Greek word · G3706

ὅρασις

horasis

appearance/vision

Ὅρασις means sight, appearance, and especially a vision granted by God. Ἐνύπνιον is a dream, used in the LXX for revelatory dreams (Gen 37; 40-41; Dan 2). Num 12:6 pairs them as the standard ways God speaks to prophets: "I make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream."

Appears 4 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ὅρασις, -εως, ἡ

(ὁράω) [in LXX chiefly for מַרְאֶה, חָזוֹן and cognate forms ;]

1. in Arist. and later writers, the act of seeing, the sense of sight, and by meton., pl., the eyes.

2. appearance (Numbers 24:4, Ezekiel 1:5, Sirach 41:20, al.): Revelation 4:3.

3. = ὅραμα, a vision: Acts 2:17 (LXX), Revelation 9:17.†

(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 Acts 2:17

Range of meaning

Ὅρασις means sight, appearance, and especially a vision granted by God. Ἐνύπνιον is a dream, used in the LXX for revelatory dreams (Gen 37; 40-41; Dan 2). Num 12:6 pairs them as the standard ways God speaks to prophets: "I make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream."

Against the English

In church and business English, "vision" and "dream" mostly mean hopes, ambitions or plans ("a vision for the ministry," "follow your dreams"). Here both are means of revelation: God shows and speaks, and the person receives.

How it drifted

Twentieth-century leadership and motivational language took over "vision" and "dream" for goals and plans, and this verse is often quoted that way.

Used elsewhere in the period

Num 12:6; Joel 2:28 (Hebrew 3:1: chezyonot, "visions"; chalomot, "dreams"); Dan 7:1; LXX Ezek 1:1 (ὁράσεις θεοῦ, "visions of God"). Acts is full of them: 7:55-56; 9:10-12; 10:3, 17; 16:9-10; 18:9.

From the study of Revelation 9:17

Range of meaning

The act of seeing, a vision, or the look or appearance of something. In the NT it means 'visions' in Acts 2:17 (quoting Joel) and 'appearance' in Rev 4:3 ('like jasper and carnelian in appearance').

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT have 'in the vision'. BSB has 'in my vision looked like this', which takes it partly as 'appearance'. Both are possible. The traditional rendering keeps John's explicit note that this was seen in a vision.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint it is common for prophetic visions (e.g. Dan 8:1–2; Joel 2:28). Jewish apocalyptic writing uses the same vocabulary of 'seeing in a vision'.

From the study of Sirach 46:15

Range of meaning

Sight or the act of seeing, appearance, and especially a prophetic vision or revelation. In the Septuagint it often translates Hebrew ḥazon or mar'eh (vision).

Against the English

English versions say 'faithful in vision' (KJV, Brenton, WEB) or 'a trustworthy seer' (NRSV). 'Seer' makes the link to Samuel's old title clearer. 'Vision' on its own may suggest a modern 'visionary' with big ideas or leadership vision.

How it drifted

Modern English uses 'vision' and 'visionary' mostly for foresight, strategy or imagination. Here it means revelation actually received from God and passed on.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Samuel 3:1: in Samuel's youth 'there was no frequent vision' (Septuagint: horasis). 1 Samuel 9:9: 'the one now called a prophet was formerly called a seer'. Samuel himself is 'the seer' in 1 Samuel 9:11, 18–19 and 1 Chronicles 9:22; 29:29. Daniel and other books use horasis for prophetic visions.

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 2:17 ὁράσεις visions

    ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

    Here: Revelatory sights that God gives, the way prophets "saw" God's message. This is not life goals or plans for the future.

Revelation · 3

  1. Revelation 4:3 ὁράσει ὁράσει in appearance

    The One seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that gleamed like an emerald encircled the throne.

    Here: 'In appearance' or 'to look at'. It stresses that what John reports is how the sight struck the eye, not what God's being is. It echoes the 'appearance of…' language of Ezekiel 1 in the Greek Old Testament.

  2. Revelation 9:17 ὁράσει vision

    Now the horses and riders in my vision looked like this: The riders had breastplates the colors of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur.

    Here: 'In the vision' (or possibly 'in appearance'). This is the only place in Revelation where John explicitly says 'in the vision', which flags the description as visionary imagery.

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