the Fourth Week after Easter
Click to donate today!
Bible Dictionaries
Sign
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or The word σημεῖον (‘sign’) is used (1) of the autographic part of a letter, the mark of authenticity-2 Thessalonians 3:17 (English Version ‘token’); (2) as meaning a ‘symbol’-Romans 4:11 (the ‘sign of circumcision,’ i.e. circumcision as a sign of the covenant); (3) as an ‘indication’-Matthew 26:48 (Judas’ kiss), Luke 2:12 (to the Shepherds) Luke 2:34 (the child Jesus set for a sign); (4) hence for some wonderful indication-Matthew 24:3; Matthew 24:30, Mark 13:4 (of Christ’s Coming), Matthew 16:1; Matthew 16:4, Mark 8:11, Mark 16:17; Mark 16:20, Luke 11:15; Luke 11:29 (to show Christ’s power), Matthew 16:3 (signs of the times) Matthew 16:4 (sign of Jonah), 1 Corinthians 14:22 (tongues and prophesying as a sign of the power of Christianity); and therefore for a ‘miracle’ or wonderful deed which has instruction as its object. The ‘signs in heaven’ of Revelation 12:1; Revelation 12:3; Revelation 12:15 : are a connecting link between these two shades of meaning. The usual sense of σημεῖον in the NT is a ‘miracle,’ especially in the plural (see article Miracle).
In the English Version the word ‘sign’ is used in two places where σημεῖον does not occur. In Luke 1:62 ‘they made signs’ renders ἐνένευον, a verb used in Proverbs 6:3; Proverbs 10:10 (Septuagint ) of winking with the eye. In Acts 28:11 ‘a ship whose sign was the Dioscuri’ renders πλοίῳ παρασήμῳ Διοσκούροις, where παρασήμῳ is either an adjective (= ‘marked’) or else, less probably, a substantive with Διοσκούροις in apposition (but in that case it means a ship’s flag in classical Greek; see Liddell and Scott, s.v.). A. J. Maclean.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Hastings, James. Entry for 'Sign'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/s/sign.html. 1906-1918.
