Back; Back Parts
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [1]
(1) אחר , 'aḥar , "back side" as in the King James Version): "He led the flock to the back of the wilderness" ( Exodus 3:1 ), i.e. "to the pasture-lands on the other side of the desert from the Midianite encampments."
(2) אחור , 'āḥōr , "hinder part," "the West"): Used of God in an anthropomorphic sense ("Thou shalt see my back," Exodus 33:23 ) to signify "the after-glow of the Divine radiance," the faint reflection of God's essential glory. See also Isaiah 38:17 and compare 1 Kings 14:9 and Nehemiah 9:26 .
(3) ὄπισθεν , ópisthen , "back side"): "A book written within and on the back" ( Revelation 5:1 ), "but the back of a book is not the same as the reverse side of a roll. John was struck, not only with the fact that the roll was sealed, but also with the amount of writing it contained" ( HDB , I, 231). Compare Ezekiel 2:10 .
