"a material image, likeness, effigy, Mt. 22:20; Mk. 12:16; a representation, exact image, 1 Cor. 11:7; 15:49; Rev. 13:14f.; resemblance, Rom. 1:23; 8:29; Col. 3:10; Heb. 10:1"
Definition and meaning
a material image, likeness, effigy, Mt. 22:20; Mk. 12:16; a representation, exact image, 1 Cor. 11:7; 15:49; Rev. 13:14f.; resemblance, Rom. 1:23; 8:29; Col. 3:10; Heb. 10:1
In the original Greek the word is written: εἰκών
Historical context
Rome had controlled Judea since 63 BC. Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple into one of the most magnificent structures in the ancient world — and simultaneously murdered members of his own family. The common people paid multiple layers of taxation and were politically powerless. Into that world a carpenter from Galilee began teaching that the kingdom of God had arrived.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of eikon (G1504) across the King James Bible.
And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.
Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar's.
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
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Common questions
Strong's G1504 (eikon) is a Greek word that means: a material image, likeness, effigy, Mt. 22:20; Mk. 12:16; a representation, exact image, 1 Cor. 11:7; 15:49; Rev. 13:14f.; resemblance, Rom. 1:23; 8:29; Col. 3:10; Heb. 10:1 It appears 20 times in the King James Bible.
The word eikon (G1504) appears 20 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G1504 is eikon, a Greek word defined as: a material image, likeness, effigy, Mt. 22:20; Mk. 12:16; a representation, exact image, 1 Cor. 11:7; 15:49; Rev. 13:14f.; resemblance, Rom. 1:23; 8:2. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
eikon is a Greek word found in the New Testament.