What Does Luke 9:29 Mean?
And as he prayed, the shape of his face became other, and his garment was white and flashing.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.THE KEY
As he prays, the Greek says his face’s visible appearance becomes “other,” while his clothing flashes like lightning.
THE MEANING
Here, prayer and visible change occupy the same moment: his face appears different, and his clothing flashes white. The verse leaves that change vivid and concrete, without explaining it away.
THE ROOT
ἕτερον
heteron
GROWS FROM
ἕτερος
heteros
Other, different; distinct from what was before.
“became other” in this verse is heteron. The word rendered “altered” literally describes the face’s appearance as becoming “other.” The wording emphasizes a difference in what is seen, rather than naming how or why the change happens.
ALSO GROWS
heteros: Other, another, different.
ἕτερος
This is the adjective’s base form and keeps the sense of “other” in view.
hetera: Other or different, feminine form.
ἑτέρα
The same word family describes something as distinct or other.
εἶδος
eidos
GROWS FROM
εἴδω
eidō
See, perceive; εἶδος names visible form or appearance.
“shape” in this verse is eidos. “Fashion” here means the appearance that can be seen, not a style he chooses. The Greek links visible form with perception: his face’s appearance is what becomes different.
ALSO GROWS
idea: Form, appearance, or image.
ἰδέα
It shares the family’s sense of form as something perceived.
idein: To see.
ἰδεῖν
This verbal form makes clear how the word family connects appearance with seeing.
ἐξαστράπτων
exastraptōn
GROWS FROM
ἀστράπτω
astraptō
Flash or shine like lightning.
“flashing” in this verse is exastraptōn. “White and glistering” carries more than whiteness: the clothing flashes with the sudden brightness of lightning. The word gives the scene motion and brilliance.
ALSO GROWS
astrapē: Lightning or a flash of lightning.
ἀστραπή
The related noun names the bright flash evoked by the clothing’s appearance.
astraptō: To flash or shine like lightning.
ἀστράπτω
The verb family preserves the force of a sudden, brilliant flash.
THE PATTERN
When a person is turned toward God, scripture can describe the encounter as light becoming visible on the face.
And it came to be, when Moses went down from mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in Moses' hand, when he went down from the mountain, that Moses did not perceive that the skin of his face sent out horns while he spoke with him.They gaze upon him and flow with light, and their faces are never exposed.And his shape was changed before them, and his face blazed as the sun, and his garments became white as the light.THE THREAD
And the Set-Apart Breath came down in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came out of heaven, saying, You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.Luke uses the same Greek noun, εἶδος (eidos), rendered “shape” here and “fashion” in Luke 9:29. In both verses the word points to visible form; here that form belongs to the face, whose appearance becomes different as Jesus prays.
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