Bible Word Study
ὅρασις
orasis · a sight, vision, appearance
ὅρασις
a sight, vision, appearance
Definition
The Greek word ὅρασις (orasis) primarily means 'a sight' or 'vision,' referring to something seen, whether a physical sight or a supernatural vision. In Acts 2:17, it denotes a prophetic 'vision' granted by God, as Peter quotes Joel about young men seeing visions. In Revelation 4:3, it describes the dazzling 'appearance' or visual spectacle of God's throne, like a rainbow. A third usage in Revelation 9:17 refers to the 'appearance' or visual description of the horses in John's apocalyptic vision, focusing on their look and likeness.
Biblical Usage
ὅρασις is used three times in the New Testament, exclusively in visionary or apocalyptic contexts. It appears once in Acts (2:17) in a quotation about prophetic revelation. The other two occurrences are in Revelation (4:3; 9:17), where it describes the visual phenomena of divine throne-room scenes and symbolic warfare. This pattern shows the word is specialized for extraordinary sights, often in prophetic or revelatory settings, rather than everyday seeing.
Etymology
Derived from the verb ὁράω (horaō, G3708), meaning 'to see' or 'to perceive.' The noun form ὅρασις literally means 'the act of seeing' or 'that which is seen.' It is related to other sight-words like ὄψις (opsis, G3799) but often carries a stronger sense of a visionary or revelatory sight in biblical usage.
Semantic Range
ὅρασις is theologically significant as it connects to God's communication through visions, a key mode of revelation in Scripture. It highlights that God reveals truth through visual means, especially in prophetic and apocalyptic literature like Acts and Revelation. Understanding this Greek term enriches reading by emphasizing the supernatural, visionary nature of these passages, distinguishing them from mere physical observation. In the ancient Greco-Roman and Jewish world, visions (ὅρασις) were understood as legitimate divine communications, not just subjective dreams. Prophets and seers received visions as authoritative messages from God. This cultural context differs from some modern skeptical views, affirming that biblical authors presented these as real encounters with the divine realm. ὄψις (opsis, G3799) — more general term for sight or appearance, often physical; ὅραμα (horama, G3705) — also means vision, but can emphasize the thing seen as an object or spectacle.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Dodson Greek-English Lexicon, supplemented by STEPBible TBESG data (CC BY 4.0). Concordance and morphology data are derived from the interlinear Bible.
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]