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Bible Dictionaries
Imitate, Imitator
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words
or "a mimic, an actor" (Eng., "mime," etc.), is always translated "to imitate" in the RV, for AV, "to follow," (a) of imitating the conduct of missionaries, 2 Thessalonians 3:7,9; the faith of spiritual guides, Hebrews 13:7; (b) that which is good, 3 John 1:11 . The verb is always used in exhortations, and always in the continuous tense, suggesting a constant habit or practice. See FOLLOW.
akin to A, "an imitator," so the RV for AV, "follower," is always used in a good sense in the NT. In 1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1; Ephesians 5:1; Hebrews 6:12 , it is used in exhortations, accompanied by the verb ginomai, "to be, become," and in the continuous tense (see A) except in Hebrews 6:12 , where the aorist or momentary tense indicates a decisive act with permanent results; in 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 2:14 , the accompanying verb is in the aorist tense, referring to the definite act of conversion in the past. These instances, coupled with the continuous tenses referred to, teach that what we became at conversion we must diligently continue to be thereafter. See FOLLOW , Note (4).
denotes "a fellow imitator" (sun, "with," and No. 1), Philippians 3:17 , RV, "imitators together" (AV, "followers together"). See FOLLOW , Note (4).
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Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Imitate, Imitator'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ved/i/imitate-imitator.html. 1940.
