the Week of Proper 25 / Ordinary 30
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Bible Dictionaries
Vision
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or A. Nouns.
Châzôn (חָזוֹן, Strong's #2377), “vision.” None of the 34 appearances of this word appear before First Samuel, and most of them are in the prophetic books.
Châzôn almost always signifies a means of divine revelation. First, it refers to the means itself, to a prophetic “vision” by which divine messages are communicated: “The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth” (Ezek. 12:22). Second, this word represents the message received by prophetic “vision”: “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he” (Prov. 29:18). Finally, châzôn can represent the entirety of a prophetic or prophet’s message as it is written down: “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz …” (Isa. 1:1). Thus the word inseparably related to the content of a divine communication focuses on the means by which that message is received: “And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision” (1 Sam. 3:1— the first occurrence of the word). In Isa. 29:7 this word signifies a non-prophetic dream.
Chizzâyôn (חִזָּיוֹן, Strong's #2384), “vision.” This noun, which occurs 9 times, refers to a prophetic “vision” in Joel 2:28: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” Chizzâyôn refers to divine communication in 2 Sam. 7:17 (the first biblical occurrence) and to an ordinary dream in Job 4:13.
B. Verb.
Châzâh (חָזָה, Strong's #2372), “to see, behold, select for oneself.” This verb appears 54 times and in every period of biblical Hebrew. Cognates of this word appear in Ugaritic, Aramaic, and Arabic. It means “to see or behold” in general (Prov. 22:29), “to see” in a prophetic vision (Num. 24:4), and “to select for oneself” (Exod. 18:21—the first occurrence of the word). In Lam. 2:14 the word means “to see” in relation to prophets’ vision: “Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity.…”
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Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Vision'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/v/vision.html. 1940.
