Lexicon
prosópon: Face, presence, person, countenance
Original Word: πρόσωπον
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: prosópon
Pronunciation: pro'-so-pon
Phonetic Spelling: (pros'-o-pon)
Definition: Face, presence, person, countenance
Meaning: the face, countenance, surface.
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
countenance, face, appearance
From pros and ops (the visage, from optanomai); the front (as being towards view), i.e. The countenance, aspect, appearance, surface; by implication, presence, person -- (outward) appearance, X before, countenance, face, fashion, (men's) person, presence.
see GREEK pros
see GREEK optanomai
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
pros and óps (an eye, face)
Definitionthe face
NASB Translationahead* (2), appearance (5), before* (2), coming* (1), face (37), faces (5), openly (1), outwardly* (1), partial* (3), partiality (1), people (1), person (1), persons (1), presence (11), sight (1).
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 4383: πρόσωπονπρόσωπον,
προσώπου,
τό (from
πρός and
ὤψ, cf.
μέτωπον), from
Homer down; the
Sept. hundreds of times for
פָּנִים, also for
אַפַיִם, etc.;
1.
a. the face, i. e. the anterior part of the human head: Matthew 6:16, 17; Matthew 17:2; Matthew 26:67; Mark 14:65; Luke (); (T Tr WH omit; Lachmann brackets the clause); Acts 6:15; 2 Corinthians 3:7, 13, 18; (); Revelation 4:7; Revelation 9:7; Revelation 10:1; τό πρόσωπον τῆς γενέσεως, the face with which one is born (A. V. his natural face), James 1:23; πίπτειν ἐπί πρόσωπον (cf. Winer's Grammar, § 27, 1 n.; 122 (116)) and ἐπί τό πρόσωπον, Matthew 17:6; Matthew 26:39; Luke 5:12; Luke 17:16; 1 Corinthians 14:25; (Revelation 7:11 Rec.; ἔπεσαν ἐπί τά πρόσωπα, Revelation 11:16; Revelation 7:11 G L T Tr WH); ἀγνωυμενος τίνι τῷ προσώπῳ, unknown to one by face, i. e. personally unknown, Galatians 1:22; bereaved of one προσώπῳ, οὐ καρδία (A. V. in presence, not in heart), 1 Thessalonians 2:17; κατά πρόσωπον, in or toward (i. e. so as to look into) the face, i. e. before, in the presence of (see κατά, II. 1 c.): opposed to ἀπών, 2 Corinthians 10:1; with τίνος added, before (the face of) one, Luke 2:31; Acts 3:13; ἔχω τινα κατά πρόσωπον, i. e. to have one present in person (A. V. face to face), Acts 25:16; ἀντέστην κατά πρόσωπον, I resisted him to the face (with a suggestion of fearlessness), Galatians 2:11 (κατά πρόσωπον λέγειν τούς λόγους, Polybius 25, 5, 2; add Job 16:8; but in Deuteronomy 7:24; Deuteronomy 9:2; Judges 2:14; 2 Chronicles 13:7, ἀντιστῆναι κατά πρόσωπον τίνος simply denotes to stand against, resist, withstand); τά κατά πρόσωπον the things before the face, i. e. open, known to all, 2 Corinthians 10:7. Expressions modelled after the Hebrew: ὁρᾶν τό πρόσωπον τίνος, to see one's face, see him personally, Acts 20:25; Colossians 2:1; ἰδεῖν, 1 Thessalonians 2:17; 1 Thessalonians 3:10; θεωρεῖν, Acts 20:38 (cf. θεωρέω, 2 a.); particularly, βλέπειν τό πρόσωπον τοῦ Θεοῦ (see βλέπω, 1 b. β.), Matthew 18:10; ὁρᾶν τό πρόσωπον τοῦ Θεοῦ (see ὁράω, 1), Revelation 22:4; ἐμφανισθῆναι τῷ πρόσωπον τοῦ Θεοῦ, to appear before the face of God, spoken of Christ, the eternal priest, who has entered into the heavenly sanctuary, Hebrews 9:24; in imitation of the Hebrew אֵל־פָּנִים פָּנִים we have the phrase πρόσωπον πρός πρόσωπον, face (turned (see πρός, I. 1 a., p. 541b)) to face (εἶδον τινα, Genesis 32:30; Judges 6:22): tropically, βλέπω namely, τόν Θεόν, see God face to face, i. e. discern perfectly his nature, will, purposes, 1 Corinthians 13:12; a person is said to be sent or to go πρό προσώπου τίνος (פ לִפנֵי) (cf. Winers Grammar, § 65, 4 b. at the end; Buttmann, 319 (274)), i. e. before one, to announce his coming and remove the obstacles from his way, Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 1:76; Luke 7:27 (Malachi 3:1); ; πρό προσώπου τίνος (of time) before a thing, Acts 13:24 (so לִפְנֵי in Amos 1:1; Zechariah 8:10; where the Sept. simply πρό (cf. πρό, b., p. 536b bottom)). πρός φωτισμόν τῆς γνώσεως τῆς δόξης τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν προσώπῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, that we may bring forth into the light the knowledge of the glory of God as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 4:6 (Paul really means, the majesty of God manifest in the person of Christ; but the signification of πρόσωπον is 'face,' and Paul is led to use the word by what he had said in of the brightness visible in the force of Moses). b. countenance, look (Latinvultus), i. e. the face so far forth as it is the organ of sight, and (by its various movements and changes) the index of the inward thoughts and feelings: κλίνειν τό πρόσωπον εἰς τήν γῆν, to bow the face to the earth (a characteristic of fear and anxiety), Luke 24:5; Hebraistic phrases relating to the direction of the countenance, the look: τό πρόσωπον τοῦ κυρίου ἐπί τινα, namely, ἐστιν, the face of the Lord is (turned) upon one, i. e. he looks upon and watches him, 1 Peter 3:12 (from Psalm 33:17 ()); στηρίζειν τό πρόσωπον (Hebrew שׂוּם or פָּנִים נָתַן; cf. Gesenius, Thesaurus, ii., p. 1109 on the same form of expression in Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Turkish) τοῦ πορεύεσθαι εἰς with an accusative of the place (A. V. steadfastly to set one's face to go etc. (see στηρίζω, a.)), Luke 9:51; moreover, even τό πρόσωπον τίνος ἐστι πορευόμενον εἰς with the accusative of place, Luke 9:53 (τό πρόσωπον σου πορευόμενον ἐν μέσῳ αὐτῶν, 2 Samuel 17:11); ἀπό προσώπου τίνος φεύγειν, to flee in terror from the face (German Anblick) of one enraged, Revelation 20:11; κρύπτειν τινα etc. (see κρύπτω, a.), Revelation 6:16; ἀνάψυξις ἀπό προσώπου Θεοῦ, the refreshing which comes from the bright and smiling countenance of God to one seeking comfort, Acts 3:20 (19); on 2 Thessalonians 1:9 see ἀπό, p. 59a middle; μετά τοῦ προσώπου σου, namely, ὄντα, in the presence of thy joyous countenance (see μετά, I. 2 b. β'.), Acts 2:28 (from Psalm 15:11 ()); εἰς πρόσωπον τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν, turned unto (i. e. in (R. V.)) the face of the churches as the witnesses of your zeal, 2 Corinthians 8:24; ἵνα ἐκ πολλῶν προσώπων ... διά πολλῶν εὐχαριστηθῇ, that from many faces (turned toward God and expressing the devout and grateful feelings of the soul) thanks may be rendered by many (accordingly, both ἐκ πολλῶν προσώπων and διά πολλῶν belong to εὐχαριστηθῇ (cf. Meyer ad loc.; see below)), 2 Corinthians 1:11. ἀπό προσώπου τίνος (פ מִפְּנֵי),from the sight or presence of one, Acts 5:41; Acts 7:45 (here A. V. before the face; Revelation 12:14); ἐν προσώπῳ Χριστοῦ, in the presence of Christ, i. e. Christ looking on (and approving), 2 Corinthians 2:10 (Proverbs 8:30); (some would render πρόσωπον here and in above person (cf. R. V.): — here nearly equivalent to on the part of (Vulg.in persona Christi); there equivalent to 'an individual' (Plutarch, de garrul. 13, p. 509 b.; Epictetus diss. 1, 2, 7; Polybius 8, 13, 5; 12, 27, 10; 27, 6, 4; Clement of Rome, 1 Cor. 1, 1 [ET]; 47, 6 [ET]; Phryn., p. 379, and Lobeck's note, p. 380)). c. Hebraistically, the appearance one presents by his wealth or poverty, his rank or low condition; outward circumstances, external condition; so used in expressions which denote to regard the person in one's judgment and treatment of men: βλέπειν εἰς πρόσωπον ἀνθρώπων, Matthew 22:16; Mark 12:14; θαυμάζειν πρόσωπα, Jude 1:16; λαμβάνειν πρόσωπον (τίνος), Luke 20:21; Galatians 2:6 (on which see βλέπω, 2 c., θαυμάζω λαμβάνω, I. 4). καυχᾶσθαι ἐν προσώπῳ καί οὐ καρδία, to glory in those things which they simulate in look, viz. piety, love, righteousness, although their heart is devoid of these virtues, 2 Corinthians 5:12, cf. 1 Samuel 16:7.
2. the outward appearance of inanimate things (A. V. face (except in James as below)): τοῦ ἄνθους, James 1:11; τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, τῆς γῆς, Matthew 16:3 (here T brackets; WH reject the passage); Luke 12:56 (Ps. 103(104):); (so in Latin, naturae vultus, Ovid. metam. 1, 6; maris facies, Vergil Aen. 5, 768; on this use of the nounfacies see Aulus Gellius, noctes atticae 13, 29); surface: τῆς γῆς, Luke 21:35; Acts 17:26 (on the omitted article here cf. πᾶς, I. 1 c.) (Genesis 2:6; Genesis 11:8).
Topical Lexicon
Word Origin: Derived from πρός (pros, meaning "toward" or "facing") and ὤψ (ōps, meaning "eye" or "face").Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: • H6440 פָּנִים (panim): This Hebrew term is often translated as "face" or "presence" and shares a similar range of meanings with the Greek "prosōpon." It is used extensively in the Old Testament to describe the face of individuals, the presence of God, and the concept of favor or acceptance.
• H5869 עַיִן (ayin): While primarily meaning "eye," this term can also refer to appearance or presence, aligning with some uses of "prosōpon" in the sense of perception and visibility.
In summary, "prosōpon" is a versatile term that encompasses the physical, relational, and spiritual dimensions of human and divine interaction, emphasizing the importance of presence, appearance, and sincerity in the biblical narrative.
Usage: In the New Testament, "prosōpon" is used to describe the physical face of a person, the presence of individuals, and metaphorically, the favor or disfavor of God. It appears in various contexts, including expressions of emotion, divine encounters, and social interactions.
Context: The Greek word "prosōpon" is a significant term in the New Testament, appearing in various contexts that highlight its multifaceted meanings. It is often used literally to refer to the human face, as seen in passages where individuals are described in terms of their physical appearance or expressions. For example, in Matthew 6:16, Jesus instructs His followers not to "disfigure their faces" when fasting, emphasizing sincerity over outward appearance.
Beyond its literal use, "prosōpon" carries a deeper theological significance. It is frequently employed to describe the presence or favor of God. In 2 Corinthians 4:6, Paul speaks of the "light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," illustrating the divine revelation and presence manifested through Christ. Similarly, in Acts 3:19, believers are encouraged to repent so that "times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."
The term also appears in social and relational contexts, often highlighting the importance of sincerity and truthfulness. In James 2:1, believers are admonished not to show favoritism, literally "not to hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect of persons," indicating the impartiality expected in Christian conduct.
Forms and Transliterations
προσωπα πρόσωπα πρόσωπά προσώποις προσωπον προσώπον πρόσωπον πρόσωπόν προσωπου προσώπου πρόσωπου προσωπω προσώπω προσώπῳ προσωπων προσώπων πρόωσπον prosopa prosōpa prósopa prósōpa prosopo prosōpō prosṓpoi prosṓpōi prosopon prosōpon prosōpōn prosṓpon prosṓpōn prósopon prósopón prósōpon prósōpón prosopou prosōpou prosṓpouLinks
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