Face

"face." This noun appears in biblical Hebrew about 2,100 times and in all periods, except when it occurs with the names of persons and places, it always appears in the plural. It is also attested in Ugaritic, Akkadian, Phoenician, Moabite, and Ethiopic.

In its most basic meaning, this noun refers to the "face" of something. First, it refers to the "face" of a human being: "And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him …" (Gen 17:3). In a more specific application, the word represents the look on one's face, or one's "countenance": "And Cain was very [angry], and his countenance fell" (Gen 4:5). To pay something to someone's "face" is to pay it to him personally (Deut 7:10); in such contexts, the word connotes the person himself. Paneh can also be used of the surface or visible side of a thing, as in Gen 1:2: "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." In other contexts, the word represent the "front side" of something: "And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle" (Exod 26:9). When applied to time, the word (preceded by the preposition le means "formerly": "The Horim also dwelt in Seir [formerly] … (Deut 2:12).

This noun is sometimes used anthropomorphically of God; the Bible speaks of God as though He had a "face": "… for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God" (Gen 33:10). The Bible clearly teaches that God is a spiritual being and ought not to be depicted by an image or any likeness whatever (Exod 20:4). Therefore, there was no image or likeness of God in the innermost sanctuary, only the ark of the covenant was there, and God spoke from above it (Exod 25:22). The word paneh, then, is used to identify the bread that was kept in the holy place. The kjv translates it as "the showbread," while the nasb renders "the bread of the Presence" (Num 4:7). This bread was always kept in the presence of God.

denotes "the countenance," lit., "the part towards the eyes" (from pros, "towards," ops, "the eye"), and is used (a) of the "face," Mat 1:6-17, 2Co 1:3, 2nd part (AV, "countenance"); in 2Co 10:7, in the RV, "things that are before your face" (AV, "outward appearance"), the phrase is figurative of superficial judgment; (b) of the look, i.e., the "face," which by its various movements affords an index of inward thoughts and feelings, e.g., Luk 9:51, Luk 9:53, 1Pe 3:12; (c) the presence of a person, the "face" being the noblest part, e.g., Act 3:13, RV, "before the face of," AV, "in the presence of;" Act 5:41, "presence;" 2Co 2:10, "person;" 1Th 2:17 (first part), "presence;" 2Th 1:9, RV, "face," AV, "presence;" Rev 12:14, "face;" (d) the person himself, e.g., Gal 1:22, 1Th 2:17 (second part); (e) the appearance one presents by his wealth or poverty, his position or state, Mat 22:16, Mar 12:14, Gal 2:6, Jud 1:16; (f) the outward appearance of inanimate things, Mat 16:3, Luk 12:56, Luk 21:35, Act 17:26.

To spit in a person's face was an expression of the utmost scorn and aversion, e.g., Mat 26:67 (cp. Mat 27:30, Mar 10:34, Luk 18:32). See APPEARANCE.

is primarily "the act of seeing;" then, (a) "the face;" of the body of Lazarus, Joh 11:44; of the "countenance" of Christ in a vision, Rev 1:16; (b) the "outward appearance" of a person or thing, Joh 7:24. See APPEARANCE.

Note: The phrase "face to face" translates two phrases in Greek: (1) kata prosopon (kata, "over against," and No. 1), Act 25:16; (2) stoma pros stoma, lit., "mouth to mouth" (stoma, "a mouth"), 2Jo 1:12, 3Jo 1:14. See MOUTH. (3) For antophthalmeo, Act 27:15, RV, has "to face."