What Does Matthew 28:3 Mean?
His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
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
His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:THE KEY
The messenger becomes unmistakably visible through two kinds of brightness: lightning that flashes and snow that holds its whiteness.
THE MEANING
You are shown a presence through its appearance: a face like lightning, a garment white as snow. One image flashes with force; the other holds an unshadowed brightness. The verse makes recognition visual before it gives you anything to hear.
THE ROOT
εἰδέα
eideā
GROWS FROM
ἰδ- / ϝιδ- (id- / wid-)
to see, perceive
The Greek noun εἰδέα (eideā) means “appearance” or “visible form,” from the seeing-root ἰδ- / ϝιδ- (id- / wid-). Its branch οἶδα (oida) means “know, perceive,” preserving a link between seeing and knowing; here the messenger is disclosed in what can be seen.
ALSO GROWS
eidos: form, visible appearance
εἶδος
This related word makes clear that the verse describes the figure’s visible form, not only a facial expression.
oida: know, perceive
οἶδα
This branch links seeing with knowing, fitting a scene where recognition comes through what appears.
THE PATTERN
A presence beyond ordinary perception becomes visible through extraordinary radiance.
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.His body also was like the beryl, and his face like the sight of lightning, and his eyes like torches of fire, and his arms and his feet like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the voice of his words like the roar of a multitude.And his shape was changed before them, and his face blazed as the sun, and his garments became white as the light.THE THREAD
His body also was like the beryl, and his face like the sight of lightning, and his eyes like torches of fire, and his arms and his feet like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the voice of his words like the roar of a multitude.Daniel’s figure is recognized through the same overwhelming brightness: lightning in the face, fire in the eyes, and polished metal in the limbs. Matthew holds the radiance in two images, pairing lightning in the appearance with snow in the clothing.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us