Greek word · G2072

ἔσοπτρον

esoptron

mirror

Mirror; in antiquity a disk of polished bronze, silver or other metal, sometimes polished stone. Glass mirrors were rare and small.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 23, 2026

What it means

ἔσ-οπτρον, -ου, ὁ

a mirror: 1 Corinthians 13:12, James 1:23.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: Mirror; in antiquity a disk of polished bronze, silver or other metal, sometimes polished stone. Glass mirrors were rare and small.
Against the English: KJV 'glass' meant 'looking-glass' in 1611 English. Modern readers may picture a modern silvered-glass mirror. The ancient image was less sharp, but James's point does not rest on dimness (unlike 1 Cor 13:12).
How it drifted: Glass mirrors became common in early modern Europe, so 'glass' was the natural word for the KJV translators.
Used elsewhere in the period: 1 Corinthians 13:12 ('through a mirror, dimly'); Wisdom 7:26 (wisdom as a 'spotless mirror of the working of God'); Sirach 12:11. In Greek and Roman moral writing the mirror was a stock picture for self-knowledge: Socrates reportedly urged young men to look in a mirror and live up to a handsome face, or make up for a plain one with good character (Diogenes Laertius 2.33). Seneca says mirrors were invented so that people might know themselves (Natural Questions 1.17.4).

Range of meaning: A mirror, which in antiquity meant a polished metal disc, usually bronze and sometimes silver. Used literally, and as a common figure for indirect knowledge: seeing an image or reflection of something instead of the thing itself.
Against the English: KJV 'glass' now suggests looking through a window pane. Modern 'mirror' suggests a perfect glass reflection. Neither matches an ancient bronze hand mirror, which gave a real but reflected image, and a less sharp one than a modern mirror.
How it drifted: In Jacobean English 'glass' or 'looking-glass' meant a mirror. As 'glass' came mainly to mean the transparent material, 'through a glass' began to sound like peering through a window.
Used elsewhere in the period: James 1:23 uses esoptron literally, a man looking at his face in a mirror. Wisdom of Solomon 7:26 calls Wisdom 'a spotless mirror of the working of God'. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul himself uses the related verb katoptrizomai, 'beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord'. There the mirror is a positive image of real, if mediated, vision. Philo (e.g. De Decalogo 105; Migr. 190) uses the mirror as a figure for knowing God through his works. Corinth was famous for its bronze work (Pliny, Natural History 34.6–8). The popular claim that Corinth specialised in mirrors is less securely documented.

1 Corinthians · 1

1 Corinthians 13:12 ἐσόπτρου a glass

Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Here: A hand mirror of polished metal, usually bronze. It shows a reflection, not the person or thing face to face.

James · 1

James 1:23 ἐσόπτρῳ· a mirror;

For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,

Here: An ancient mirror, normally polished bronze or other metal. It was the only way a person could see their own face. In Greek moral writing the mirror was already a familiar picture for knowing yourself.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.