Word studies · Greek · Strong's G1504
εἰκών · eikṓn · appears 23 times in the New Testament
In one line: A likeness that represents and reveals the original.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Colossians 1:15
Eikōn is an image — a likeness that represents and reveals its original, not a copy that merely resembles it.
The New Testament calls Christ “the image of the invisible God,” speaks of humanity being renewed in the image of its Creator, and uses the same word for the emperor's likeness on a coin. To be an image is to stand for someone, which is why the word carries both revelation and representation.
Eikōn comes from a root meaning to resemble, and Greek used it for statues, portraits and the profile stamped on currency. The Septuagint used it in Genesis 1 for humanity made in God's image, giving the word a weight no Greek statue carried.
Ancient kings set up images of themselves in territories they ruled to declare whose the land was. Genesis places God's image in the world — and the image is people, which is why bearing it is a vocation to represent Him rather than merely a description of human dignity.
Eikōn (G1504) appears 23 times in the New Testament and gives English “icon” — and it is the word Jesus uses of the likeness on the coin, “whose image is this?”
If Christ is the image of God, then God is known by looking at a person rather than by speculation, and salvation is described as being conformed to that image. Human dignity and human vocation come from the same fact: people are made to represent God in the world.
Ask what people learn about God from the way you represent Him — an image's job is likeness. Choose one habit this week where the resemblance could be clearer.
a likeness, i.e. (literally) statue, profile, or (figuratively) representation, resemblance
“Whose image is this, He asked, “and whose inscription?
Matthew 22:20So they brought it, and He asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription? “Caesar’s, they answered.
Mark 12:16“Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it? “Caesar’s, they answered.
Luke 20:24and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Romans 1:23A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
1 Corinthians 11:7And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18Press and hold image in any chapter and this study opens on the verse you are reading, with the lexicons, every occurrence and the commentaries beside it. The Bible is free to read.
Scripture quoted from the Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Strong's definitions are public domain. Counts come from The Pillar's own tagged text.