Greek word · G2143

εὐπρέπεια

euprepeia

beauty

Comeliness, good looks, fitting or becoming appearance, majesty of appearance. It comes from eu- (well) + prepō (to be fitting or conspicuous). In wider Greek it could also mean a plausible outward look or specious show.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

εὐ-πρέπεια, -ας, ἡ

(εὐπρεπής, comely), [in LXX for הָדָר, etc. ;]

goodly appearance, comeliness: James 1:11.†

(AS)

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

In depth

From the study of James 1:11

Range of meaning

Comeliness, good looks, fitting or becoming appearance, majesty of appearance. It comes from eu- (well) + prepō (to be fitting or conspicuous). In wider Greek it could also mean a plausible outward look or specious show.

Against the English

BSB, WEB and ESV have "beauty". KJV has "grace of the fashion", where "grace" means gracefulness and "fashion" means form or shape, not clothing trends. "Beauty" is accurate, but it loses the sense of outward look, of a fine appearance that draws the eye.

How it drifted

KJV's "grace of the fashion" now misleads. Modern readers hear theological "grace" or clothing "fashion", but in 1611 the phrase meant the gracefulness of its shape.

Used elsewhere in the period

It occurs only here in the New Testament. In the Greek Psalms it is used of God's majesty: Psalm 93:1 (LXX 92:1), "The Lord reigns, he has clothed himself with majesty (euprepeia)", and Psalm 26:8 (LXX 25:8), "I have loved the beauty of your house". Psalm 50:2 (LXX 49:2) speaks of the euprepeia of Zion's loveliness.

Where it appears

James · 1

  1. James 1:11 εὐπρέπεια beauty

    For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

    Here: A becoming, handsome look, the kind of beauty that makes people stare. It occurs only here in the New Testament. Fitting a rich man, it suggests attractive outward show.

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