large number of the Massagetae and made the others prisoners” (Herodotus 1.211); “The Syracusans had either captured a large number of men or killed them” (Thucydides 7.41.4); “Such was the anger of the Crotoniates that they took no prisoners but killed all who fled.”7 The fate of these captives is often dire: weighed down with fetters (Herodotus 1.66; Polybius 5.77), it was not rare for them to be executed in the end: “Seven hundred men of the popular party, taken alive (zōgrēsantes), were put to death; only one escaped, and he was mutilated” (ibid. 6.91); “Of all the enemies that the Scythians capture alive, they sacrifice one out of a hundred.”8 But to be “taken alive” means not simply escaping immediate massacre and “being spared,”9 but also retaining hope of liberation (Herodotus 5.77). That is why vanquished people plead with their conquerors to spare their lives.10 That is in fact the   V 2, p 163  nuance in Luke 5:10—keep a captive alive, be gracious and merciful to him, even restore him to life.11
The secular texts cited display especially the cruelty of victors toward their prisoners, whom they torture and reduce to slavery, when they do not simply execute them. Thus it is that the devil casts his net over sinners,12 takes them prisoner (ezōgrēmenoi), subjects them to his will (2 Tim 2:26).


S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

1 Cf. P. Chantraine, Etudes sur le vocabulaire grec, Paris, 1956, p. 51.

2 Unknown in the inscriptions and the papyri. But the substantinve ζωγρία is attested in 117 BC, καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν ἐν χειρῶν νομαῖς ἀπέκτεινεν, οὓς δὲ ζωγρίαι συνέλαβειν (Dittenberger, Syl. 700, 30), and Num 21:35—“They attacked Og, king of Bashan … until no survivor was left”; Deut 2:34; 2 Macc 12:35: Dositheus “laid hold of Gorgias and … forcibly dragged him, intending to capture this accursed man alive, βουλόμενος τὸν κατάρατον λαβεῖν ζωγρίαν.”

3 When the Israelites have killed all the male Midianites, taking prisoner the women and children, Moses asks “Have you then left alive (or ‘spared’—ἐζωγρήσατε) all the females?” (Num 31:15, 38); “the towns … that Yahweh gives you to possess, you shall not leave any creature alive, for you must devote them to destruction” (Deut 20:16); Rahab asked the Israelite spies: “Swear to me that you will leave alive (or ‘spare’) my father’s household, my mother, my brothers and sisters” (Jos 2:13; 6:25; cf. 9:20; 2 Sam 8:2; ζωγρέω always translates the piel or the hiphil of the Hebrew ḥāyâh); “the sons of Judah captured alive (ḥayîm šāḇû) ten thousand survivors, whom they led to the top of a cliff and threw down from the summit; they were all dashed to pieces” (2 Chr 25:12).

4 Cf. ζωγρεῖον: a cage or tank for fish. The image of fishing for men (Aristaenetus, Ep. 2.1), previously used in Hab 1:14–15; Jer 16:16 (cf. Prov 6:26), is found again at Qumran (cf. 1 QH 2.29; 3.26; 5.8; CD 4.15ff.), notably in the form of a net (cf. M. Hengel, Nachfolge und Charisma, Berlin, 1968, p. 86, n. 150–151 = ET The Charismatic Leader and his Followers, trans. James C. G. Greig, ed. John Riches, Edinburgh, 1981, p. 77, nn. 150–151); but it is the devil who is portrayed as hunting men.

5 Luke 5:10—ἀνθρώπους ἔσῃ ζωγρῶν; substituted for ποιήσω ὑμᾶς γενέσθαι ἁλεεῖς ἀνθρώπων in Mark 1:17; Matt 4:19. Cf. J. Mánek, “Fishers of Men,” in NovT, 1958, pp. 138–141; C. W. F. Smith, “Fishers of Men,” in HTR, 1959, pp. 187–203; R. Pesch, “La Rédaction lucanienne du logion des pêcheurs d’hommes,” in L’Evangile de Luc: Mémorial Lucien Cerfaux, Gembloux, 1973, pp. 225–244.

6 The fishing has a different object, but the metaphor is coherent because of the permanency of the profession (cf. Vulgate eris capiens). We know how fond the first Christians were of representations of the fisherman and of little fish born in the baptismal waters, cf. F. J. Dölger, ΙΧΘΥΣ: Das Fisch-Symbol in früchristlicher Zeit, Münster, 1928–1932.

7 Diodorus Siculus 12.10.1; cf. 11.22; Polybius 1.34.8; 3.102.2: Marcus, attacking the Carthaginians, commands that no prisoners be taken. Cf. Strabo 11.11.6: Alexander pursued Bessos and Spitamenes; he captured the former alive (ζωγρίᾳ δʼ ἀναχθέντος), but the latter had the barbarians kill him (διαφθαρέντος).

8 Herodotus 4.62; cf. 5.86; Diodorus Siculus 18.16.2: “Perdiccas took more than five thousand prisoners … among whom was Ariarathes, whom he ordered crucified with all his relatives after torturing them cruelly”; 18.40.3. Cf. P. Ducrey, Le Traitement des prisonniers de guerre dans la Grèce antique, Paris, 1968, pp. 29–33.

9 Thucydides 3.66.2: “Those who stretched out their hands to you and whom you took prisoner, you promised to spare, and you butchered them”; 4.57.3; Xenophon, Hell. 1.5.14.

10 Homer, Il. 6.46: Adrastus, clutching the knees of Menelaus, begs “Take me alive, son of Atreus, accept an honest ransom”; Dolon likewise beseeches Ulysses (10.378). Polybius 3.84.10: “When the cavalry came upon them and their loss was certain, they raised their arms and begged to be spared, δεόμενοι ζωγρεῖν.”

11 Cf. Homer, Il. 5.698: “The blast of the north wind brought life back (ζώγρει)” to Pelagon, who had passed out (κεκαφηότα); Anth. Pal. 9.597.6: “skillful Philip restored my life by healing me of this cruel disease.”

12 Cf. Isa 24:17 (Luke 21:35). Qumran denounces the empire or domination of Belial (1 QS 1.18, 24). When Cleopatra was about to be captured by Proculeius, Caesar’s envoy, one of the women shut up with her cried out, “Unhappy Cleopatra, you are captured, ζωγρεῖ” (Plutarch, Ant. 75.3).

Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 161–163.


θαρσέω (θαρρέω), θάρσος
tharseō (tharreō), to have confidence, courage; tharsos, courage

tharseō (tharreō), S 2293; TDNT 3.25–27; EDNT 2.134; NIDNTT 1.327–329; MM 284; L&N 25.156; BDF §§34(2), 148(2), 206(2), 407; BAGD 352 | tharsos, S 2294; EDNT 2.134; L&N 25.157; BAGD 352


The denominative verb tharseō (Ionian; the Attic form is tharreō) is always used in the imperative in the NT, in conformity with most of its occurrences in the LXX.1 It means, in effect, “have confidence, courage, be unafraid,” with the nuance determined by the context.2 It is a common   V 2, p 189  stylistic element in accounts of miracles, as in that of the paralytic: “Take heart, my child, your sins are forgiven” (Matt 9:2); that of the woman with the hemorrhage (Matt 9:22); the blind man at Jericho (Mark 10:49). When the apostles, thinking that they have seen a ghost walking on the water, are terrified, Jesus reassures them: “Take heart, it is I, fear not” (tharseite, egō eimi, mē phobeisthe, Matt 14:27; Mark 6:50). To this may be compared Caesar’s order to the pilot terrified by the storm: “Take heart and make for the rough water; you bear Caesar and the fortune of Caesar” (tharrōn ithi pros ton klydona; Kaisara phereis kai tēn Kaisaros tychēn, Plutarch, Caes. 38.5; cf. Ant. 48.6).
This verb thus refers to courage that can be displayed in the midst of danger or simply with respect to a trial: martyrdom, exile, scorn, whatever goes against our desires or requires effort, an undertaking that is difficult and of uncertain outcome, like pleading a case (P.Oxy. 237, col. VIII, 17; Philo, Post. Cain 38: “If an accusation of impiety is brought against you, take heart—tharreite”), exposing oneself bravely to the cold (Hippocrates, Vict. 3.68, tharseōn; cf. 74, give oneself to exercises, tharrein), even “take on a pioneering role in a science” (Strabo, Prolegomena 1.1.4), and especially bravery or daring in battles,3 whether on the one hand the battles of war   V 2, p 190  or of human life,4 or on the other hand the battles of initiation into the mysteries of salvation,5 where the exhortation to bravery in facing dangers in the long and perilous journey in the beyond, culminating in the supreme trial of judgment, implies a hope of immortality.6 In every instance, the imperative is meant to encourage someone who will be undergoing a trial. This is the nuance in John 16:33, where Jesus tells the apostles that persecutions will come and exhorts them not to give up: “In the world you will have to endure tribulation, but be bold (courage!—tharseite), I have overcome the world.” Similarly, Acts 23:11—“The Lord, appearing to Paul,7 said ‘Take heart, for just as you have testified concerning me at   V 2, p 191  Jerusalem, you must also testify at Rome’ ” (a vision is said to be “encouraging,” cf. Plutarch, Pomp. 68.3). In both cases, a motivation is provided with the exhortation, as is traditional,8 and the danger of death is in view.9
Indeed, it is especially in the face of death that it is necessary to be intrepid (to tharsos, Epictetus 2.1.14; tharrei, Menander, Dysk. 692; Josephus, Ant. 7.266: “He said, ‘And you, O Samuis, take heart and fear not at all that you shall die’ ”: sy te, eipen, ō Samoui, tharrei kai deisēs mēden hōs tethnēxomenos; cf. 1 Macc 4:35). According to Codex Bezae, in response to the prayer of the good thief, Jesus said to him, “tharsei” (Luke 23:43). It is not rare to see an epitaph, even in Latin, ending with tharsei10 and especially with tharsei—oudeis athanatos (“no one lives forever”), even on Jewish and Christian graves;11 because this is not only an exhortation to accept the common lot,12 but an audacious confidence in the eternal future. Thanks to faith, the fear of death is overcome. It is in this eschatological sense that St. Paul, in exile, takes courage (tharrountes, tharroumen), preferring to go be at home with the Lord.13 The Christian draws this energy from the certitude of the Lord’s presence and help, which prevails   V 2, p 192  over anguish or the feeling of being abandoned: “We can say courageously (tharrountas) ‘The Lord is my help, I will not fear.’ ”14
The Stoic meaning of tharreō is found in 2 Cor 7:16; 10:1–2, where the apostle rejoices at “being able in all things to be bold with” the Corinthians, to speak to them undiplomatically, with evangelical liberty and authority, and thus to communicate to them painful truths. He is accused of being timid in person, but bold, unflexible, assertive from a distance;15 so he protests that he is ready to demonstrate his boldness if circumstances require. Philo had shown that in addressing God piety (eulabeia) could go along with a certain audacity (to tharrein, Heir 22) and the latter with a fear of saying what one thinks (ibid. 28). Epictetus lauded the conciliation of prudence and boldness—eulabōs hama de tharrountōs; they seem to be opposites, but in reality there is no contradiction between them (2.1.1).
When St. Paul, finally arriving at the Forum of Appius and at Three Taverns, meets the brothers from Rome who have come to greet them, “on seeing them he gave thanks to God and took courage, elabe tharsos.”16


S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

NIDNTT Colin Brown, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, 1986.

MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BDF F. Blass and A. Debrunner. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Trans. and rev. of the 9 th–10th German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner by R. W. Funk. Chicago, 1961.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

1 The midwife says to Rachel: “Fear not, you have another son” (Gen 35:17, Hebrew yārēʾ with negation); Moses to the people: “Fear not” (Exod 14:13; 20:20); Elijah to the widow of Zarephath (1 Kgs 17:13), the wife of Raguel to Sarah (Tob 7:17); Holophernes to Judith (Jdt 11:1, 3); the king to Esther (Esth 5:7); Darius to Daniel in the lions’ den: ἕως πρωὶ θάρρει (Dan 6:17); the prophets to Israel (Joel 2:21, 22; Zeph 3:16; Hag 2:5; Zech 8:13, 15), notably in the “book of consolation”: Take heart, my people, children, Jerusalem (Bar 4:5, 21, 27, 30). Cf. Philo, Moses 2.252: “Be bold, do not be discouraged, stand firm, firm in heart, and wait for God’s invincible help”; Jos. Asen. 15.2, 3, 5: “Take heart, Aseneth, the Lord has given you to Joseph as his wife”; Enoch 102.4; 4 Macc 13:11—“ ‘Courage, brother,’ said one; and the other, ‘Bear it nobly’ ”; 17.4. Diodorus Siculus 19.58.6: “Antigonus urged his soldier to be courageous”; 19.81.2: “the crowd cried out to him to have confidence”; 17.25.4.

2 The significance of “confidence”—that of a husband in his wife (Prov 31:11; Hebrew bāṭaḥ; A, B = θαρσεῖ; S = θαρρεῖ)—can take on a certain boldness, that of Wisdom at the city gates, θαρροῦσα λέγει (Prov 1:21). This sense is most common in the papyri, where an author of a letter expresses his confidence in the recipient: τῇ σῇ δικαιοκρισείᾳ, δέσποτα ἡγεμών, θαρρῶν (SB 7205, 4); ἐπὶ τὴν σὴν ἀνδρείαν καταφεύγω θαρρῶν τεύξεσθαι τῶν προσόντων μοι δικαίων (P.Oxy. 1468, 9); θαρρῶν τῇ ἀγαθῇ σου προαιρέσει γράφω (P.Ryl. 696, 2; cf. P.Oxy. 1872, 4); θαρσῶν δὲ γεγράφηκα (SB 7656, 6; BGU 1080, 14); θαρρῶ οὖν, ἄδελφε, ὅτι οὐκ ἀμελεῖς μου (O.Mich. 91, 10); πιστεύω γὰρ ἀκριβῶς καὶ θαρρῶ ὡς οὐδέν τι ἀηδὲς οὐδʼ ἄτοπον συμβήσεται τοῦ θεοῦ … πρὸς πᾶσαν πράξιν (C.P.Herm. 6, 19; cf. 2, 17; Demosthenes, Fals. Leg. 3, θαρρῶ καὶ πάνυ πιστεύω; Polybius 3.11.8: θαρρεῖν καὶ πιστεύειν); Xenophon, Cyr. 5.1.6; θαρσέων καθίζειν = sit down without fear (on a tomb, an epigram of Theocritus, in Anth. Pal. 13.3.4); P.Lond. 981, 12 (vol. 3, p. 241): θαρροῦμεν ταῖς προσευχαῖς (fourth century). It is a question not simply of peace and security (Xenophon, Cyr. 1.3.18; Plutarch, Sert. 18.7; SB 9026, 6: οὐκ ἐθάρρησα δὲ τὸν τοσοῦτον λόγον ὑποστῆναι ἄνευ τῆς σῆς γνώμης; second century), but of courage. Tiberius Julius Alexander in 68: “I want the people to regain their courage and cultivate with zeal” (SB 8444, 56). Hermias: “I came and I regained courage, ἥκω καὶ τεθάρρηκα” (A. Bataille, Les Inscriptions grecques du temple de Hatshepsout à Deir el-Bahari, Cairo, 1951, n. 139, 2); “ὄμμα … ψυχῆς θάρσει, eye … of my soul, take courage” (interpretation of a dream, from 160 BC; P.Paris 51, 10 = G. Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri, Cambridge, 1927, n. 6); Octavian invites the inhabitants of Rhosos to address to him their requests without fear, bravely (θαρροῦντες, IGLS, n. 718, 93), just like the king in Ep. Aristides 272. There is even some boldness in the agressiveness of this or that person “emboldened by their wealth”: θαρρῶν ὁ αὐτὸς Ἴσακις τοῖς χρήμασι αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ πλούτου, βούλεταί μ[α]ι ἐξελάσαι ἀπὸ τῆς κώμης (P.Cair.Goodsp. 15, 19; P.Cair.Isid. 75, 10; republished SB 9184, 10; P.Oxy. 68, 19). Aion, emboldened by the state of my business and my unfavorable economic position, θαρσῶν τοῖς ἐμοῖς πράγμασι καὶ τῇ κακοτροπίᾳ ἐμαυτοῦ (P.Abinn. 50, 18; republished SB 9690); Josephus, Ant. 20.175: Ἰουδαῖοι τῷ πλούτῳ θαρροῦντες; War 1.189, Mithridates is “emboldened” by the extra forces that he receives from Antipater; Plutarch, Pomp. 72.6: “witless presumption”; Alex. 31.3; 32.4; 33.3; Caes. 44.10; 52.4.

Caes. Caesar

Ant. Antiquities of the Jews

P.Oxy. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. 51 vols. London, 1898–1984.

Post. Cain On the Posterity and Exile of Cain (De Posteritate Caini)

Vict. Περὶ διαίτης ὑγιεινῆς(De Ratione Victus Salubris = Regimen in Health); or Περὶ διαίτης (Regimen)

3 Cf. Quintus of Smyrna, Posthomerica 11.282: “It is the daring (θάρσος) person who leads men in slaughter”; 12.254, 273; 13.121; cf. 2.39: “a hundred times better to die bravely (θαρσαλέως) than to flee abroad”; 10.209; 12.72: “only bravery gives the advantage in combat”; 12.253; cf. 3.186: “Paris harangues his men to make them brave (θαρσύνεσκε)”; 4.85; 12.253. Fear and boldness are mutually exclusive (φόβει καὶ θάρρη, Aristotle, HA 8.1.588a22), and θαρρέω is part of the military vocabulary (2 Chr 16:8; Plutarch, Eum. 9.5; 17.3). The dying emperor encourages his nephew to be valiant (θαρρεῖν) and not to fear Vitellius (Plutarch, Oth. 16.2; Alex. 58.2); “Let them be brave and courageous (θαρροῦσι καὶ προθυμουμένοις) at the proper time and place; it will give them victory without danger”; (Cam. 23.4); cf. Cor. 27.7; 32.7; “Boldness is truly the beginning of victory, ἀρχὴ γὰρ ὄντως τοῦ νικᾶν τὸ θαρρεῖν” (Plutarch, Them. 8.2); Plutarch, Tim. 9.1: “Emboldened by these divine portents, the flotilla carefully set out to cross the sea” (cf. Strabo 2.5.12); “Hannibal restored the courage of his men (εὐθαρσεῖς)” (Polybius 3.54.3; cf. 3.60.13); Thucydides 4.25.9; Aeneas Tacticus, Polior. 16.3, 16.5; Plutarch, Pomp. 75.3; Diodorus Siculus 19.109.4: “Gaining fresh courage (πάλιν θαρρήσαντες) those from the camp withstood the combat at the front”; Plutarch, Cat. Min. 40.1; Cleom. 38.8: Cratesicleia, as she was led off to torture, is accompanied and encouraged by her daughter-in-law, καὶ θαρρεῖν παρακαλοῦσα.

4 The Δαίμων urges humans who are starting their existence: Courage, θαρρεῖν, ἔφη· διὸ καὶ ὑμεῖς θαρρεῖτε (Tabula of Cebes 30.2), taken up by Temperance and Endurance (16.3). “Ἀλλὰ σὺ θάρσει, ἐπεὶ θεῖον γένος ἐστὶ βροτοῖσιν. But you must take courage, since mortals are of divine lineage” (Golden Verses, Pythagoreans, 63). Sophocles, Phil. El. 174: θάρσει μοι, θάρσει τέκνον· ἔτι μέγας οὐρανῷ Ζεύς; Manilius 4.16: Nascentes morimur, finisque ab origine pendet.

5 Firmicus Maternus, Err. prof. rel. 22.1: θαρρεῖτε, μύσται, τοῦ θεοῦ σεσωσμένου· ἔσται γὰρ ἡμῖν ἐκ πόνων σωτηρία. I.Maron. 11: “It is with confidence that I advance” (cf. Y. Grandjean, Arétalogie d’Isis, pp. 42ff.). Θαρρέω is not only a technical verb for ritual initiation, it is used in novels with a symbolic and religious value: in the imperative, used by persons representing the initiates or the divinity, addressing the tested individuals; as a participle, it indicates that the individuals had the help of the god; cf. R. Merkelbach, Roman und Mysterium in der Antike, 1962, pp. 100, 141, 173, 212, 231; M. Simon, “θάρσει οὐδεὶς ἀθάνατος,” in RHR, 1936, pp. 188–206; R. Joly, Genres de vie, “L’Exhortation au courage (ΘΑΡΡΕΙΝ) dans les mystères,” in REG, 1955, pp. 164–170.

6 Cf. F. Cumont, Symbolisme funéraire, pp. 76ff. Idem, Lux Perpetua, p. 404.

7 Ἐπιστὰς αὐτοῦ ὁ Κύριος; cf. I.Did., 496 a 4: οἱ θεοὶ ἐνφανεῖς διʼ ἐπιστάσεων γεγένηνται (second century AD); the gods appear and “present themselves” (cf. παριστάναι, Acts 27:23). The texts are cited by A. Wikenhauser, “Die Traumgeschichte des Neuen Testaments in religionsgeschichtlicher Sicht,” in Pisciculi F. J. Dölger dargeboten, Münster, 1939, pp. 320–333, commented on by L. Robert, Hellenica 11–12, Paris, 1960, p. 544.—In John 16:33; Acts 23:11 we move closer to the legal sense of πατρίαν θαρρῆν in I.Olymp. 2, 1, where this verb is almost synonymous with “guarantee the inviolability of” (cf. the commentary by G. Glotz, La Solidarité de la famille dans le droit criminel en Grèce, Paris, 1904, p. 257).

Pomp. Epistula ad Pompeium

8 Cf. Tob 8:21 (manuscript S): “Be brave, my child; I am your father and Edna is your mother; we are near you. Be brave, my child”; Esth 5:7—“What’s wrong, Esther? I am your brother; take heart, you will not die”; Joel 2:21—“Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice, for Yahweh has done great things”; etc.

9 Cf. P. Pokorný, “Romfahrt des Paulus und der antike Roman,” in ZNW, 1973, pp. 240ff.

Dysk. Dyskolos

Ant. Antiquities of the Jews

10 SB 8370, 3; CII 1009, 1039, 1050–52, 1110, 1125; M. Schwabe, B. Lifshitz, Beth She‘arim, vol. 2, n. 22, 29, 39–41, 43, 77, 84, 88–89, 193.

11 Cf. IGLS 343, 2662, 4059; CII 314, 335, 380, 401, 450, 539; cf. 782, 788, 1209, etc. E. Bernand, Inscriptions métriques, n. 156. J. Delling, “Speranda futura: Jüdische Grabinschriften Italiens über das Geschick nach dem Tode,” in TLZ, 1951, col. 521–526. Sometimes a Christian epitaph modifies the formula, as on a stele of Tisiyeh, south of Bosra: οὐδὶς ἐπὶ γῆς ἀθάνατος (F. M. Abel, “Inscription chrétienne du Ghor es-Safy,” in RB, 1931, p. 98); cf. M. Simon, “θάρσει οὐδεὶς ἀθάνατος,” in RHR, 1936, p. 194.

12 Cf. a Christian epitaph of Phrygia—“There is only one Hades for all”—in L. Robert, Hellenica 11–12, Paris, 1960, p. 415.

13 2 Cor 5:5, 8 (J. Dupont, “L’Union avec le Christ suivant saint Paul,” Bruges-Louvain-Paris, 1952, pp. 158ff.); Pap.Graec.Mag. 4, 718–724.

14 Heb 13:6—“οὐ φοβηθήσομαι does … look more like be afraid [‘linear ’] than become afraid [‘punctiliar ’]” (C. F. D. Moule, Idiom Book, pp. 10, 22); cf. P.Oxy. 1492, 15; 4 Ezra 6:33; Philo, Flight 82: “one of the sages of old had the courage to affirm.…”; Rewards 95; Plutarch, Ages. 28.2: “Epaminondas replied boldly”; Dem. 9.3. Cf. the strenghthening or the energy (θάρσος, Hebrew ʿāmeṣ) of Job 4:4; 17:9; Josephus, Ant. 9.55; Dio Chrysostom 32.21, or the hymn to Isis (first century BC), who strengthens and gives divine power in the midst of wars and crimes, but there are few who receive courage: ὀλίγοισι δὲ θάρσος ἔδωκε (SEG VIII, 55, 18 = SB 8140 = V. F. Vanderlip, Four Greek Hymns, p. 49).

15 2 Cor 10:1—ἀπὼν δὲ θαρρῶ εἰς ὑμᾶς; verse 2: δέομαι δὲ τὸ μὴ παρὼν θαρρῆσαι; cf. SB 7656, 5: εἰ καὶ ἀπὼν εἰμί, ἀλλʼ ὅμως θαρσῶ. Aristotle observed that “movements of bravery or fear … are accompanied by heat or cold” (Aristotle, MA 8.701b).

Heir Who Is the Heir (Quis Rerum Divinarum Heres)

16 Acts 28:15; cf. T. Kleberg, Hôtels, restaurants et cabarets dans l’antiquité romaine, Uppsala, 1957, pp. 63ff., 67.

Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 188–192.


καλύπτω, ἀνακαλύπτω, ἀποκαλύπτω, ἀποκάλυψις
kalyptō, to cover, envelop, hide; anakalyptō, to unveil, uncover; apokalyptō, to reveal; apokalypsis, revelation

kalyptō, S 2572; TDNT 3.556–558; EDNT 2.246; NIDNTT 2.211–212; MM 319; L&N 28.79, 79.114; BAGD 401 |anakalyptō, S 343; TDNT 3.560–561; EDNT 1.82; NIDNTT 2.212f.; MM 34; L&N 79.117; BAGD 55 | apokalyptō, S 601; TDNT 3.563–592; EDNT 1.130–132; NIDNTT 3.309–312, 314; MM 63; L&N 28.38; BAGD 92 | apokalypsis, S 602; TDNT 3.563–592; EDNT 1.130–132; MM 63; L&N 28.38; BAGD 92


“Kalyptō. Verbal expression indicating that an object that intercepts the light or visual rays keeps another object from being seen, or, in the case of a living being, from seeing. The active forms of kalyptein have as subject, in Homer, the earth, water, clouds, the night, etc., but also deities who used nature to hide what they wanted hidden. The poets, moreover, provide an external cause for the extinction of vision in the dead and wounded, placing outside of their persons the night in which they feel themselves enveloped.”1
In classical Greek, this verb has three meanings: (a) “cover”; Homer, Il. 6.464: “May the earth poured over me cover me”; 10.29: Menelaus “covered his large pack with the hide of a spotted leopard”;2 (b) “envelop”; Il. 5.23: Hephaestus saved the life of Idaios “by enveloping him in darkness”; 5.507: Ares “enveloped the battle in a sudden night” and thus brought help to the Trojans; 5.553: death, “which ends all, enveloped them   V 2, p 245  there”;3 (c) “hide”; Il. 3.381: Aphrodite “hid Paris behind a thick fog”;4 21.318, 321: “his splendid arms will rest beneath the water, hidden beneath the silt (kekalymmena).… I will heap rubble on him to hide him (kalypsō).”
In the inscriptions, kalyptō is found in liturgical5 and funerary6 regulations. On the pedestal of a statue of a magistrate at Mariamnia: “the earth, which nurtured him like a mother, now covers him.”7 The verb is rare in the papyri,8 but much used in the LXX (for the Hebrew piel of kāsâh), from the simple meaning in such expressions as covering a cistern (Exod 21:33), fat covering the intestines (Lev 3:14), and “leprosy covering all the skin of the body” (Lev 13:12–13), to the meaning “fill, inundate, overrun”:9 God’s majesty covered the heavens (Hab 3:3); fear enveloped me (Ps 55:5; cf. Prov 10:6, 11; Sir 37:3; Hab 2:17). It is especially clouds that cover and envelop,10 but also hangings, drapes,11 and vestments   V 2, p 246  that “hide” nudity.12 To cover one’s face is to hide from others’ looks.13 To keep words hidden is to keep them secret (kalypson ta prostagmata, Dan 12:4).
It could be said that this verb is unknown in Philo, since he uses it only in quoting Deut 23:13 (Alleg. Interp. 2.27; 3.158) and in commenting on Exod 26:1–14 (Moses 2.87). Josephus also knows the meaning “cover,”14 but he more often uses the word to mean “hide,”15 and with the pejorative nuance of “conceal”: the satrap conceals his machinations under signs of friendship (War 1.256); Antipater cleverly conceals his hatred (1.468); soldiers camouflaged in civilian clothes (2.176).
The Gospels know only the meaning “hide”: a boat is hidden by the waves (Matt 8:24); one who lights a lamp does not hide it with a vase or place it under a bed (Luke 8:16); “they say to the hills, ‘hide us’ ” (Luke 23:30; cf. Hos 10:18). If there is nothing hidden that will not be uncovered (ouden kekalymmenon, ho ouk apokalyphthēsetai, Matt 10:26), we must understand this to mean that what Jesus said in secret to his apostles will be promulgated by them to the whole world, and that the truth of the gospel, which is at first contradicted or unrecognized, will be recognized and accepted by the very pagans. In the same sense: “If, moreover, our gospel is veiled (perfect passive participle, kekalymmenon), it is so for those who are perishing” (2 Cor 4:3). The gospel, which is light and illumination, must be manifest to all, but its brilliance is not perceived by the blind or those who have an opaque spot on their eye (E. B. Allo), a veil (kalymma, 2 Cor 3:15), due to Satan’s action, so that they are incapable of understanding its message: the revelation of the Messiah. That is to say, the interior illumination of faith is necessary for perceiving the shining brilliance of the Son of Man (Luke 11:33–36).
Very important, theologically speaking, are 1 Pet 4:8—“Show intense love among yourselves, since (causal hoti) love covers a multitude of sins”   V 2, p 247  (agapē kalyptei plēthos hamartiōn)—and Jas 5:20—“One who brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (kalypsei plēthos hamartiōn). The exact parallelism of the two assertions indicates that we have here a Greek aphorism.16 The Syriac Didascalia (2.3.3) attributes it to Jesus himself,17 but it is certainly a quotation of Prov 10:12 according to the Hebrew text: “Love covers all faults.” To cover, veil, or hide sins is to efface them, pardon them.18 The OT affirms that works of mercy obtain pardon for sin from God,19 and the Lord pronounces the merciful blessed (Matt 5:7; 6:14–15; cf. 1 Pet 2:20; 3:8–9). We may affirm that in the NT, agapē has the value of an expiatory sacrifice and is a major element of spiritual worship (1 John 3:19–20).
Anakalyptō.—Apparently this verb is commonplace, meaning “unveil, remove a veil, uncover.” It was agreed that once seated, “the conspirators (disguised as women) would strike immediately, throwing off their veils”;20 “unveil the sacred robe” (anakalypson ton hieron peplon, Pap.Graec.Mag. 57, 17). In the LXX, that which was hidden in darkness is disclosed and made to appear, made known,21 like the sins of the wicked (Job 20:27; cf. Philo,   V 2, p 248  Dreams 1.87; Moses 1.243), and more frequently this or that body part: “The Lord will uncover the form of the daughters of Zion” (Isa 3:17; piel of the Hebrew ʿārâh); the deported Egyptians will go “barefoot and with their shame uncovered” (Isa 20:4; Hebrew ḥāśap̱); notably for uncovering the pudenda.22
Anakalyptō is sometimes associated with vision: with animals that have eyelids, “If they do not open them (mē anakalyphthentōn) they cannot see.”23 But in the OT, the verb is in a way sacralized, when God is the subject. Not only does he “reveal himself” (Isa 22:14), but “he makes a revelation to humans.”24 “He reveals that which is deep and hidden” (Dan 2:22), mysteries (2:28–29). Philo takes up this meaning: “the will of God is to reveal the secrets of things to those who wish to know the truth.”25 Virtue, like Tamar, sits at the crossroads with veiled face; but “in unveiling her (anakalypsantes), the curious behold (katatheasōntai) her beauty undefiled” (Prelim. Stud. 124).
It is in light of these data that we must understand the two NT occurrences of this religious verb. Comparing Judaism and Christianity, the synagogue and the church, St. Paul says, “Until this day (cf. Deut 29:3; Isa 29:10; Rom 11:8) the same veil (kalymma) remains (on the heads of Jews, as the veil was upon Moses’ head) at the reading of the old covenant, for it is not unveiled (mē anakalyptomenon) that in Christ it (the covenant) is abolished” (2 Cor 3:14). The veil hinders seeing, and here, the understanding that the transitory old covenant is now outdated. The condition of Christians is quite different: “We all with unveiled faces (dative of manner, not instrumental, anakekalymmenō prosōpō) reflect like a mirror the glory of the Lord.”26 The new covenant, after all, is written not on stone tablets but on tablets of flesh, in the hearts of believers (2 Cor 3:3). All the   V 2, p 249  same, since it is a question of knowledge, the apostle speaks no longer of uncovered hearts but of faces with no interposed veil, of uncovered persons who refract the divine light when they are turned toward Christ, who, illuminating them with the divine light, metamorphoses and divinizes them. The image is that of a permanent and transforming spiritual reflection.27 Everyone can perceive it, whereas the Israelites could not look upon Moses reflecting the divine light, so that he was obliged to veil it (Exod 34).
Apokalypsis.—This noun, unknown in Philo, Josephus, and the papyri, means literally “the act of uncovering”28 and corresponds exactly to the English “revelation.”29 Ben Sirach uses it for the divulging of a secret (Sir 22:22; 41:26—logōn kryphiōn) and for the manifestation of that which was previously unknowable: “At a person’s end (comes) the revelation of his works” (apokalypsis ergōn autou, 11:27).
Simeon, drawing upon Isa 42:6 and 49:6 (eis phōs ethnōn) sees in the infant Jesus the Messiah, “a light for the revealing of the nations” (phōs eis apokalypsin ethnōn, Luke 2:32); ordinarily this apokalypsis is understood to mean the teaching of the Gentiles or the suppression of spiritual darkness, the drawing back of a veil; but that is not a translation; we must translate, “a light that will reveal itself to the nations” (E. Osty). The meaning of “manifestation” is evident when the word refers to the glorious Second Coming of Christ, coming from heaven,30 so that “apocalypse” has in view the eschatological future, the object of Christian faith, and awaited even by the very creation (Rom 8:19). Its technical meaning is given in the doxology in Rom 16:25, where “the revelation of a mystery (kata apokalypsin mystēriou) kept in silence from eternity”31 is a divulging analogous to the   V 2, p 250  gospel and the kerygma; its object is Jesus Christ, who is henceforth announced. In fact, the apostle learned the mystery and the gospel not from human teachers, but “by revelation” from God and Christ,32 so that he could put the dispensation into effect. Heavenly manifestations and apocalyptic visions were multiplied in his life precisely because he was the herald charged with proclaiming to the world the truth of the saving divine truth, with being a bearer of the light.33 He teaches what he has received by divine revelation, and his words are a revelation for Christians, to whom he brings new knowledge: “Of what use will I be to you if I do not speak to you in revelation (en apokalypsei), or in gnosis, or in prophecy, or in instruction?” (1 Cor 14:6). It is remarkable that in church meetings each one was concerned to bring to his brothers and sisters some additional light to allow them to know God better, to “disclose” him more and more: “May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ … grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation that will make you truly know him.”34
It is not surprising that the name Apocalypse should have been given to books recording the revelations of prophets.35 Also, the first word of the text of the Apocalypse of the apostle and prophet John (Apokalypsis Iēsou Christou, Rev 1:1) serves as the title of the work: in it Christ reveals himself, makes himself known, manifests himself as Lord and Redeemer, reigning in heaven and triumphing over Satan’s last assaults on earth. The veil that hides the future is lifted to make known God’s secrets concerning the future, the events of the church’s future as discernible by Christians.

κρύπτη Volume 2, Pages 336–337
  V 2, p 336  κρύπτη
kryptē, hidden or secret place

kryptē, S 2926; TDNT 3.957–1000; EDNT 2.322; MM 361; L&N 28.78; BAGD 454


This substantive is a biblical hapax whose meaning cannot be precisely determined. It appears for the first time in the third century BC in two analogous “architectural” texts. Callixenus, Alex. 1: “Walls and windows surrounded the ‘crypto-portico’ on every side”;1 PSI 547, 18 gives a list of parts of a house (doors, windows, etc.), adding “the crypt (i.e., cellar) similarly plastered.”2 In the first century, Strabo mentions that “before the entrance there are crypts, numerous and long” (prokeintai de tōn eisodōn kryptai tines makrai kai pollai, 17.1.37); and Josephus says that “Castor and his companions set the tower afire and jumped through the flames into the vault beneath it.”3 From these data the conclusion is drawn that kryptē means an underground chamber or vault, a cellar, a covered passageway, a hidden corner or corridor; but none of these meanings seems to fit the Gospel text.
According to Luke 11:33, “No one lights a lamp to put it in the cellar (?) or under the bushel (eis kryptēn tithēsin oude hypo ton modion)4 but on the lampstand (all’ epi tēn lychnian) so that those who come in see the brightness.” The Jewish lamp (lychnos, Hebrew nēr), made of terra-cotta, is a small oil receptacle with a wick. It is placed on a wooden or bronze lampstand (lychnia, Hebrew menôrâh) so that from a goodly height the flame can illuminate the whole room.5 This useful arrangement is contrasted   V 2, p 337  with putting the lamp under a bushel,6 where the light would be useless. The modios is not a vessel for grain but a small piece of furniture, a sort of tub in the form of a truncated cone whose base is supported by three or four feet and which contains the wheat supply needed for the household. It can be used as a table or a plate.7 The purpose of the light being to illuminate, hiding it by placing it under a piece of furniture would be useless.
In fact, Luke 11:33 is a doublet of Luke 8:16, which is more explicit: “No one, after lighting a lamp, hides it under a vase (kalyptei auton skeuei) or places it under a bed.”8 Most likely the verb kalyptō was used first and gave rise to kryptē, whose meaning it specifies; that meaning is preserved in Gos. Thom. 33: “For no one lights a lamp (and) puts it under a bushel, nor does he put it in a hidden place, but he puts it upon the lampstand, so that all who go in and come out may see its light.”9 At least if we are not to envision a Greco-Roman dwelling, this kryptē cannot be a cellar; an ordinary Palestinian home did not have one. We might well identify it with “the niche opened up in a wall where objects were packed in,”10 or as we would say today, “in the cupboard.” Finally, the most correct translation seems to be “in a nook.”
Be that as it may, the light of Luke 11:33 is Christ himself and his teaching, which appear with the best possible visibility. In Matt 5:15, the light is that of the disciples; they radiate the light of revelation, taking care not to hide it.11


S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

NIDNTT Colin Brown, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, 1986.

MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

NIDNTT Colin Brown, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, 1986.

MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

NIDNTT Colin Brown, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, 1986.

MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

1 C. Mugler, Terminologie optique, p. 214.

Il. Iliad

2 Cf. Josephus, War 3.192; Homer, Od. 5.352: a black wave covers the white goddess (Leukothea) and hides her from Ulysses’ sight; 11.15: the Cimmerians live covered by fog and dust, which hide them from view; Pindar, Nem. 8.64: “I would like to deliver my body to the earth to cover it”; Sophocles, Ant. 28: it is forbidden for inhabitants of the city to cover the body of Polynices with a tomb; Euripides, Supp. 531: “Grant then that the earth now cover these dead”; Hipp. 712: “Let your silence cover what you have heard here”; Aristotle, HA 2.13.505: the gills of the anglerfish are not covered by a spiny operculum.

Il. Iliad

3 Homer, Il. 13.425: the desire of Idomeneus is “to envelop several Trojans with the darkness of night”; 17.243: “the cloud of war enveloped everything around us.”

Il. Iliad

4 Cf. Homer, Il. 14.438: a night hides the eyes of wounded Hector from us; 14.519; 17.136: the lion, facing the hunters, “lowers his eyelids, hiding his eyes”; 20.444; 22.466; Od. 5.293; 9.68; 12.314; Jos. Asen. 14.17: “She hid her head under a fine, lovely veil.”

5 At Lycosura, a rule relating to the cult of Demeter (third century BC): μηδὲ κεκαλυμμένος = hair not covered for people entering the sanctuary (Dittenberger, Syl. 999, 10 = LSCG, n. 68).

6 At Cos, a rule against excessive displays of mourning (fifth century BC): μὴ καλύπτειν (sc. τὸ θανόντα); Dittenberger, Syl. 1218, 7 = LSCG, n. 97, 7; cf. n. 77, C14: τὸν νεκρὸν κεκαλυμμένον φερέτω; n. 159, B 34. At Alexandria, a very damaged tombstone (third-second century); ἐκάλυψεν (E. Bernand, Inscriptions métriques, n. 31, 7 = SB 5004).

7 IGLS 2114, 6 (καλύπτει); I.Bulg. 1788, 1; cf. Josephus, War 1.671: Herod’s body was laid out covered with purple.

8 The opposite of the case with the compound κατακαλύπτω (cf. T. Nägeli, Wortschatz, p. 27). Moulton-Milligan gives no other reference than Ep. Aristides 87: for decency’s sake, the priests “cover themselves with tunics … that reach to their ankles.” We may add CPR I, 239, 5: a land covered with water; SB 10218, 15 (second century AD, badly mutilated): ἐκάλυψαν καὶ πληγαῖς πλείσταις; P.Apoll. 69, 8 (eighth century): ἴσως ἄρα ἐκάλυψεν αὐτῷ τοὺς τεχνίτας καμεῖν εἰς τὸ τροχομυλόνιν.

9 Gen 7:19—at the deluge “all the high mountains were covered”; Exod 14:28—the waters covered the chariots and riders of Pharaoh’s whole army (15:5, 10; Josh 24:7; Ps 78:53; 104:9; 106:11; Job 22:11); Exod 16:13—the quails covered the camp (cf. 8:2, frogs); Num 22:11—the people covered the face of the country (Jdt 2:7, 19; 5:10 [famine]; 7:18; 16:4; Josephus, War 5.352).

10 Exod 24:15–16 (Josephus, Ant. 8.346; 13.208); 40:34; Num 9:15–16; 17:7; Lev 16:13; Ezek 30:18; 32:7.

11 Exod 26:13; Num 4:8–12; cf. Exod 27:2—the horns of the altar are covered with bronze; 1 Kgs 7:41.

12 Exod 28:42; Hos 2:11; Isa 20:4; Ezek 16:8; Sir 29:21; Josephus, War 5.231; Ant. 7.287: καλύπτει ἱματίῳ. Cf. Num 16:33—“the earth covered those who were in Sheol and they disappeared from the midst of the assembly”; Ezek 24:7–8; 26:10; Ps 106:17; Job 21:26.

13 Isa 40:2; Job 15:27; 23:17; Ps 44:15; 69:7; Sir 16:30; Obad 10; Ezek 7:18; “the walls hide me” (Sir 23:18); “they will say to the mountains, ‘Hide us’ ” (Hos 10:8; Mal 2:16).

Alleg. Interp. Allegorical Interpretation (Legum Allegoriae)

Moses On the Life of Moses (De Vita Mosis)

14 Towers covered with fire (War 3.284; cf. 5.201, 222; Ant. 8.77, 136); the cherubim cover the ark (Ant. 7.378); they were submerged by the wave of carnage (War 3.330, 425); “he would cover this abominable crime beneath the ruins of their country” (6.217).

15 War 2.169: Pilate had the images of Caesar veiled; 3.160: “Jotapata, hidden by a circle of high mountains, was absolutely invisible”; 5.196: a concealed structure.

War The Jewish War

16 Cf. J. Chaine, L’Epître de saint Jacques, Paris, 1927; C. Spicq, Agapè, vol. 2, pp. 332–338; C. Spicq, Théologie morale, vol. 2, pp. 496ff. A. Perego, “I peccati sono rimessi e non coperti anche secondo il salmo 31,” in DivThom, 1960, pp. 205–215.

17 Cf. the numerous quotation of this logion in the apostolic literature, notably 1 Clem. 50.5: “We are happy if we practice the commandments of God in harmony and charity, so that on account of charity our sins may be pardoned”; Did. 4.6; Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.12.91; Didymus, Zech. 3.219. A. Resch, Agrapha, Leipzig, 1889, pp. 129–130, 248, 249.

18 Ps 32:1, 5; 85:3; Neh 3:5. One might ask if this means the sins of the converted one or the one doing the converting. Apparently the latter, at least in 1 Peter, which is addressed to “the one who loves” his neighbor. According to 1 Tim 4:16, one saves oneself by saving others.

19 Dan 4:24; Tob 4:10; 12:9; Sir 3:30—“Water extinguishes a blazing fire, and almsgiving expiates sin”; 17:22.

20 Xenophon, Hell. 5.4.6. Cf. Euripides, Or. 294: “Uncover yourself, brotherly head, leave your weeping there”; Polybius 4.85.6: Aratus asked, “Do not neglect any means of arriving at the truth before disclosing anything to the Achaeans”; Diodorus Siculus 17.62: “unveil his aspirations to tyranny”; T. Jud. 14.5: ἀνακάλυψα κάλλυμα ἀκαθαρσίας υἱῶν μου. Used for the opening of a parcel or package (P.Oxy. 1297, 9; letter from the fourth century) and open jars (3081, 8; third century); cf. 2195, 134: τοῖς ἀνακαλύψασιν τὸν λάκκον τῆς μηχανῆς τοῦ κτήματος Εὐαγγελίου (sixth century).

Pap.Graec.Mag. Papyri Graecae Magicae. Ed. K. Preisendanz. 2 vols. Leipzig-Berlin, 1928–1931.

21 Isa 49:9 (Hebrew gālâh); Ps 18:15—“when the foundations of the earth are uncovered” (cf. P.Cair.Zen. 59497: ἡ γῆ ἀποκαλύπτηται; O.Mich. 891, 8; P.Oxy. 1833, 7); Job 12:22; 28:11—the result of an exploration is to bring to light what was hidden (cf. Philo, Dreams 1.99: the light of day brings out everything). Tobias sleeps with face uncovered (Tob 2:9); Saul’s messengers discover David’s bed (Josephus, Ant. 6.218); “It is a very distant history, buried in forgetfulness, that I want to reveal to you; I will disclose it to you in private” (Philo, Joseph 238). In a pejorative sense: in the shakings of the earth, God disfigures the face of the earth (Isa 24:1; cf. 22:8; 26:2).

Dreams On Dreams (De Somniis)

Moses On the Life of Moses (De Vita Mosis)

22 Deut 23:1; Isa 47:2–3; Jer 13:22; 49:10; Job 41:5. Cf. Josephus, Ant. 20.108.

23 Aristotle, Sens. 5.444b25; cf. at Epidaurus, the healing of a woman by a vision: ἐδόκει αὐταῖ τὰν νηδὺν ὁ θεὸς ἀγκαλύψαι (Dittenberger, Syl. 1169, 62; fourth century BC).

24 Job 33:16. Cf. Tob 12:7, 11: “It is good to reveal brilliantly the works of God.”

25 Joseph 90; cf. Drunkennes 139: virtue, eliminating equivocal reasonings, unveils the truth; cf. Josephus, Ant. 7.151: Nathan reveals to David the wrath of God at his crime.

Prelim. Stud. On the Preliminary Studies (De Congressu Quaerendae Eruditionis Gratia)

26 2 Cor 3:18. Cf. J. Dupont, “Le Chrétien miroir de la gloire divine, d’après II Cor. III, 18,” in RB, 1949, pp. 392–411; N. Hugedé, La Métaphore du miroir dans les Epîtres de saint Paul aux Corinthiens, Neuchâtel-Paris, 1957; J. F. Collange, Enigmes de la deuxième Epître de Paul aux Corinthiens, Cambridge, 1972, pp. 106–125; W. C. van Unnik, “ ‘With Unveiled Face,’ an Exegesis of II Corinthians III, 12–18,” in Sparsa Collecta, Leiden, 1973, vol. 1, pp. 194–210 (= NovT, 1964, pp. 153–169).

27 If we understand κατοπτρίζομαι: “behold in a mirror” (cf. Philo, Alleg. Interp. 3.101), the mirror would be Christ, filled with God’s glory; cf. A. Feuillet, Le Christ, Sagesse de Dieu, d’après les epîtres pauliniennes, Paris, 1966, pp. 115–135; B. Rey, Créés dans le Christ Jésus, Paris, 1966, pp. 194ff.

28 Cf. Plutarch, Cat. Mai. 20.8: “Among the Romans, fathers-in-law would have been embarrassed to undress and appear nude before them (their sons-in-law)”; 1 Sam 20:30—the shame of the unveiling (Hebrew ʿerewâh) of nudity.

29 Revelacium, derived from the Latin, appeared in twelfth-century French and was used for realities divulged to people who did not know about them. To reveal is to remove the veil (obstacle) that hinders physical vision or intellectual knowledge.

30 Rom 2:15; 1 Cor 1:7 (Peter von der Osten-Sacken, “Gottes Treue bis zur Parusie: Formgeschichtliche Beobachtungen zu I Kor. I, 7 b–9,” in ZNW, 1977, pp. 176–199); 2 Thess 1:7; 1 Pet 1:7, 13; 4:13.

31 L.-M. Dewailly, “Mystère et silence dans Rom. XVI, 25,” in NTS, vol. 14, 1967, pp. 111–118: the mystery is God’s secret, because he had a plan in mind and said nothing about it (cf. Eph 3:9; Col 1:26; 1 Cor 2:7); hence his “silence,” the opposite of announcement, communication, revelation. G. R. Beasley-Murray, Jesus and the Future, London, 1954; idem, Jesus and the Last Days, Peabody, 1993.

32 Gal 1:12; Eph 3:3. K. Kertelge, “Apokalypsis Jesou Christou (Gal. I, 12),” in J. Gnilka, Neues Testament und Kirche, pp. 266–281.

33 2 Cor 12:1—If boasting is necessary “I shall come to visions and revelations from the Lord”; 12:7; Gal 2:2. “I went up to Jerusalem according to a revelation.” Cf. J. W. Bowker, “ ‘Merkabah’: Visions and the Visions of Paul,” in JSS, 1971, pp. 157–173; H. Saak, “Paulus als Ekstatiker: Pneumatologische Beobachtungen zu II Kor. XII, 1–10,” in Bib, 1972, pp. 404–410 (= NovT, 1973, pp. 153–160); J. Cambier, “Une lecture de II Cor. XII, 6–7 a: Essai d’interprétation nouvelle,” in AnBib 17, Rome, 1963, pp. 475–485.

34 Eph 1:17. Cf. 1 Cor 14:26—“When you meet, each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a speech in tongues.” P. Benoit, “L’Evolution du langage apocalyptique dans le corpus paulinien,” in Apocalypses et théologie de l’espérance, Paris, 1977, pp. 219–235.

35 Apocalypses of Abraham, of Moses, of Baruch, etc. Apocalyptic succeeded prophetism, cf. M. J. Lagrange, Le Judaïsme avant Jésus-Christ, Paris, 1931, pp. 70–90; E. B. Allo, Saint Jean: L’Apocalypse, 3 d ed., Paris, 1933, pp. xivff., xxixff.; J. B. Frey, “Apocalyptique,” in DBSup, vol. 1, col. 326–354.

S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

Alex. Peri Alexandreias

1 Τοῦ δʼ ὑπερῷου κρύπτῃ φραγμοῖς καὶ θυρίσι περιεχομένῃ πάντοθεν, ed. Müller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, 1849, p. 56.

PSI Papiri greci e latine. 15 vols. Florence, 1912–1979.

2 Καὶ τὴν κρύπτην ὁμοίαν τῷ κονιάματι. The third century BC papyrus was noted by Moulton-Milligan; today it apparently remains the only papyrological attestation.

3 War 5.330. The form in Athenaeus 205 a is the feminine of κρυπτός.

4 Οὐδὲ ὑπὸ τὸν μόδιον is omitted by P45, P75, Sinaitic Syriac, Sahidic, Armenian, some miniscules, etc.

5 Cf. J. Toutain, “Lucerna (λύχνος),” in DAGR, vol. 3, 2, pp. 1320–1339; E. Saglio, “Candelabrum (λύχνιον, λυχνία),” ibid., vol. 1, 2, pp. 869–875. J. Jeremias (“Die Lampe unter dem Scheffel,” in ZNW, 1940, pp. 237–240, reprinted in Abba, pp. 99–102), cites several rabbinic texts that mention that on the Sabbath day it is permitted to move a new lamp but not an old one (m. Šabb. 3.5), to turn over a pot on the lamp so that it cannot ignite the beams (m. Šabb. 16.7), to straighten up a lampstand on a feast day (m. Beṣa 2.6), to turn over a kind of jar on the coals gathered from the altar (m.Tamid 5.5).

6 Μόδιος, cf. Josephus, Ant. 9.85: “The saton is equal to one and a half Italian modii”; b. B. Qam. 6d.

7 A. Dupont-Sommer, “Note archéologique sur le proverbe évangélique: Mettre la lampe sous le boisseau,” in Mélanges syriens offerts à monsieur René Dussaud, Paris, 1939, pp. 789–794.

8 M. J. Lagrange notes on Mark 4:21 that κλίνη here is a table rather than a bed. Bushel and bed are both associated in the little parable of the lamp in Mark 4:21, while Matt 5:15, which mentions only the bushel, seems to depend on a written source common to Matt and Luke 11:33. On the question of literary or oral dependence, cf. L. Vaganay, “L’Etude d’un doublet dans la parabole de la lampe (Mc. IV, 21; Lc. VIII, 16; Lc. XI, 33; Mt. V, 15)” in Le Problème synoptique, Tournai, 1954, pp. 426–442; G. Schneider, “Das Bildwort von der Lampe: Zur Traditionsgeschichte eines Jesus-Wortes,” in ZNW, 1970, pp. 183–209; F. Hahn, “Die Worte vom Licht Lk. XI, 33–36,” in P. Hoffmann, Orientierung an Jesus, Freiburg, 1973, pp. 107–138.

Gos. Thom. Gospel of Thomas

9 Trans. B. M. Metzger in Kurt Aland, ed., Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum, Stuttgart, 1976, p. 522.

10 P. Joüon, L’Evangile de Notre-Seigeur Jésus-Christ, Paris, 1930.

11 J. D. M. Derrett, “The Lamp Which Must Not Be Hidden (Mk. IV, 21),” in Law in the NT, pp. 189–207.

Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 244–337. 



  V 2, p 375  λείπω
leipō, to fall short, be incomplete, lack

leipō, S 3007; EDNT 2.347; NIDNTT 3.247–248, 251, 253; MM 372; L&N 57.43, 57.44, 71.33; BDF §§75, 101, 180(4), 189(3), 393(4); BAGD 470


The Suda offers the definition leipesthai: hēttēsthai; in the papyri, this verb is often used in accounting for a deficit, a negative balance;1 in the NT, it always has the sense “to be wanting, insufficient, incomplete.”2
When active and intransitive, it is synonymous with hystereō and indicates a lack. To the wealthy and virtuous young man, Jesus said, eti hen soi leipei,3 exactly like Epictetus: “You came to me not long ago as a   V 2, p 376  man in need of nothing (hōs mēdenos deomenos). And what could you even imagine needing (hōs endeontos)? … Caesar knows you, you have many friends at Rome, you fulfill your obligations, you know how to oblige in turn one who obliges you.… What are you lacking (ti soi leipei)?” (2.14.19).
The passive is used in the NT only by St. James, either with the genitive of the thing lacking or with en and the dative: “… so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (en mēdeni leipomenoi). If anyone among you lacks wisdom (ei de tis hymōn leipetai sophias), let him ask God.”4 The combination of teleios (the adult, one who has achieved maturity, as opposed to a nēpios, 1 Cor 2:6; Col 1:28) and holoklēros (complete in all parts, whole, intact, cf. Acts 3:16) has the force of a superlative, to which the negative adjunct—in Hebrew gnomic style—adds nothing:5 the absence of any deficiency is already included in the idea of its perfection (the perfect being that from which nothing is lacking). This deficiency or shortcoming can be minimal or serious,6 like that of Christians who “are naked and lack daily food” (gymnoi hyparchōsin kai leipomenoi tēs ephēmerou trophēs);7 the latter detail serves to indicate the urgent need for help, which Christians must provide for their brothers and sisters in the faith (Gal 6:10). The choice of the passive leipomai conveys the idea that these poor folk have been left behind, as it were, by their brothers; the expression is from the vocabulary of the racetrack, where an athlete is “passed by” by his fellow runners,8 but it is also used for other competitions, for example, a musicians’ contest   V 2, p 377  at Messina (liphtheis ton biotou stephanon)9 or for the “defeat” before a tribunal of a litigant who has no means of defense or who is overwhelmed by the testimony.10 In a way this is the situation of Menelaus, who “seeing that he was already defeated (ēdē de leleimmenos) promised large sums to Ptolemy, the son of Dorymenes, to win the king over.”11
St. Paul left Titus in Crete “to finish organizing what remains (to be set in order).”12 The present participle of leipō clearly has here the sense of incompleteness, something that constitutes a lack or is insufficient. Similarly, Combalos asked “to go finish what remained to be built, for he had left the temple incomplete” (Lucian, Syr. D. 26). Since the churches provide for the needs of itinerant preachers, giving them food, funds, means of transportation, information on routes,13 etc., the apostle concludes: “Take good care of Zenas the lawyer and Apollos, so that they may lack nothing” (hina mēden autois leipē, Titus 3:13).


S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.

EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.

NIDNTT Colin Brown, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, 1986.

MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.

L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.

BDF F. Blass and A. Debrunner. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Trans. and rev. of the 9 th–10th German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner by R. W. Funk. Chicago, 1961.

BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.

1 BGU 1782, 12: περὶ τοῦ μηδένα λόγον λείπεσθαι; P.Mich. 182, 37: ἐὰν μὲν λείπηταί τι πρὸς τὰ μὴ (τάλαντα) τοῦ χαλκοῦ; P.Apoll. 82, 13: λείπεται νομίσμ. χνβʹ κεράτι. ιʹ; P.Oxy. 2195, 155; P.Ross.Georg. II, 24, 10; SB 10530, 8, 23; S. Witkowski, Epistulae Privatae Graecae 41, 12: λείπεται δραχμαὶ ρνεʹ. Cf. the clause μὴ ἐλαττουμένου (H. A. Rupprecht, Studien zur Quittung im Recht der graeco-ägyptischen Papyri, Munich, 1971; G. Hage, “Die ΜΗ ΕΛΑΤΤΟΥΜΕΝΟΥ Klausel in den griechischen Papyri Aegyptens,” in Proceedings XII, pp. 195–205).

2 Cf. Wis 19:4—“They fill up the punishment for what is lacking in their torments” (τὴν λείπουσαν τοῖς βασάνοις); Pap.Graec.Mag. 4, 2547 (vol. 1, p. 146): ἐξ ὧν ὁ κόσμος αὔξεται καὶ λείπεται; P.Mert. XXIV, 10: to the extent that you fulfill your obligations, you will not be lacking my part (οὐ λείψει σε); P.Ryl. 583, 18–19; P.Hib. 198, 9: the brigand and the one who deserts the boat (ὁ λῃστὴς καὶ ὁ τὴν ναῦν λελοιπώς); Sib. Or. 3.416: “an Erinys … will abandon the vast sea of Europe and Asia”; CII 61, 4; said concerning death: βίον λεῖπε (SB 7289, 4; 8960, 12), of the loss of a child (I.Thas. 370, 5; Pap.Lugd.Bat. XIII, 14, 25; P.Dura XII, 5). A metrical epitaph for a bestarius at Philippi: ἔλιπον φάος τὸ γλυκὺ κόσμου, I have left the sweet light of the world (L. Robert, Gladiateurs, n. 25, 6; cf. 296, 11); one loses one’s strength or courage (ibid., 124, 5). On the aorist ἔλιπον-ἔλειψα in the Koine, and the formation of the perfect λέλοιπα by adding α to the primitive root, cf. F. M. Abel, Grammaire, §18 j, p; B. G. Mandilaras, Verb, n. 306, 13.

3 Luke 18:22 (cf. Mark 10:21: ἕν σε ὑστερεῖ; 1 Cor 1:7—μὴ ὑστερεῖσθαι ἐν μηδενὶ χαρίσματι). T. Abr. A 14: Abraham says to the archangel, “Michael, what does this soul still lack for being saved?” (τί ἔτι λείπεται τῇ ψυχῇ εἰς τὸ σῴζεσθαι?).

4 Jas 1:4–5; cf. J. A. Kirk, “The Meaning of Wisdom in James,” in NTS, vol. 16, 1969, pp. 24–38.

5 “The emphasis rests essentially on the first two terms; the negative parallel that follows adds nothing to the idea but amplifies the sentence and rounds it out with a concluding cadence” (J. Marty, L’Epître de Jacques, p. 12), who cites the Stoic proposition: πάντα δὲ τὸν καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν ἄνδρα τέλειον εἶναι λέγουσι διὰ τὸ μηδεμιᾶς ἀπολειπεσθαι ἀρετῆς (Stobaeus, Ecl. 2.7.11; vol. 2, p. 98, 15). Cf. the ordinance of Ptolemy Alexander I, granting, in 97–96 BC, the right of asylum to the temple of Horus at Athribis, “a first-class, remarkable temple, one of the oldest and most celebrated, has obtained other honors, but it is lacking in that it is not a place of asylum” (λείπεσθαι δὲ ἐν τῷ μὴ εἶναι ἄσυλον, SB 620, 6 = C.Ord.Ptol. 64).

6 Cf. Aristotle, Gen. An. 4.1.766a26: emasculated animals do not fall far short of females in appearance (μικρὸν ἐλλείπουσιν τοῦ θήλεος τὴν ἰδέαν); P.Fouad 85, 3: “Nothing remains for you (οὐθὲν λείπει) but to come and find your bed all made.”

7 Jas 2:15. On τῆς ἐφημέρου τροφῆς, cf. the parallels cited by F. Field, Notes on the Translation, p. 236.

8 Cf. the epitaph of Alabanda, where Polyneikes was not surpassed in the technique of combat, ἄλειπτος … οὐχὶ τέχνῃ λειφθείς (L. Robert, Gladiateurs, n. 169). Ἄλειπτος means “undefeated” (I.Magn. 181, 17; L. Robert, Hellenica, vol. 11, pp. 338ff.). A decree of Gonnoi, in the third century BC: “The people should not lag behind (μηθενὸς λείπεσθαι) with respect to honors and recognition for those who choose to be benefactors of the people” (NCIG, n. 11, 15 = I. Gonn., vol. 2, n. 109).

9 Cited with numerous examples by L. Robert, Hellenica, vol. 11, p. 330, who comments: “A common meaning of λείπεσθαι, in the passive and not in the middle, is ‘be surpassed, be left behind, be defeated.’ The phrase is used first of all for runners; it is used for all manner of inferiority and defeat in a wide variety of authors, in both prose and poetry.”

10 Cf. Artemidorus Daldianus, Onir. 2.29; 4.72.80; P.Turner 1, col. VIII, 35: λελεῖφθαι τῇ κρίσει; P.Oxf. 14, 12 (with the editor’s note); Josephus, War 3.482—“You and I are on trial.… How could I dare present myself, if you abandoned me?”

11 2 Macc 4:45; cf. the master of the undefeated (ἀλείπτες) athlete who gives in to corruption (Artemidorus Daldianus, Onir. 4.82).

12 Titus 1:5: ἵνα τὰ λείποντα ἐπιδιορθώσῃ (this latter verb is not attested outside of CIG 2555, 9). To represent the word-play ἀπέλιπον … τὰ λείποντα, we could translate “I left you to complete what was left.” Τὰ λείποντα = the backlog (P.Mert. 73, 14; P.Princ. 117, 29); τοῖς λιποῦσιν τὴν τάξιν could be stragglers (I.Car. 149, 15). Cf. Philo, Flacc. 124: “You give a flicker of good hope for the reestablishment of all the rest” (περὶ τῆς τῶν λειπομένων ἐπανορθώσεως).

Syr. D. De Syria Dea

13 3 John 6; Dittenberger, Syl. 618, 5; 800, 29; cf. C. Spicq, Théologie morale, vol.2, pp. 809ff.; P. Gauthier, Symbola, pp. 19 et passim. E. Wipszycka, Les Ressources et les activités économiques des églises en Egypte du IVe au VIIIe siècle, Brussels, 1972, pp.115ff., etc.

Ceslas Spicq and James D. Ernest, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 375–377.




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