[B-Greek] charakter (Hebrews 1:3

George F Somsel gfsomsel at juno.com
Tue Mar 8 07:37:40 EST 2005


On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 07:32:18 -0000 "T HILL" <terry_sda at blueyonder.co.uk>
writes:
> Hello list
> 
> As a layperson who does not understand Greek I am dependant on my 
> understanding of Greek from concordances such as Strong's or on 
> people such as you therefore the following question.
> 
>  
> 
> It is with regards to the Greek  'CHARAKTER' that is translated in 
> the KJV as 'express image' (Hebrews 1:3).
> 
>  
> 
> I have always taken this word to mean 'the exact stamp or 
> impression' but a friend of mine has made the observation (in 
> objection to my understanding) that because in the scriptures this 
> Greek word is only used this once (meaning there is no other 
> contextual evidence to consider) and because there is no Greek 
> dictionaries available to say what this Greek word then meant, we 
> cannot really be sure today what thought the writer of Hebrews meant 
> to convey by his use of this word. Can anyone help me here with this 
> dilemma? Any observations and thoughts would be appreciated.
> 
> Terry Hill
> 
> Lay person and student of the scriptures
> 
> Bristol, England
_________________________

I might add to what Beata has written that there is quite sufficient
evidence regarding the usage of this word outside the NT.  The fact that
it is used only once in the NT does not mean that we cannot understand
what it meant.  That might be true if it were the only place where it
ever appeared, but it appears in Aesculus, Euripides, Plato, Aristotle,
Diodorus Siculus, Dionysius of Halicarnasus and a number of other
authors.

george
gfsomsel
___________



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