Bible Dictionaries
Write, Wrote, Written

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

is used (a) of "forming letters" on a surface or writing material, John 8:6; Galatians 6:11 , where the Apostle speaks of his having "written" with large letters in his own hand, which not improbably means that at this point he took the pen from his amanuensis and finished the Epistle himself; this is not negatived by the fact that the verb is in the aorist or past definite tense, lit., "I wrote," for in Greek idiom the writer of a letter put himself beside the reader and spoke of it as having been "written" in the past; in Eng. we should say "I am writing," taking our point of view from the time at which we are doing it; cp. Philemon 1:19 (this Ep. is undoubtedly a holograph), where again the equivalent English translation is in the present tense (see also Acts 15:23; Romans 15:15 ); possibly the Apostle, in Galatians, was referring to his having "written" the body of the Epistle but the former alternative seems the more likely; in 2 Thessalonians 3:17 he says that the closing salutation is written by his own hand and speaks of it as "the token in every Epistle" which some understand as a purpose for the future rather than a custom; see, however, 1 Corinthians 16:21; Colossians 4:18 . The absence of the token from the other Epistles of Paul can be explained differently, their authenticity not being dependent upon this; (b) "to commit to writing, to record," e.g., Luke 1:63; John 19:21,22; it is used of Scripture as a standing authority, "it is written," e.g., Mark 1:2; Romans 1:17 (cp. 2 Corinthians 4:13 ); (c) of "writing directions or giving information," e.g., Romans 10:5 , "(Moses) writeth," RV (AV, "describeth"); Romans 15:15; 2 Corinthians 7:12; (d) of "that which contained a record or message," e.g., Mark 10:4,5; John 19:19; 21:25; Acts 23:25 .

denotes "to send a message by letter, to write word" (stello, "to send;" Eng., "epistle"), Acts 15:20; 21:25 (some mss. have apostello, "to send"); Hebrews 13:22 .

denotes "to write before," Romans 15:4 (in the best texts; some have grapho); Ephesians 3:3 . See SET (forth).

denotes "to write in," Luke 10:20; 2 Corinthians 3:2,3 .

is rendered "to write over or upon" (epi) in Mark 15:26; figuratively, on the heart, Hebrews 8:10; 10:16; on the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem, Revelation 21:12 . See INSCRIPTION.

Notes: (1) For apographo, Hebrews 12:23 , AV, "written," see ENROLL. (2) In 2 Corinthians 3:7 "written" is a translation of en, "in," with the dative plural of gramma, a letter, lit., "in letters."

from A, No. 1, "written," occurs in Romans 2:15 .