1. face, countenance — The physical face or countenance of a person, angel, or creature, and by Semitic extension (reflecting Hebrew panim) the 'face' as presence or front surface. This is the dominant NT sense, covering literal facial reference (the face shining at the Transfiguration, Matt 17:2; falling on the face in prayer, Matt 26:39; spitting in the face, Matt 26:67; disfiguring faces while fasting, Matt 6:16-17; veiling Moses' face, 2 Cor 3:18; seeing face to face, 1 Thess 2:17; faces of apocalyptic creatures, Rev 9:7), and the Hebraism 'before the face of' meaning 'before, in the presence of' (Matt 11:10, Mark 1:2, Luke 2:31, 7:27, Acts 3:13, 5:41, 7:45, 17:26, Heb 9:24). Also includes the 'face of the earth' (Acts 17:26, surface). Multilingual glosses uniformly give face/visage/Angesicht/wajh/panim across all cases. Singular and plural forms (prosopa, faces, Rev 7:11, 9:7, 11:16, Matt 6:16, Luke 24:5, 2 Cor 1:11) are included as grammatical number variation of the same sense. 75×
AR["وَجهَكَ","وَجهِ","وَجهِكَ","وَجهِهِ","وَجْهَ","وَجْهَهُ","وَجْهُهُ","وَجْهِ","وَجْهِهِ","وُجوهِ","وُجُوهِهِمْ"]·ben["মুখ","মুখমণ্ডলের","মুখে","মুখের"]·DE["Angesicht"]·EN["face","the-face"]·FR["visage"]·heb["אֶל-","פְּנֵי","פָּנִים","פָּנֶיךָ","פָּנָי-ו","פָּנָיו"]·HI["चेह्र","मुंह","मुख","मुख-के"]·ID["muka","wajah"]·IT["volto"]·jav["pasuryan","wadana"]·KO["면전에","얼굴","얼굴-을","얼굴을","얼굴의","얼굴이"]·PT["aparência","da-face","do-rosto","face","rosto"]·RU["лица","лицо","лицо,","лицом"]·ES["rostro"]·SW["kifulifuli","mbele-yako","nyuso","tuambie","uso"]·TR["yüzlerinin","yüzü","yüzüne","yüzünü","yüzünün"]·urd["جو","منہ","مُنہ","مُنہ-پر","چہرہ","چہرے","کہتے-ہوئے"]
Matt 6:17, Matt 11:10, Matt 16:3, Matt 17:2, Matt 17:6, Matt 18:10, Matt 22:16, Matt 26:39, Matt 26:67, Mark 1:2, Mark 12:14, Mark 14:65 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. person, outward appearance — By metonymy, the 'face' standing for the person or their external appearance/status, used in contexts of partiality or personal regard. In 2 Cor 2:10, Paul forgives 'in the person (prosopo) of Christ,' where face = personal presence/authority. In Jude 1:16, false teachers 'admire faces/persons' (thaumazontes prosopa), i.e., show favoritism based on outward status. German 'Personen,' Korean 'saramdeul' (people), Spanish 'personas' confirm this metonymic shift from physical face to the person themselves. This sense is distinct from the literal face meaning and reflects the well-attested Greek and Hebrew idiom of 'receiving the face' (prosopolempsia) denoting partiality. 2×
amh["ፊቶችን"]·AR["-وجوه","وَجهِ"]·ben["উপস্থিতিতে","মুখ"]·ces["osoby"]·dan["ansigter,"]·DE["Angesicht","Personen"]·ell["πρόσωπα,"]·EN["person","persons"]·FR["personnes,","visage"]·guj["મોઢાંની,"]·hat["figi"]·hau["fuskokin-mutane"]·heb["פְּנֵי","פנים"]·HI["उपस्थिति","मुख-की"]·hun["személyeket"]·ID["orang-orang","wajah"]·IT["persone","volto"]·jav["ngajeng","pasuryan"]·JA["顔-を"]·KO["면전에서","사람들을"]·mar["मुखांची,"]·mya["မျက်နှာများကို"]·nld["gezichten"]·nor["ansikter"]·pnb["مونہاں-دی"]·pol["osoby"]·PT["pessoas","presença"]·ron["fețe,"]·RU["лицам","лицом"]·ES["personas","presencia"]·SW["nyuso","uso"]·swe["ansikten"]·tam["முகங்களை"]·tel["ముఖములను"]·tgl["sa-mukha"]·TH["หน้า"]·TR["huzurunda","yüzlere,"]·ukr["лицям"]·urd["حضور","چہروں-کی"]·VI["người"]·yor["ojú,"]·yue["人"]·ZH["脸面"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
πρόσωπον, τό: plural πρόσωπα, Epic dialect (Aeolic dialect accusative to Refs 8th c.BC+ προσώπατα Refs 8th c.BC+:— face, countenance (compare μέτωπον), Refs 8th c.BC+ always in plural, even of a single person, Refs 8th c.BC+, and usually in later writers; π. κλιθὲν προσώπῳ Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐς π. τινὸς ἀφικέσθαι come before him,LXX+2nd c.BC+; κατὰ πρόσωπον in front, facing, Refs 5th c.BC+; κατὰ π.…