ἀόρᾱ-τος G0517
Invisible, unseen; that which cannot be perceived by physical sight, especially of God's nature and attributes.
Applied exclusively to the divine realm in the New Testament, this adjective describes what lies beyond human visual perception. Paul uses it powerfully in Rom 1:20, arguing that God's invisible qualities are paradoxically 'clearly seen' through creation -- a deliberate rhetorical tension. In Col 1:15-16, Christ is the image of the invisible God, and all things visible and invisible were created through him. The term appears in a doxology to the 'immortal, invisible, only God' (1 Tim 1:17) and in Hebrews' praise of Moses who endured 'as seeing the invisible one' (Heb 11:27). Every major translation language renders this with a direct cognate: Spanish 'invisible,' French 'invisible,' German 'unsichtbar.'
Senses
1. sense 1 — Invisible, unable to be seen with physical eyes, used in the NT exclusively of divine reality and attributes. Rom 1:20 creates a striking paradox: God's 'invisible things' are 'clearly perceived' through created order. Col 1:15 calls Christ the 'image of the invisible God,' while Col 1:16 contrasts visible and invisible realms of creation. 1 Tim 1:17 includes invisibility among divine attributes in a doxology. Heb 11:27 describes Moses' faith as 'seeing the one who is invisible.' The consistent theological application to God distinguishes NT usage from the classical Greek sense of merely 'unseen.' 5×
AR["غَيرَ-المَنظورِ", "غَيرُ-المَنظوراتِ", "غَيرِ-المَنظورِ", "غَيْرَ-المَرْئِيّ", "غَيْرِ-المَنْظورِ"]·ben["অদৃশ্য", "অদৃশ্য,", "অদৃশ্য-গুণাবলী"]·DE["unsichtbar"]·EN["invisible"]·FR["invisible"]·heb["בִּלְתִּי-נִרְאֶה", "לֹא-נִרְאֶה"]·HI["अदृश्य", "अद्रिश्य", "अद्रिस्य"]·ID["tidak-terlihat", "yang tidak kelihatan", "yang-tidak-kelihatan"]·IT["aorata", "aoraton", "aoratou", "aoratō", "invisibile"]·jav["mboten-katingal", "ora-katon,", "tan-katingal"]·KO["보이지-않는", "보이지-않는,", "보이지-않는-것들", "보이지-않는-이를"]·PT["coisas-invisíveis", "invisíveis", "invisível"]·RU["Невидимого", "невидимого", "невидимое", "невидимому"]·ES["cosas-invisibles", "invisible", "invisibles"]·SW["asiyeonekana", "visivyoonekana"]·TR["gorunmez", "gorunmezler", "görünmez", "görünmez-olanlar", "görünmezi"]·urd["اندیکھے", "اَن-دیکھی", "اَن-دیکھے", "غیر-مرئی-چیزیں", "نادیدنی-کو"]
Related Senses
H7200 1. Qal: to see, perceive (1257×)G4771 2. you (singular address) (1077×)H8085 1. Qal: hear, perceive aurally (921×)H0859a 1. you (2nd person masculine singular pronoun) (743×)H0398 1. eat (consume food) (697×)H4191 1. die (Qal: natural/general death) (645×)G3708 1. see, perceive visually (419×)G0191 1. hear, perceive sound (360×)H???? 3. (352×)G3708 2. behold, look (exclamatory) (256×)H7272 1. foot (body part) (236×)H8354 1. drink, consume liquid (209×)H3205 1. Qal active: bear/give birth (female subject) (204×)H3205 2. Qal active: beget/father (male subject) (198×)H2421 1. Qal: live, be alive (177×)H8085 2. Qal: listen, heed, pay attention (172×)H2416a 1. alive, living (state/attribute) (146×)H2416e 1. life, lifespan, lifetime (145×)G2198 1. be alive, have life (133×)H8193 1. lip, lips (body part) (123×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἀόρᾱ-τος, ον, unseen, invisible, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ ἀόρατον the unseen world, the unseen, ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἀ.Refs 5th c.BC+obscure, NT+2nd c.AD+. adverb -τωςRefs 1st c.AD+ __II active, not having seen, without experience of, παντὸς κακοῦ, δεινοῦ, Refs 2nd c.BC+