Form

FORM form (yatsar, to'ar; morphe):

(1) To form is "to fashion," "create," "produce." In the Old Testament it is for the most part the translation of yatsar, "to form," "to fashion" (Genesis 2:7, etc., "Yahweh God formed man of the dust of the ground," etc.); also of chul and chil, "to be twisted" "turned round" "to bring forth (in pain)" (compare Isaiah 13:8; Micah 4:10; Deuteronomy 32:18 the King James Version, "God that formed thee"; Job 26:13 the King James Version; Psalms 90:2, "or ever thou hadst formed the earth" etc.; Proverbs 26:10 the King James Version). In the New Testament we have morphoo, "to form" (Galatians 4:19, "until Christ be formed in you"); plasso, "to form," "to mold" (Romans 9:20, "him that formed it"; 1 Timothy 2:13, "Adam was first formed"; 2 Maccabees 7:23, "the Creator .... who formed the generation of man," the Revised Version (British and American) "fashioned"; 7:22, "that formed the members (diarrhuthmizo)," the Revised Version (British and American) "brought into order").

(2) Form (noun) is used for

(a) appearance, mar'eh, "sight," "appearance" (Job 4:16, "I could not discern the form thereof" the Revised Version (British and American) "appearance" with "form" for "image" (temunah) in next sentence); tselem, Aramaic "image" (Daniel 3:19, "The form of his visage was changed"); rew, "form," "likeness" (Daniel 2:31; 3:25, the Revised Version (British and American) "aspect"); to'ar, "visage," "form" (1 Samuel 28:14, "What form is he of?");

(b) the fixed or characteristic form of anything, tabhnith, "model," "form" (Ezekiel 8:3; 10:8, "the form of a hand"; Ezekiel 8:10, "every form of creeping things"); morphe, characteristic form as distinguished from schema, changing fashion (Philippians 2:6, "in the form of God"; Philippians 2:7, "the form of a servant"; less distinctly Mark 16:12, "in another form");

(c) shape, model, pattern, mold, tsurah, "shape," from tsur, "to cut or carve" (Ezekiel 43:11, ter, "the form of the house," etc.); mishpat, "rule" (2 Chronicles 4:7 the King James Version); tupos, "type," "impress" (Romans 6:17, the Revised Version, margin "pattern"); hupotuposis, "outline," pattern (2 Timothy 1:13, the Revised Version (British and American) "pattern"); morphosis, "form," "appearance" (Romans 2:20, "the form of knowledge");

(d) orderly arrangement, giving shape or form (Genesis 1:2; Jeremiah 4:23, the earth was "without form," tohu, the Revised Version (British and American) "waste"; The Wisdom of Solomon Wisdom of Solomon 11:17, amorphos); "form of speech" (2 Samuel 14:20, aspect, panim, "face," the Revised Version (British and American) "to change the face of the matter"); as giving comeliness or beauty, to'ar (Isaiah 52:14; 53:2, "He hath no form nor comeliness"; compare

Genesis 29:17; 39:6, etc.; The Wisdom of Solomon Wisdom of Solomon 15:5, "desiring the form (eidos) of a dead image," the Revised Version (British and American) "the breathless form");

(e) Show, without substance, morphosis, "form" (2 Timothy 3:5, "holding a form of godliness").

ARV has "didst form" for "hast possessed" (Psalms 139:13, so the English Revised Version, margin; both have "formed" for "made" (Psalms 104:26), the American Standard Revised Version for "framed" twice (Isaiah 29:16); both for "formed thee," "gave birth" (Deuteronomy 32:18); "pierced" (Job 26:13); "woundeth" (Proverbs 26:10); "fastened" (Isaiah 44:10); for "are formed from" (Job 26:5), "tremble"; for "their form" (2 Chronicles 4:7), "the ordinance concerning them"; "form" for "similitude" (Numbers 12:8; Deuteronomy 4:12,15); for "size" (1 Kings 6:25; 7:37); for "shape" (Luke 3:22; John 5:37); "in the form" for "similitude" (Deuteronomy 4:16); for "or the like" (Deuteronomy 4:23,15); the American Standard Revised Version "(beholding) thy form" for "thy likeness" (Psalms 17:15, the English Revised Version, margin); "every form" for "all appearance" (1 Thessalonians 5:22; so the English Revised Version, margin "appearance").

W. L. Walker

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'FORM'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.