Greek Word Study

"Dwelling" from John 1:14

1. Christopher Hines
Introduction to Biblical Languages
Dr. Edlin
September 26, 2014
Word Study
“14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of
the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (NIV)
John 1:14 has the word dwelling in the first sentence of the New International
Version (NIV). However, in the New American Standard Bible (NASB) and the English
Standard Version (ESV) the word is translated into dwelt. The New Living Translation
(NLT) has translated dwelling into “home” and The Message (MSG) has expanded it to
“moved into the neighborhood”. These are significant difference between each.
According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, dwelling is “a building or
construction used for residence” and home is “a private dwelling”.
The word dwelling is translated to ἐσκήνωσεν, which is the V-AIA-3S variation
of σκηνόω. This means it is the aorist indicative active 3
rd
person singular version and
that it is a past undefined action that the subject does from someone else’s perspective
and it is the way things are. For the passage of John 1:14, the subject would be “The
Word” or Jesus and this is from John’s perspective.
In Mounce’s The Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament, it says to pitch
a tent, encamp and to tabernacle. This is the only occurrence of this variation of σκηνόω.
There are five occurrences of other variations similar to ἐσκήνωσεν. In Thayer’s Greek
Lexicon, the meaning of ἐσκήνωσεν is “to fix one’s tabernacle, have one’s tabernacle,
abide (or live) in a tabernacle (or tent)”.

2. In Bromiley’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged, σκηνόω
in “the simple form is rare in the LXX compared to the compound kataskēnóō”. The verb
occurs several times in Revelation. For the passage of John, this implies Jesus’ earthly
stay and we have His presence among us.
In Earle’s Word Meanings in the New Testament, he states how skēnoō comes
from skēnē or “tent”. Which means it translates to “tented” among us and the NIV shows
the best with “lived for a while among us”, although it was only 33 years.
In Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words,
it also states the meaning to be to dwell, live, and tabernacled. He continues to say Jesus’
dwelling among God’s people is a continuation of how God did in the tabernacle of the
Old Testament.
In Sakenfeld’s New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, dwell will take you to
abide. The definition of abide is “to stay, tarry, or dwell, to turn aside from a journey, to
remain in a place, or to seek shelter.” He adds that it essentially means being in God’s
care.
The word dwelling is a great translation of ἐσκήνωσεν, however to be able to
communicate to the average audience today a better word may be home as done by the
NLT. This could communicate not only a living area such as a hotel, but a communal
engagement of everyone in the dwelling.
The four resources used in paragraphs four through seven were all very helpful
but the one with the most insight was Mounce’s, followed by Bromiley, Sakenfeld, and
finally Earle.

3. Bibliography:
Gove, Philip Babcock. "Dwelling." Webster's Third New International Dictionary: With
Seven Language Dictionary. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1986. N. pag. Print.

Gove, Philip Babcock. "Home." Webster's Third New International Dictionary: With
Seven Language Dictionary. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1986. N. pag. Print.

"ἐσκήνωσεν (eskēnōsen)." Bible Hub. Bible Hub, n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2014.

Mounce, William D. "Skenoo." The Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1993. N. pag. Print.

Bromiley, Geoffrey W. "Skenoo." Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand
Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1985. N. pag. Print.

Earle, Ralph. Word Meanings in the New Testament. Vol. 2. Kansas City, MO: Beacon
Hill of Kansas City, 1982. Print.

Mounce, William D. "Dwell." Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New
Testament Words. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006. N. pag. Print.

"Abide." The New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 1. Nashville, TN: Abingdon,
2006. N. pag. Print.