mark: In the King James Version this word is used 22 times as a noun and 26 times as a predicate. In the former case it is represented by 5 Hebrew and 3 Greek words; in the latter by 11 Hebrew and 2 Greek words. As a noun it is purely a physical term, gaining almost a technical significance from the “mark” put upon Cain (Genesis 4:15 the King James Version); the stigmata of Christ in Paul’s body (Galatians 6:17); the “mark of the beast” (Revelation 16:2).
As a verb it is almost exclusively a mental process: e.g. “to be attentive,” “understand”: בּין, bīn (Job 18:2 the King James Version), rightly rendered in the Revised Version “consider”; שׁית, shīth, “Mark ye well her bulwarks” (Psalms 48:13), i.e. turn the mind to, notice, regard; שׁמר, shāmar, i.e. observe, keep in view; so Psalms 37:37, “Mark the perfect man”; compare Job 22:15 the King James Version. This becomes a unique expression in 1 Samuel 1:12, where Eli, noticing the movement of Hannah’s lips in prayer, is said to have “marked her mouth.” Jesus “marked” how invited guests chose out (ἐπεχω, epéchō, i.e. “observed”) the chief seats (Luke 14:7); so σκοπέω, skopéō (Romans 16:17; Philippians 3:17), “Mark them,” i.e. look at, signifying keen mental attention, i.e. scrutinize, observe carefully. The only exceptions to this mental signification of the verb are two verses in the Old Testament: Isaiah 44:13, “He marketh it out with a pencil” (“red ochre,” the King James Version “line”), and “with the compasses,” where the verb is תּאר, tā'ar, “to delineate,” “mark out”; Jeremiah 2:22, “Thine iniquity is marked (כּתם, kātham, “cut (i.e. engraved)) before me,” signifying the deep and ineradicable nature of sin. It may also be rendered “written,” as in indelible hieroglyphics.
As a noun the term “mark” may signify, according to its various Hebrew and Greek originals, a sign, “a target” an object of assault, a brand or stigma cut or burnt in the flesh, a goal or end in view, a stamp or imprinted or engraved sign.
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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia
Keywords: Mark, Stigma, Stigmata, 666, Mark of the beast, Tatoo, Tattoo, Marking, Mark in the forehead, stamp, stamped
Bible reference(s): Lev 19:28, Galatians 6:17, Genesis 4:15, Job 18:2, Psalms 48:13, Eze 9:4, Revelation 16:2, Isa 44:13, Jer 2:2
Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.