Bible Lexicons

ὁράω (cognate with our beware) is clearly durative wherever it occurs in the NT (Proleg. p. 110 f.). The verb is rare in the popular language, its place being taken by βλέπω and θεωρέω : but it is wrong to say that it is ";dead"; after i/A.D. See the exx. from late Greek and especially from the papyri cited by Abbott CR xx. p. 232 f., e.g. BGU I. 248.5 (i/A.D.—cf. Berichtigungen ad l.) ὡς ὁρᾶς, ib. II. 660.16 (ii/A.D.) ὁρᾶται, and the edict of the Emperor Julian P Fay 20.20 (iv/A.D.—cf. Archiv ii. p. 169) εἰ ἀποτέτακται τὸν Αὐτοκράτορα ὁρᾶν πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς μετὰ τοσαύτης κοσμιότητος καὶ σωφροσύνης (cf. 1 Timothy 2:2) καὶ ἐγκρατείας τὰ τῆς βασιλείας διοικοῦντα, ";if they have all been commanded to watch the emperor himself acting with so much propriety and discretion and moderation in the affairs of his kingdom"; (Edd.).

Ὁράω in its literal sense of bodily vision may be illustrated from P Rev Lxli. 13 (B.C. 259–8) (= Chrest. I. p. 351) ἔξω ὅρα, ";look on the back"; of the papyrus sheet.

The verb which is used in the LXX as a t.t. for appearances of the Divinity and similarly by Paul (1 Corinthians 9:1; 1 Corinthians 15:5 ff. al.) is found in connexion with dreams in such passages as P Par 51.8 (account of a dream in the Serapeum—B.C. 160) (= Selections, p. 19) ἐξαί [φνης ] ἀνύγω τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, καὶ ὁρῶ [τὰς ] Διδύμας ἐν τῷ διδασκαλήῳ τοῦ Τοθῆ [τος, ";suddenly I open my eyes and see the twins in the school of Tothes,"; ib. 44.11 (B.C. 153) ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐνύπνια ὁρῶ πονηρά, followed by βλέπω Μενέδημον κατατρέχοντά με, and ib. 45.6 (B.C. 153) (= Witkowski.2, p. 85) ὁρῶ ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ τὸν δραπέδην Μενέδημον ἀντικείμενον ἡμῖν. See also P Leid Wxiii. 26 (ii/iii A.D.) σέ, τὸν αὐτογέννητον θεόν, τὸν πάντα ὡ (= ὁ)ρῶντα καὶ πάντα ἀκούοντα, καὶ μὴ ὁρώμενον, and the iv/A.D. Christian sepulchral inscr., P Hamb I. 22.3 Υ ]ἱὲ θεοῦ μεγάλοιο τὸν οὐδέποτ᾽ ἔδρακεν ἀνήρ : cf. John 1:18, 1 Timothy 6:16.

The meaning ";see"; with the mind, ";perceive,"; ";discern,"; may be traced in such exx. as P Hib I. 44.4 (B.C. 253) ὁρῶντες δέ σε καταραθυμοῦντα ὤιμην δεῖν καὶ νῦν ἐπιστεῖλαί σοι, ";but seeing that you are negligent I thought it duty to send to you instructions again now"; (Edd.), BGU IV. 1078.7 (A.D. 39) λοιπὸν οὖν, ἐὰν λάβω τὰ κερμάμια (l. κεράμια or κερμάτια), ὄψομαι, τί με δεῖ ποιεῖν, P Oxy X. 1293.41 (A.D. 117–38) ὄψωμαι πάλιν τίς σοι βαστάξει, and P Fay 20.10 (Imperial edict—iv/A.D.) ὡς ἐκ τῶν παρόντων ὁρῶ, ";so far as I see under present conditions"; (Edd.). The sense of ";experience,"; as in Luke 3:6, may be illustrated by P Oxy I. 120.4 (iv/A.D.) χρὴ γάρ τινα ὁρῶντα αἱαυτὸν ἐν δυστυχίᾳ κἂν ἀναχωρῖν καὶ μὴ ἁπλῶς μάχαισθαι τῷ δεδογμένῳ, ";when a man finds himself in adversity he ought to give way and not fight stubbornly against fate"; (Edd.).

For ὅρα μή c. aor. subj. (Burton § 209), as in 1 Thessalonians 5:15, cf. BGU I. 37.5 (A.D. 50) ὅρα οὖν μὴ αὐτὸν κατάσχῃς, ";see then that you do not detain him,"; P Oxy III. 532.15 (ii/A.D.) ὅρα μὴ ἄλλως πράξῃς. In Mark 1:44 ὅρα does little more than add emphasis, cf. ib. 531.9 (ii/A.D.) ὅρα μηδενὶ ἀνθρώπων ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ προσκρο [ύ ]σῃς, ";take care not to offend any of the persons at home"; (Edd.), ib. 527.6 (ii/iii A.D.) ὅρα μὴ ἀμελήσῃς, ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ αὐτὸν κατέχω, ";do not neglect this, as I am keeping him"; (Edd.).

The colloquial σὺ ὄψῃ in Matthew 27:4 (cf. Matthew 27:24, Acts 18:15) may not mean more than ";you will see to that"; (Proleg. p. 177) : Gildersleeve, on the other hand, finds in the fut. an imperative conception, ";see thou to that"; (Syntax i. p. 116 n..1). For exx. of the phrase cf. Epict. ii. 5. 29, iv. 6. 11. The perf. ὄπωπα, ";I have caught sight of,"; is found along with ἑώρακα in the same document, P Petr II. 17 (3).7, .9 (Ptol.). In the late P Lond 113. 3.7 (vi/A.D.) (= I. p. 208), the lease of a farm, provision is made that the cutting and the carrying away of the hay are to ";look to"; the landlord (ὁρώντων πρὸς σέ, ad te spectantium) for their accomplishment : cf. John 19:37 ὄψονται εἰς. . . where Abbott (Joh. Gr. p. 245) finds the idea of reverence. See further s.vv. βλέπω, εἶδον, and θεωρέω.