Dictionary entry

Presence

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

prez'-ens: In the Old Testament nearly always the rendition of panim, "face" (Ge 3:8;Ex 33:14f; Ps 95:2;Isa 63:9, etc.); occasionally of `ayin, "eye" (Ge 23:11;De 25:9;Jer 28:1,11, etc.); and in1Ki 8:22;Pr 14:7, "the presence of" represents the preposition neghedh, "before"; compare also Aramaic qodham, inDa 2:27the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "before"). In Greek, "presence" has an exact equivalent in parousia, but this word is rendered "presence" only in2Co 10:10;Php 2:12; the Revised Version (British and American);Php 1:26(the King James Version "coming"). Elsewhere parousia is rendered "coming," but always with "presence" in the margin. Otherwise in the New Testament "presence" represents no particular word but is introduced where it seems to suit the context (compare e.g.Ac 3:13the King James Version andAc 3:19).

SeePAROUSIA.

Burton Scott Easton