the First Week of Advent
Click here to learn more!
Bible Dictionaries
Family
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words
signifies (a) "a dwelling, a house" (akin to oikeo, to dwell); (b) "a household, family," translated "family" in 1 Timothy 5:4 , RV, for AV, "at home." See HOME , HOUSE , HOUSEHOLD , TEMPLE.
primarily "an ancestry, lineage," signifies in the NT "a family or tribe" (in the Sept. it is used of related people, in a sense wider than No. 1, but narrower than phule, "a tribe," e.g., Exodus 12:3; Numbers 32:28 ); it is used of the "family" of David, Luke 2:4 , RV, for AV, "lineage;" in the wider sense of "nationalities, races," Acts 3:25 , RV, "families," for AV, "kindreds;" in Ephesians 3:15 , RV, "every family," for AV, "the whole family," the reference being to all those who are spiritually related to God the Father, He being the Author of their spiritual relationship to Him as His children, they being united to one another in "family" fellowship (patria is akin to pater, "a father"); Luther's translation, "all who bear the name of children," is advocated by Cremer, p. 474. The phrase, however, is lit., "every family." See KINDRED.
These files are public domain.
Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Family'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​ved/​f/family.html. 1940.