Image (1504) eikon by Greek Word Studies

Image (1504) (eikon) an artistic representation, as one might see on a coin or statue (an image or a likeness, as in Mt 22.20). Eikon can also refer to a visible manifestation of an invisible and heavenly reality form (see Hebrews 10:1-note) As used here in Colossians eikon speaks of an embodiment or living manifestation of God. Eikon is used 23 times in the NAS (Matt. 22:20; Mk. 12:16; Lk. 20:24; Rom. 1:23; 8:29; 11.7" class="scriptRef">1 Co. 11:7; 15:49; 2 Co. 3:18; 4:4; Col. 1:15; 3:10; Heb. 10:1; Rev. 13:14f; 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4) and in the NAS is translated as - form, 1; image, 19; likeness, 3. The KJV translates every use with "image." Eikon is used 29 times in the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT, the Septuagint (LXX) (5.3" class="scriptRef">31" class="scriptRef">Gen. 1:26f; 5:1, 3; 9:6; Deut. 4:16; 18" class="scriptRef">2 Ki. 11:18; 7" class="scriptRef">2 Chr. 33:7; Ps. 39:6; 73:20; Isa. 40:19f; Ezek. 7:20; 16:17; 23:14; Dan. 2:31f, 34f; 3:1ff, 5, 7, 10ff, 14f, 18; Hos. 13:2), the first use being in Genesis where "God said "Let Us make man in Our image (LXX = eikon)...." (Genesis 1:26) The story is told of the slave who saluted General George Washington and to whom Washington returned the salute. When ask about this seemingly unusual behavior, Washington answered that the slave bore the image of God, and thus was worthy of respect. Paul in fact confirmed that man "is the image (eikon) and glory of God" (1Cor 11:7). Paul went on to add that "just as we have borne the image (eikon) of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." (1Cor 15:49) Paul emphasized that Jesus is the image of the invisible God explaining in the case of unbelievers who are perishing "the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image (eikon) of God." (2Cor 4:4-note) Believers are now being progressively transformed from a likeness to Adam into a likeness of Christ. Man was created in the image of God but the fall of man defaced this image and yet did not totally erase it. When one becomes a new creation in Christ a transformation begins taking place. Gradually the Holy Spirit transforms believers into the image of Christ, Who as Paul says here in Colossians 1:15 is Himself the image of the invisible God. And so we read that... we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being (present tense = speaks of a continual process of being) transformed (metamorphoo- word study) (~present tense salvation, sanctification, growth in holiness, being conformed to the image of Jesus) into the same image (eikon) from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2Cor 3:18-note) Paul is saying that Jesus is the very stamp of God the Father as He was before the Incarnation Jn 17:5 and is now. Eikon is the basis for such English terms as icon ( a conventional religious image typically painted or engraved on a small wooden panel and venerated in Eastern Orthodox Churches), "iconography" (the illustration of a subject by drawing), or "iconoclast" (the medieval zealots who broke up religious statues and then anyone who attacks cherished beliefs or practices). Wayne Detzler explains that... God created us in His image, and we are to be a living testimony to our Creator. Only one image is ordained by God to represent Him. This is the crown of His Creation, human beings. To form any other image as a representation of God is a violation of the Ten Commandments. Furthermore, it is sheer blasphemy. This was the sin which Paul condemned so strongly in the prologue to his Roman Epistle (see note Romans 1:23)." (Detzler, Wayne A: New Testament Words in Today's Language) In early Greek the eikon was an engraving of the Emperor's head on a coin but soon was also attached to a statue or a metal image. Likewise eikon was the copy of a picture or the embodiment of a certain virtue. This idea is seen in English phrases such as, "She is the `image' of loveliness." The Jews rejected all images of God. The Ten Commandments forbade any casting of images, which was the sin into which Aaron fell at the foot of Sinai. In fact, the only image of God which is depicted in Scripture is man (Genesis 1:26). In this connection the New Testament uses the word eikon. Eikon expresses two ideas. First, likeness, as in the image on a coin or the reflection in a mirror. Second, manifestation, with the sense that God is fully revealed in Jesus. Eikon does not denote mere likeness or resemblance. Eikon conveys the meaning that Christ is whatever God is--spiritual, omnipotent, omniscient, holy--all the attributes of the eternal God. The idea that Paul is conveying with eikon is that the glorified Son sets forth, to those who behold Him, the nature and grandeur of the Eternal Father. The image includes the glorified manhood in which the Eternal Son presents in created and visible form the mental and moral nature of God. Men knew the Father because they had seen the Incarnate Son (Jn 14:9) The heretics falsely viewed Jesus as one among a series of lesser spirits descending in sequential inferiority from God. In this verse Paul refutes that with two powerful descriptions of who Jesus really is - the image or essence of God and the firstborn (see discussion below) or the one pre-eminent over all creation. Paul says that Jesus Christ is not a created being but that Christ is the essence of God made visible in the flesh. Christ is essentially and absolutely the perfect expression and representation of God the Father. In the New Testament eikon is used literally by Jesus when asked about paying taxes. In answering He said "Bring Me a denarius to look at." And they brought one. And He said to them, "Whose likeness (eikon) and inscription is this?" And they said to Him, "Caesar's." (Mark 12:15) Eikon is used in Revelation in multiple references to the Antichrist or beast who will demand worship from non-believing earth dwellers during Daniel's Seventieth Week, the seven year period preceding the return of Christ to defeat the Antichrist and set up His 1000 year millennial kingdom on earth. An image (eikon) of the beast will be erected as the object of idolatrous worship (see note Revelation 13:14). Participation in the society of the day will be limited to those who worship the image of the beast (see note Revelation 14:9; 11). God will summarily condemn those who have bowed before the beast's image (see notes Revelation 16:2, 19:20). On the other hand, God's eternal glory will be reserved for those who do not fall down before the beast's image (see note Revelation 20:4). Thayer has this note on synonyms "Homoioma denotes often not mere similarity but likeness, visible conformity to its object (Ed note: It is important to realize that the resemblance signified by homoioma in no way implies that one of the objects in question has been derived from the other. In the same way two men may resemble one another even though they are in no way related to one another.). Eikon adds to the idea of likeness the suggestions of representation (as a derived likeness) and manifestation." Trench, defining eikon says The monarch’s head on the coin is eikon (Mt 22:20), the reflection of the sun in the water is eikon (Plato), the statue in stone or other material is eikon (Re 13:14-note): and ...the child is the eikon of his parents. (Trench, R. C. Synonyms of the New Testament. Hendrickson Publishers. 2000) Lightfoot adds that The eikon might be the result of direct imitation like the head of a sovereign on a coin, or it might be due to natural causes like the parental features in the child, but in any case, it was derived from its prototype. Eikon suggests what is in itself substantial and also gives a true representation of that which it images. The eikon (image) brings before us under the conditions of space, as we can understand it, that which is spiritual’ Wuest sums up with the explanation that "The Lord Jesus is therefore the image of God in the sense that as the Son to the Father He is derived by eternal generation in a birth that never took place because it always was. Our Lord said, “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). That is, the Son is the exact reproduction of the Father, a derived image. The other idea involved in the word “representation” is that of manifestation, the manifestation of the hidden. The Logos is the revelation of the Unseen Father, whether pre-incarnate or incarnate. Lightfoot says that the idea of the invisible God “must not be confined to the apprehension of the bodily senses, but will include the cognizance of the inward eye also.” (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans) In Greek thought an image shares in reality what it represents. Christ is the perfect likeness of God. The word contains the idea of representation and manifestation and points to His revealing the Father and His pre-existence The writer of Hebrews in a parallel passage describes Jesus as "the radiance of His (the Father's) glory and the exact representation of His (the Father's) nature..." (Heb 1:3-note) John adds that "No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He (Jesus) has explained (exegeomai = provide detailed information in a systematic manner = English word exegesis = unfolding interpretation thru teaching) Him." (Jn 1:18) Paul explained that Satan's program was to blind "the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image (eikon) of God." (2Cor 4:4-note) In Philippians Paul reminds us that Jesus "existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped." (Phil 2:6-note) Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) used the image of God as an inspiration to evangelism in her hymn "Rescue the Perishing" Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, Feelings lie buried that grace can restore; Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness Chords that are broken will vibrate once more. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying; Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save. OF THE INVISIBLE GOD: tou theou tou aoratou: (1Ti 1:17, 6:16 Heb 11:27) "He in His own person shows us what the invisible God is like" (Translator's NT) Invisible (aoratos from a = without + horao = see) means not capable of being seen. God not being able to be seen was a central point of Jewish theology. Jesus Christ has enabled finite man to see what the infinite God is like. God is Spirit and is therefore invisible. But in the Person of Christ, God made Himself visible to mortal eyes. In that sense the Lord Jesus is the image of the invisible God . Whoever has seen Him has seen the Father (Jn 14:9). Image (eikon) also conveys another thought, specifically the idea of “representative.” God had originally placed Adam on the earth to represent His interests, but Adam failed. Therefore, God sent His only begotten Son into the world as His Representative to care for His interests and to reveal His heart of love to man. In that sense, He is the image of God. Christ’s “image” is so genuine that it provides man with a perfect manifestation and exact representation of God. In the person of Jesus Christ incarnate, we see a revelation of the invisible God. F. F. Bruce adds that it is because man bears the image of his Creator that it was possible for the Son of God to become incarnate as man and in his humanity to display the glory of the invisible God O God, Unseen Yet Ever Near O God, unseen yet ever near, Thy presence may we feel; And thus inspired with holy fear, Before Thine altar kneel. Here may Thy faithful people know The blessings of Thy love, The streams that through the desert flow, The manna from above. We come, obedient to Thy Word, To feast on heav’nly food; Our meat the body of the Lord, Our drink His precious blood. Thus may we all Thy Word obey, For we, O God, are Thine; And go rejoicing on our way, Renewed with strength divine. THE FIRST-BORN OF ALL CREATION: prototokos pases ktiseos: "He is the Firstborn, the absolute Heir of the Father, begotten before the ages; the Lord of the universe by virtue of primogeniture, and by virtue also of creative agency" (Lightfoot) Translated literally like the NASB does, it implies that Christ is included in the created universe, which is inconsistent with the context of the whole passage. The NIV translation paraphrases "of all creation" as "over all creation" which conveys more clearly the idea that Jesus is not created but is the Creator. Recognize that this verse is where many of cults come to hang out like vultures seeking unwary prey not equipped with the truth and the sword of the Word. First they read you this verse in Colossians and then take you to Luke 2:7 where the same Greek word is used to describe how Mary "gave birth to her first-born (prototokos) Son and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." The cultist, be they Jehovah's Witnesses or other genre of false teachers, then conclude that "firstborn" clearly implies that Jesus is the first of several children born to Mary as Scripture reveals there were other children born to her, and thus Jesus is in that sense the first created being. One can see how there is some logic (albeit flawed as discussed below) to their argument.

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Image (1504) eikon

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