the Fourth Week of Advent
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Bible Dictionaries
Seal
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or SEAL.—The only reference in the Gospels to the literal use of a seal is Matthew 27:66,* [Note: A finger-ring (δακτύλιος), In which the seal was usually set, is mentioned in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:22).] where we read that the chief priests and Pharisees, after consultation with Pilate, in order to guard against the removal of our Lord’s body by the disciples, secured the sepulchre to the best of their power by setting their seal upon the entrance stone (cf. Daniel 6:17) as well as by placing soldiers to guard it. The process would be accomplished by stretching a cord across the stone that blocked the entrance, and by sealing the two ends of the cord against the wall of rock. Twice in the Fourth Gospel the act of sealing is used figuratively to describe (a) the solemn confirmation by the believer, from his own experience, that God is true (John 3:33); (b) the destination and authentication of the Son by the Father as the bestower of the food which nourishes eternal life (John 6:27). In all of these three cases it is the verb σφραγίζω that is used, the noun σφραγίς not being found in the Gospels.
C. L. Feltoe.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Seal'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/s/seal.html. 1906-1918.
