LiTBRATUHS.— Oehler, Theol. of OT; Sohmid, Bi6. Theol. of NT ; Martensen, ChriitUin Ethics ; Seeley, Ecre Homo ; Dorner, S]/etem of Christian Doctrine. See alao 'Literature under arts. AiomuNT, Propitiahos. J. F. BetHUNE-BaKER.
FORM. — Numerous as are the Heb. and Gr. words tr^ 'form,' the meanings of the word in AV and RV may be reduced to the following :
1. Shape, as an orderly arrangement of parts, Gn P 'The earth was without form' (tnh, RV 'waste'; so in Jcr 4-^) ; Wis 11" ' tliy AlmiL'lity hand, that made the world of matter without form' (if dfi6p(pov uXt)!, RV 'out of formless matter'), Cf. Shaks. A'. John, III. i. 2u3—
' All form ia formless, order orderlesa.*
2. Such orderly arrangement as produces beauty, comeliness. Is 52''' 53'- 'he hatli no form nor come- liness' (iK'n); Wis 15' 'they desire the form of a dead image, that hath no breath ' (elSos ; Parrar, ' he yearns for the unbreathing beauty of a dead image'). For this meaning see Shaks. Mids. Jfight's Dream, I. ii. 233 —
* Thinf^'s base and vile, holding no quantity. Love can transpose to form and dignity.'
3. The special or characteristic shape of a person or thing, Ezk 8' 'And he put fortli the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head ' (n':3B; so 10'); Dn 3'^ 'Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed' {chi); Mk W^, Ph 2«-'' (mo/)0^, the char- acteristic form of the Son of God and His char- acteristic form as the Son of Man ; see Gilford. The Incarnation, p. 22 if. ; and art. FASHION). Cf. Shaks. Com. of Errors, II. ii. 200 —
' Thou hast thine own form.
No, I am an ape. If thou art changed to aught, 'tis to an an.'
Milton, Comus, 1. 70—
"Their human countenance, Th' express resemblance of the gods, is chang'd Into some brutish form of wolf or bear.'
And Par. Beg. iv. 599—
* True image of the Father, whether thron'd In the bosom of bliss, and light of light Conceiving, or remote from Heav'n, enshrin'd In fleshly tabernacle, and human form, Wand'ring the wilderness.'
i. The representation or pattern of anything, Ezk 8'" ' And behold, every form of creeping things . . . pourtrayed upon the wall round about ' (n-iig) ; 2 Ch 4' ' he made ten candlesticks of gold according to their form ' (de??, RV ' ac- cording to the ordinance concerning them ') ; Ezk 43" «"■""• (n-jis); Ro 6" 'that form of doctrine which was delivered you ' (tuttos, RVm ' pattern ') ; 2 Ti 1" ' Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me' (iwoTviroKTi!, RV 'pattern'). So Wyclif's tr. of 1 Th 1' 'so that ye ben maad fourme, or ensaumple, to alle men bUeuynge ' j and Locke, Human Underst. III. iii. 23U, ' To make abstract general Ideas, and set them up in the Mind, with Names annexed to them, aa Patterns, or Forms (for in that sense the word Form has a very proper signification ).' 8. Out- ward aspect (a) ; often the mere outward appear- ance as opposed to the inner reality (i) : Thus (a) Job 4'* ' It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof ' (.in-i?, RV ' appearance ') ; 1 S 28" ' And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said unto her, What form is he of?' (nxn) ; Dn 2^' 3=» (n., RV ' aspect '). So Shaks. Coriol. m. iii. 109—
* Art thou a man ? thy form cries out thou art * ;
and Henry V. III. vi. 72, ' Why, 'tis a gull, a fool, a rogue : that now and then goes to the wars, to grace himself at his return unto London under the form of a soldier.' (i) 2S 14''» 'To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this thing' (iJ'^C 'JS, RV 'to change the face of the matter'); Ro 2-», 2 Ti 3" 'Having a foim of godliness, but denying the power thereof (both
FORMER
FORTH
59
fi6p(pu<ns, which is not so purely as axv/J-o- the mere outward form, but seems to be so used in both these passages, esp. 2 Ti 3', and tliat is clearly tne meaning of AV. See Sanday-Headlam on Ro 2-"). In illustration, take again Shaks., Henry V. II. u. 116—
• And other devila that suir^est by treasons. Do 'jotch and bungle up damnation With patches, colours, and with forms, being fetcb'd From glistering semblances of piety* ;
and Othello, II. i. 243, ' a knave very voluble, no further conscionable than in putting on the mere form of civil and humane seeming, for the better compassing of his salt and most hidden - loose atfectioa.'
The word 'form' has been occasionally Introduced into RV when it is not in AV. It is used to tr. (1) Heb. .i:^Dn in all its occurrences except one, either for AV 'likeness' (Ex 20*, Ut 423.25 6«), or 'similitude' (Nu 128, Dt 412. 16. 16), or 'image" (Job 4I6). "The exception is Ps 171^ ' I shall be satisfied when 1 awake with thy likeness,' where RV gives 'form' in marg., Amer. RV in text. (2) 3X15 in 1 K 62» 787 for AV 'size' ; but not in the only other occurrence of that word Jon 28 (EV ' bottom ' — ' I went down to the bottoms of the mountains,' AVm ' Heb. cuttings oS '). (3) i.'Sot Lk 322, Jn 53r (AV ' shape '), 1 Th 622 (AV ' appearance '). (4) rCxti Ac 232c (AV ' manner ').