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Saviour

Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term

How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.

GREEK · G4990

σωτήρ

sōtēr — savior

σωτήρ, -ῆρος, ὁ (σώζω), [in LXX for יָשַׁע and cognate forms ;] saviour, deliverer, preserver, a frequently epithet of kings in the Ptolemaic and Rom. periods (Deiss., BS, 83; LAE, 368 f.; MM, xxiv), in NT, (a) of God (as LXX: Psa.24:5, Isa.12:2, al.): Luk.1:47, 1Ti.1:1 2:3 4:10, Tit.1:3 2:10 3:4, Ju 25; (b) of Christ: Luk.2:11, Act.5:31 13:23, Php.3:20; τ. κόσμου, Jhn.4:42, 1Jn.4:14 (for the general use of the word, see Westc., in l); ἡμῶν, 2Ti.1:10, Tit.1:4 3:6; θεὸς (κύριος) καὶ σ. (see Deiss., LAE, 348.4; M, Pr., 84), Tit.2:13, 2Pe.1:1 1:11 2:20 3:2 3:18; σ. τοῦ σώματος (i.e. of the Church; see: σῶμα, 5), Eph.5:23.† (AS)

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Historical dictionary entry

One who saves from any form or degree of evil. In its highest sense the word indicates the relation sustained by our Lord to his redeemed ones, he is their Saviour. The great message of the gospel is about salvation and the Saviour. It is the “gospel of salvation.” Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ secures to the sinner a personal interest in the work of redemption. Salvation is redemption made effectual to the individual by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.

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