644. aposkiasma

Lexical Summary

aposkiasma: Shadow, variation, shifting shadow

Original Word: ἀποσκίασμα
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: aposkiasma
Pronunciation: ah-pos-kee-AS-mah
Phonetic Spelling: (ap-os-kee'-as-mah)
KJV: shadow
NASB: shadow
Word Origin: [from a compound of G575 (ἀπό - since) and a derivative of G4639 (σκία - shadow)]

1. a shading off, i.e. obscuration

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

shadow.

From a compound of apo and a derivative of skia; a shading off, i.e. Obscuration -- shadow.

see GREEK apo

see GREEK skia

HELPS Word-studies

644 aposkíasma (from 575 /apó, "from" and skiazō, "cast shade") – properly, a shadow created by turning. Typically shadows change according to the changing position of the sun (being short at midday and lengthy at nightfall). But God doesn't change (shorten or lengthen!)because He Himself is His the only absolute reference point! Unlike a shifting shadow, caused by revolution, the Lord is immutable and possesses all power and life in Himself.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from apo and skiazó (to overshadow, shade)
Definition
a shadow
NASB Translation
shadow (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 644: ἀποσκίασμα

ἀποσκίασμα, ἀποσκιαστος, τό (σκιάζω, from σκιά), a shade cast by one object upon another, a shadow: τροπῆς ἀποσκίασμα shadow caused by revolution, James 1:17. Cf. ἀπαύγασμα.

Topical Lexicon

Topical Overview

Aposkiasma pictures the faint, transitory shadow cast by turning celestial bodies. James employs it once—James 1:17—to deny any such fluctuation in the Father of lights, thereby asserting His absolute immutability and moral perfection.

Biblical Occurrence: James 1:17

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” (James 1:17)

Set in a discussion about temptation and trial, the line contrasts God’s constant goodness with the inconstancy of human experience.

Imagery and Cultural Background

1. Astronomical observation: Sundials and the daily trek of sun, moon, and stars produced ever-moving shadows by which ancient peoples measured time.
2. Jewish wisdom tradition: Lights symbolize guidance and blessing (Psalm 27:1). Their shifting shadows speak of change; God, by contrast, is “the same” (Malachi 3:6).
3. Greco-Roman worldview: Philosophers likened earthly realities to shifting shadows (cf. Plato’s cave). James stands athwart this, proclaiming an unchanging source of all reality.

Theological Significance

• Immutability—No oscillation in being, plan, promise, or character.
• Holiness—No moral “penumbra”; “in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
• Reliability of grace—What He gives is always good and perfect, not capricious.
• Contrast with human vacillation—Believers are warned against being “double-minded” (James 1:8); God is single-minded in goodness.

Historical Reception

• Early Church: Chrysostom underscored the text when refuting accusations that God alternates between wrath and mercy; Augustine invoked it against Manichaean dualism.
• Medieval theology: Aquinas cited it for the divine attribute of immutability (Summa Theologica I.9).
• Reformation: Calvin appealed to it in defending the perseverance of saints, grounding assurance in God’s unwavering nature.
• Hymnody: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” captures the verse’s pastoral comfort.

Implications for Christian Ministry and Life

1. Assurance amid trials—Believers anchor hope in an unchanging giver.
2. Ethical integrity—Ministers called to reflect God’s steadiness; no “shifting shadows” of hypocrisy.
3. Apologetics—Counters claims that Scripture portrays a developing or conflicted deity.
4. Worship—Encourages liturgy that magnifies God’s constancy and light.

Related Biblical Themes and Passages

Psalm 102:26–27; Isaiah 40:8; Lamentations 3:22–23; John 1:9; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Hebrews 13:8. Each affirms either divine constancy or the motif of pure, shadowless light.

Contemporary Application

In a culture prizing change, aposkiasma summons the Church to proclaim and embody steadfast truth and transparent righteousness, offering a stable hope to a world of shifting shadows.

Forms and Transliterations

απεσκλήρυνε απεσκοπεύσαμεν αποσκιασμα αποσκίασμα ἀποσκίασμα αποσκοπευόντων αποσκοπεύσω αποσκορακιεί αποσκορακίσης αποσκορακισμόν αποσοβών απόσπασμα aposkiasma aposkíasma

Englishman's Concordance

James 1:17 N-NNS
GRK: ἢ τροπῆς ἀποσκίασμα
NAS: or shifting shadow.
KJV: neither shadow of turning.
INT: or of turning shadow

Strong's Greek 644
1 Occurrence

ἀποσκίασμα — 1 Occ.