Dictionary: Face
Synonyms: countenance, physiognomy, profile, features, expression, facial expression, look, appearance, air, manner, bearing, guise, cast, aspect, impression, grimace, scowl, wry face, wince, frown, glower, smirk, pout, moue, side, flank, vertical, surface, plane, facet, wall, elevation, dial, display, (outward) appearance, nature, image, front, show, act, false front, facade, exterior, mask, masquerade, pretence, charade, pose, illusion, smokescreen, veneer, camouflage, respect, honour, esteem, regard, admiration, approbation, acclaim, approval, favour, appreciation, popularity, estimation, veneration, awe, reverence, deference, recognition, prestige, standing, status, dignity, glory, kudos, cachet, effrontery, audacity, nerve, gall, brazenness, brashness, shamelessness, look out on, front on to, look towards, be facing, have/afford/command a view of, look over/across, open out over, look on to, overlook, give on to, give over, be opposite (to), accept, come to accept, become reconciled to, reconcile oneself to, reach an acceptance (of), get used to, become accustomed to, adjust to, accommodate oneself to, acclimatize oneself to, be confronted by, be faced with, encounter, experience, come into contact with, run into, come across, meet, come up against, be forced to contend with, beset, worry, distress, cause trouble to, trouble, bother, confront, burden, brave, face up to, meet head-on, dare, defy, oppose, resist, withstand, cover, clad, skin, overlay, dress, pave, put a facing on, laminate, inlay, plate, coat, line
Antonyms: dodge, fear, back, give way, back down, dodge, avoid, throw in the towel, withdraw, cave in, retreat, succumb to, lay down one's arms, throw in the sponge, defer, submit, escape, bashfulness, shun, evade, elude
Showing 551 to 575 of 704 results
551. Jehoram King of Judah
2 Chronicles 21:4-20
Understanding Series
Louis C. Jonker
... a significant role in Persian provincial politics. The mention of the Edomites might therefore have had a very contemporary ring to the Chronicler’s audience. Libnah is mentioned in Joshua 10:29–30 as a so-called Levite city. Given the Chronicler’s high esteem for the Levites in his own time, this might just have had a contemporary sound to it. The Chronicler follows his source text in 2 Kings 8:20–22 fairly closely but appends an elaborate theological motivation for the rebellion at the end of ...
Understanding Series
Donald A. Hagner
... ) occurs elsewhere in the NT only in Rom. 12:13; the cognate adjective “hospitable” (philoxenos), however, occurs among the qualifications for bishops listed in 1 Tim. 3:2 and Titus 1:8, and also 1 Pet. 4:9. Hospitality to strangers was highly esteemed in the Hellenistic world as well as in Jewish tradition. Zeus was regarded as the protector of the oppressed foreigner, and he and other gods are said to have visited the world in the guise of strangers. Hospitality to strangers is also advocated ...
Understanding Series
Norman Hillyer
... someone pretending to write in his name. But your apostles can equally mean either that Peter speaks as a representative of the apostolic band, or that he refers to “the particular apostles who evangelized your area, and who are therefore held especially in esteem by you.” At all events, Peter’s emphasis is on apostolic reliability in matters of faith, by contrast with the false teachers. Additional Notes 3:1 Dear friends translates agapētoi, beloved ones, i.e., beloved by God (see Additional Note on ...
Understanding Series
Timothy S. Laniak
... eulogy about Mordecai the Jew. His greatness is a function of positional proximity to the Persian ruler, being second in rank to King Xerxes (see also Gen. 41:43). He was preeminent (gadol) among the Jews, his “brothers” among whom he was held in high esteem. Their regard for him was the result of his deeds and his words: he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare (shalom) of all the Jews. While Esther is responsible for courageous intervention during a particular moment of crisis ...
555. Let Him Kiss Me
Song of Songs 1:1-17
Understanding Series
Elizabeth Huwiler
... The king: The use of royal language is taken by some to indicate that the male lover (or, alternatively, a rival to the central man) is to be identified with Solomon. It is more likely that “king” is an image used to express the woman’s esteem for her lover (compare the English “Prince Charming”). 1:5 Tents of Kedar: Kedar is an Arabic tribe. The simile refers to their use of black goat hair to weave their tents (see references in Pope, Song, p. 319). Tent curtains of Solomon: The word translated ...
Understanding Series
Tremper Longman III
... of meaning. Jerusalem, still personified as a bereaved woman) remembers her affliction and wandering. The latter refers to the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the subsequent displacement of its population. In addition, the personified city remembers her previous esteemed position before God’s judgment led to her downfall (all the treasures that were hers in days of old). While Israel and Judah never achieved superpower status, they knew days when they had more than enough resources to enjoy the ...
Understanding Series
Pamela J. Scalise
... ’s audience, however, had shown contempt for and profaned the Lord’s name, and they had not set (sim) their hearts to honor it (so v. 2, here; see also 1:6, 12). When they uttered blessings in a name they did not reverence or esteem, they mediated no benefit to the people. The Lord had cursed these recited blessings, rendering them ineffectual. As we have seen, priestly sins and their punishment harmed the people by depriving them of effective ministry and the benefits that God granted them by means of ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... these who are speaking Galileans . . . ?” They were essentially asking, how are these uneducated rednecks speaking in all these languages? Good question. And there is only one explanation--a miracle. Of course, there is more than one way of viewing this miracle. The highly esteemed poet W. H. Auden once suggested that we reread the second chapter of Acts. The miracle of Pentecost was not only the gift of tongues, says Auden, “but was it not equally,” he asks, “the gift of ears?” And, of course, he ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... coming back for, but I knew my mother would come back for her locket.” (3) How incredibly sad to feel that way about yourself. Many good people have bad times because they carry around baggage from past experiences or relationships that have crushed their self esteem. Maybe that is true of you. St. Paul’s words are refreshing balm to all who have been damaged by their past for whatever reason, “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith . . .” And he continues, “For all of you ...
Understanding Series
F. F. Bruce
... of whom is called “the servant (Gk. doulos) of the LORD.” The readers of Paul’s letters, however, would more readily have taken him to mean that he was the “slave” of Christ in the humble sense that the word normally had among them. No doubt Paul did esteem it a high honor to be the servant of Christ, but he implied by his choice of the word meaning “slave” that he was totally at the disposal of his Master. Yet for that very reason his words and actions carried his Master’s authority, and in ...
Understanding Series
F. F. Bruce
... all thoughts of personal prestige. Concern for personal prestige and vain conceit spring from the root sin of pride. Pride should have no place in Christian life; what characterizes the Christian is the opposite quality of humility. Humility was not generally esteemed a virtue in pagan antiquity, in which the Greek word here translated humility bears the meaning “mean-spiritedness.” The OT attitude is different: God “mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble” (Prov. 3:34, quoted in James 4:6 ...
Understanding Series
F. F. Bruce
... as a fellow member of the believing community. Even if part of his commission had perforce to remain unfulfilled, Paul says, “Welcome him nevertheless: it is I who am sending him home.” It is people like Epaphroditus who are worthy of honor and esteem in the church. Paul uses the same kind of language in commending Stephanas and his family to the Corinthian Christians. Because they “have devoted themselves to the service of the saints,” he begs the church of Corinth “to submit to such as these ...
Understanding Series
F. F. Bruce
... mediated through Christ, and in being so mediated it was immensely enriched. “Knowledge” (Gk. gnōsis) was a current term in the religious and philosophical vocabulary of Paul’s day; the “knowledge” that was widely sought and esteemed was partly intellectual, partly mystical. Some forms of the current cultivation of “knowledge” developed into the systems of thought that appear in the second century under the general designation of “Gnosticism.” Such “knowledge” was pursued in the ...
564. Final Greeting
Philippians 4:21-23
Understanding Series
F. F. Bruce
... like to belong to a small community of “citizens of heaven” in one of the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire in the first century A.D. Gentile Christians found themselves transplanted into membership in a new society that enjoyed no high esteem in the neighborhood, and they discovered that membership in it involved, in some important respects, a breach with the society to which they had previously belonged. The many social and business functions that were related to one pagan cult or another were ...
565. Hagar and Ishmael
Genesis 16:1-16
Understanding Series
John E. Hartley
... do God’s bidding. At times this angel appears to be identified with God. The translation “messenger “ suits this account better because Hagar first took this angel to be a human. By speaking directly to her the messenger affirmed Hagar, raising her self-esteem. Then he gave her a divine word in three speeches (vv. 9–12). The angel first instructed Hagar to return to her mistress and submit to her. “Submit” intimates that she would continue to face mistreatment at Sarai’s hands. The messenger ...
Understanding Series
John E. Hartley
... it is an ancient report of a real estate transaction in Canaan. 23:1–2 At the age of 127 Sarah died near Hebron, a city located in the Judean hills about twenty miles south of Jerusalem. It was formerly known as Kiriath Arba. This obituary highly esteems Sarah, the matriarch of Israel. Abraham lamented her death by weeping aloud, tearing his garments, putting on sackcloth, cutting his beard, and fasting. Even though he was full of grief, he had to find a place to inter her. 23:3–4 Abraham went to the ...
567. Jacob’s Children
Genesis 29:31--30:24
Understanding Series
John E. Hartley
... to be a surrogate. Zilpah immediately conceived and bore Jacob a son. Leah named him Gad, “luck, fortune,” in recognition of her good fortune. Zilpah bore . . . a second son, and Leah named him Asher, “happy,” for the increase in her happiness and esteem. These names give further evidence that the center of her life was her children, not Jacob. 30:14–21 Despite having children by Bilhah, Rachel continued to long for her own children. One day during wheat harvest (May—June), Reuben . . . brought ...
568. Fear God
Isaiah 8:11-22
Understanding Series
John Goldingay
... to recognize Almighty Yahweh’s awesome holiness and thus find Yahweh as a holy place (and thus a sanctuary/refuge?). Judah does not know where to direct its fear (7:4). Thus the likelihood is that Yahweh will become their downfall. 8:16–18 Isaiah has put his esteem on the line in the names of his children which make them signs and symbols from the LORD. Isaiah does what he calls Judah to do, living by commitment to what he says will happen, by trust in Yahweh. He speaks as if he is convinced that he ...
569. Signs, Sayings, and Oracles of Judgment
Ezekiel 12:1-28, Ezekiel 13:1-23, Ezekiel 14:1-11, Ezekiel 14:12-23
Understanding Series
Steven Tuell
... of prophecy (1 Sam. 10:9–11), others say that “the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil [a footnote in the NIV suggests “injurious”] spirit from the LORD tormented him” (1 Sam. 16:14). Ezekiel holds prophetic word in high esteem, and even in failure does not discount it, for even a wrong word from the prophet may come from the Lord (consider, in this regard, the “accidental” prophecy of the high priest Caiaphas in John 11:49–52). For a prophet such as Ezekiel, the point ...
570. Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
Matthew 9:35-38, Matthew 10:1-42
Teach the Text
Jeannine K. Brown
... the saying about extending welcome is “little ones” (mikroi). In one sense, this group does not seem to fit well with the prophets and righteous ones of this saying. Unlike the first two groups, “little ones” does not signal a group naturally esteemed in the believing community, as prophets and the righteous are. In fact, “little ones” seems to refer to those with little status and value. This reading is clarified in Matthew’s subsequent narrative. In chapter 18 the mikroi are those of lower ...
571. Three Parables about the Unfaithfulness of the Jewish Leaders
Matthew 22:1-14, Matthew 21:33-46, Matthew 21:28-32, Matthew 21:23-27
Teach the Text
Jeannine K. Brown
... audience. The few who are chosen are those who are not necessarily expected in the kingdom but who are prepared for the coming kingdom by their covenant faithfulness. This “chosen few,” surprisingly in Matthew’s story, does not include the esteemed Jerusalem leaders, whom Jesus’ audience would have expected to be first in line for the kingdom (cf. 21:31, 43). Teaching the Text 1. These three kingdom parables indicate that covenant faithfulness, not rank or status, is central to kingdom participation ...
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... as mutually empathic and as profound as the one between the Father and the Son. Biography: George MacDonald. A gifted author of adult and children’s novels, a poet, a literary critic, a creative theologian, and a beloved pastor, MacDonald (1824–1905) was held in high esteem by many luminaries in the literary world, including C. S. Lewis, who wrote, “I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master; indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him.”2 Lewis ...
573. Two Parables about Prayer
Luke 18:9-14, Luke 18:1-8
Teach the Text
R.T. France
... ritual code. 18:13  God, have mercy on me, a sinner. The description of the tax collector’s attitude conveys a sense of personal unworthiness, which, in view of Jesus’s comment in 18:14, we should probably take to include not merely low self-esteem but active repentance (as with the real-life tax collector in 19:1–10). “Have mercy on” is more literally “be propitiated toward”; he is seeking a new relationship with God. 18:14  justified before God. The Greek text has simply “having been ...
Teach the Text
C. Marvin Pate
... Paul should first command Christians to rejoice with others. But, as John Chrysostom observes, such rejoicing is harder because it “requires a very noble soul, so as not only to keep from envying, but even to feel pleasure with the person who is in esteem” (Hom. Rom. 22).6 12:16  Live in harmony . . . Do not be conceited. Verse 16a returns to participles to express commands: living in harmony and not being proud.7Humility and harmony go hand in hand, while pride and conceit breed division. With these ...
Teach the Text
Preben Vang
... point out, Paul’s intention is to show the Corinthians how he has used himself and Apollos as examples in order to avoid calling out specific names in the church.1 Paul takes for granted that both he and Apollos (and Cephas) are held in high esteem. To pitch them against each other would be unthinkable. Since that is true, the Corinthians should realize that it is just as foolish to do it with other Christian leaders. What are they (3:5)? In other words, Paul is a shrewd communicator who avoids alienating ...
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