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fôrm ( יצר , yācar , תּאר , tō'ar ; μορφή , morphḗ ):

(1) To form is "to fashion," "create," "produce." In the Old Testament it is for the most part the translation of yācar , "to form," "to fashion" (Genesis 2:7 , etc., "Yahweh God formed man of the dust of the ground," etc.); also of ḥūl and ḥı̄l , "to be twisted" "turned round" "to bring forth (in pain)" (compare Isaiah 13:8; Micah 4:10; Deuteronomy 32:18 the King James Version, "God that formed thee"; Job 26:13 the King James Version; Psalm 90:2 , "or ever thou hadst formed the earth" etc.; Proverbs 26:10 the King James Version). In the New Testament we have morphóō , "to form" (Galatians 4:19 , "until Christ be formed in you"); plássō , "to form," "to mold" (Romans 9:20 , "him that formed it"; 1 Timothy 2:13 , "Adam was first formed"; 2 Macc 7:23, "the Creator ... who formed the generation of man," the Revised Version (British and American) "fashioned"; 7:22, "that formed the members (diarrhuthmı́zō )," the Revised Version (British and American) "brought into order").

(2) Form (noun) is used for ( a ) appearance, mar'eh , "sight," "appearance" (Job 4:16 , "I could not discern the form thereof" the Revised Version (British and American) "appearance" with "form" for "image" (temūnāh ) in next sentence); celem , Aramaic "image" (Daniel 3:19 , "The form of his visage was changed"); rēw , "form," "likeness" (Daniel 2:31; Daniel 3:25 , the Revised Version (British and American) "aspect"); tō'ar , "visage," "form" (1 Samuel 28:14 , "What form is he of?"); (b ) The fixed or characteristic form of anything, tabhnı̄th , "model," "form" (Ezekiel 8:3; Ezekiel 10:8 , "the form of a hand"; Ezekiel 8:10 , "every form of creeping things"); morphē , characteristic form as distinguished from schḗma , changing fashion (Philippians 2:6 , "in the form of God"; Philippians 2:7 , "the form of a servant"; less distinctly Mark 16:12 , "in another form"); (c ) shape, model, pattern, mold, cūrāh , "shape," from cūr , "to cut or carve" (Ezekiel 43:11 , ter , "the form of the house," etc.); mishpāt , "rule" (2 Chronicles 4:7 the King James Version); túpos , "type," "impress" (Romans 6:17 , the Revised Version, margin "pattern"); hupotúpōsis , "outline," pattern (2 Timothy 1:13 , the Revised Version (British and American) "pattern"); mórphōsis , "form," "appearance" (Romans 2:20 , "the form of knowledge"); (d ) orderly arrangement, giving shape or form (Genesis 1:2; Jeremiah 4:23 , the earth was "without form," tōhū , the Revised Version (British and American) "waste"; The Wisdom of Solomon 11:17, ámorphos ); "form of speech" (2 Samuel 14:20 , aspect, pānı̄m , "face," the Revised Version (British and American) "to change the face of the matter"); as giving comeliness or beauty, tō'ar (Isaiah 52:14; Isaiah 53:2 , "He hath no form nor comeliness"; compare Genesis 29:17; Genesis 39:6 , etc.; The Wisdom of Solomon 15:5, "desiring the form (eı́dos ) of a dead image," the Revised Version (British and American) "the breathless form"); (e ) Show, without substance, morphōsis , "form" (2 Timothy 3:5 , "holding a form of godliness").

ARV has "didst form" for "hast possessed" (Psalm 139:13 , so the English Revised Version, margin; both have "formed" for "made" (Psalm 104:26 ), the American Standard Revised Version for "framed" twice (Isaiah 29:16 ); both for "formed thee," "gave birth" (Deuteronomy 32:18 ); "pierced" (Job 26:13 ); "woundeth" (Proverbs 26:10 ); "fastened" (Isaiah 44:10 ); for "are formed from" (Job 26:5 ), "tremble"; for "their form" (2 Chronicles 4:7 ), "the ordinance concerning them"; "form" for "similitude" (Numbers 12:8; Deuteronomy 4:12 , Deuteronomy 4:15 ); for "size" (1 Kings 6:25; 1 Kings 7:37 ); for "shape" (Luke 3:22; John 5:37 ); "in the form" for "similitude" (Deuteronomy 4:16 ); for "or the like" (Deuteronomy 4:23 , Deuteronomy 4:15 ); the American Standard Revised Version "(beholding) thy form" for "thy likeness" (Psalm 17:15 , the English Revised Version, margin); "every form" for "all appearance" (1 Thessalonians 5:22; so the English Revised Version, margin "appearance").

Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Form'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​isb/​f/form.html. 1915.
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