Form

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

The first occurrence of this word in the Epistles is in  Romans 2:20, where St. Paul speaks of the Jew as ‘having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth.’ The word he uses is μόρφωσις, which is found again only in  2 Timothy 3:5 (‘having the form of godliness’), where it clearly has a disparaging sense and may be taken to mean an affectation of or an aiming at the μορφή of godliness. μορφή itself is that which manifests the essence or inward nature of a thing, ‘outward form as determined by inward substance,’ in contrast with σχῆμα which means ‘outward form as opposed to inward substance.’ μόρφωσις occupies an intermediate position between these words; the Apostle hesitates to use σχῆμα, yet he will not use μορφή. The term happily expresses his meaning in  Romans 2:20 -the Law, so far as it went, was an expression, one might even say an embodiment, of Divine truth. It did not go far enough to be called μορφή, yet it was more than more outward fashion (σχῆμα). There is not the same note of disparagement about the word here as in  2 Timothy 3:5; it is rather one of incompleteness.

We may turn now to the well-known use of the word μορφή itself in  Philippians 2:6 f., where Christ is said to have been in the form of God and to have taken the form of a slave. The first thing to bear in mind is that St. Paul used the common speech of his day, and this word, like many others, had wandered far from the accurate metaphysical sense in which it was used by Plato and Aristotle. The lengthy and thorough discussions of the word and its relation to οὐσία, φύσις, εἶδος, and similar terms by Lightfoot ( philippians 4, 1878, p. 127ff.) and E. H. Gifford ( The Incarnation , 1897, p. 22ff.) remain as examples of fine scholarship, but it is now generally recognized that St. Paul uses μορφή here in an easy, popular sense, much as we use the word ‘nature.’ Several passages in the Septuagint( e.g.  Job 4:16,  Daniel 5:6,  Wisdom of Solomon 18:1-4,  4 Maccabees 15:4) witness to the same tendency-μορφή is the appearance or look of some one, that by which onlookers judge. But, while St. Paul avoids metaphysical speculations on the relation of the Son to the Father, he implies here, as elsewhere, that Christ has, as it were, the same kind of existence as God. The closest parallels are εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ ( Colossians 1:15) and πλοῦσιος ὤν ( 2 Corinthians 8:9), the latter passage reminding us of the great antithesis in  Philippians 2:6-7 between the μορφὴ θεοῦ and the μορφὴ δούλου. δοῦλος stands for man in opposition to God and must not be pressed literally. It is worth noting that St. Paul insists on Christ’s direct exchange of the one form for the other, in contrast to Gnostic views which represented Him as passing through a series of transformations. To return to μορφὴ, which here denotes, as it usually does, an adequate and accurate expression of the underlying being, and so points to the Divinity of the pre-existing Christ, one may, without any detraction from this honour, point out that St. Paul always regards the Death and Resurrection of Christ as adding something to it. It is after the return to glory that Christ is declared the Son of God ‘with power’ ( Romans 1:3-4), and becomes Lord ( Philippians 2:9-11). It only remains to point out that Christ’s assumption of the ‘form’ or ‘nature’ of a servant does not imply that His ‘Ego,’ the basis of His personality, was changed. (See further articleChrist, Christology, p. 193f.)

Before leaving this word, we may notice the use of the verb μορφόω in a beautifully expressive passage,  Galatians 4:19, where the Apostle adopts the figure of a child-bearing mother; he is in travail for the spiritual birth of Christ within his Galatian friends, straining every power to shape their inner man afresh into the image of Christ. The use of the word ‘form’ in  Revelation 9:20 and  1 Timothy 2:13 (in each case translating πλάσσω) calls for no remark.

Two other passages in the Epistles demand consideration. In  Romans 6:17 St. Paul is glad that the Romans have become sincerely obedient ‘to that form of teaching’ to which they were delivered; and in  2 Timothy 1:13 there is an exhortation to ‘hold the form (Revised Version‘pattern’) of sound words which thou hast heard from me.’ The word used in Rom. is τύπος, which must be taken in its usual Pauline sense of ‘pattern,’ ‘standard.’ No special type of doctrine is meant (see F. J. A. Hort, Prolegomena to Romans and Ephesians , 1895, p. 32); the reference is to a course of simple instruction, like that in the first part of the Didache (‘The Two Ways’), which preceded baptism. In 2 Tim. we have the compound ὑποτύπωσις, lit.[Note: literally, literature.]an ‘outline sketch,’ and so a ‘pattern’ or ‘example.’ It is the emphatic word in the sentence, and the meaning is best brought out by the translation, ‘Hold as a pattern of healthy teaching, in faith and love, what you heard from me.’

A. J. Grieve.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Μορφή (Strong'S #3444 — Noun Feminine — morphe — mor-fay' )

denotes "the special or characteristic form or feature" of a person or thing; it is used with particular significance in the NT, only of Christ, in  Philippians 2:6,7 , in the phrases "being in the form of God," and "taking the form of a servant." An excellent definition of the word is that of Gifford: "morphe is therefore properly the nature or essence, not in the abstract, but as actually subsisting in the individual, and retained as long as the individual itself exists. ... Thus in the passage before us morphe Theou is the Divine nature actually and inseparably subsisting in the Person of Christ. ... For the interpretation of 'the form of God' it is sufficient to say that (1) it includes the whole nature and essence of Deity, and is inseparable from them, since they could have no actual existence without it; and (2) that it does not include in itself anything 'accidental' or separable, such as particular modes of manifestation, or conditions of glory and majesty, which may at one time be attached to the 'form,' at another separated from it. ...

 Mark 16:12Fashion.Formed

2: Μόρφωσις (Strong'S #3446 — Noun Feminine — morphosis — mor'-fo-sis )

"a form or outline," denotes, in the NT, "an image or impress, an outward semblance,"  Romans 2:20 , of knowledge of the truth;  2—Timothy 3:5 , of godliness. It is thus to be distinguished from morphe (No. 1); it is used in almost the same sense as schema, "fashion" (which see), but is not so purely the outward "form" as schema is.

3: Τύπος (Strong'S #5179 — Noun Masculine — tupos — too'-pos )

"the representation or pattern" of anything (for which see Ensample is rendered "form" in  Romans 6:17 , "that form (or mold) of teaching whereunto ye were delivered," RV. The metaphor is that of a cast or frame into which molten material is poured so as to take its shape. The Gospel is the mould; those who are obedient to its teachings become conformed to Christ, whom it presents. In  Acts 23:25 , it is used of a letter, RV, "form" (AV, "manner"), with reference to the nature of the contents.

4: Εἶδος (Strong'S #1491 — Noun Neuter — eidos — i'-dos )

lit., "that which is seen" (eidon, "to see"), "an appearance or external form," is rendered "form" in the RV of  Luke 3:22 , of the Holy Spirit's appearance at the baptism of Christ; in  John 5:37 , in the Lord's testimony concerning the Father; in  Luke 9:29 it is said of Christ Himself; it is translated "sight" in   2—Corinthians 5:7 , the Christian being guided by what he knows to be true, though unseen; in  1—Thessalonians 5:22 Christians are exhorted to abstain from "every form of evil," RV (the AV, "appearance" is inadequate), i.e., from every kind of evil. See Fashion , Shape , Sight.

5: Ὑποτύπωσις (Strong'S #5296 — Noun Feminine — hupotuposis — hoop-ot-oop'-o-sis )

"an outline, sketch" (akin to hupotupoo, "to delineate," hupo, "under," and No. 3), is used metaphorically to denote "a pattern, example," "form," in  2—Timothy 1:13 , "of sound words" (RV, "pattern"); in  1—Timothy 1:16 , "pattern" and "ensample." See Ensample.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) The shape and structure of anything, as distinguished from the material of which it is composed; particular disposition or arrangement of matter, giving it individuality or distinctive character; configuration; figure; external appearance.

(2): ( n.) To give form or shape to; to frame; to construct; to make; to fashion.

(3): ( n.) Established method of expression or practice; fixed way of proceeding; conventional or stated scheme; formula; as, a form of prayer.

(4): ( n.) Show without substance; empty, outside appearance; vain, trivial, or conventional ceremony; conventionality; formality; as, a matter of mere form.

(5): ( n.) Orderly arrangement; shapeliness; also, comeliness; elegance; beauty.

(6): ( n.) A shape; an image; a phantom.

(7): ( n.) The seat or bed of a hare.

(8): ( n.) The type or other matter from which an impression is to be taken, arranged and secured in a chase.

(9): ( n.) The boundary line of a material object. In painting, more generally, the human body.

(10): ( n.) The particular shape or structure of a word or part of speech; as, participial forms; verbal forms.

(11): ( n.) The combination of planes included under a general crystallographic symbol. It is not necessarily a closed solid.

(12): ( n.) That assemblage or disposition of qualities which makes a conception, or that internal constitution which makes an existing thing to be what it is; - called essential or substantial form, and contradistinguished from matter; hence, active or formative nature; law of being or activity; subjectively viewed, an idea; objectively, a law.

(13): ( n.) Mode of acting or manifestation to the senses, or the intellect; as, water assumes the form of ice or snow. In modern usage, the elements of a conception furnished by the mind's own activity, as contrasted with its object or condition, which is called the matter; subjectively, a mode of apprehension or belief conceived as dependent on the constitution of the mind; objectively, universal and necessary accompaniments or elements of every object known or thought of.

(14): ( v. i.) To run to a form, as a hare.

(15): ( v. i.) To take a form, definite shape, or arrangement; as, the infantry should form in column.

(16): ( n.) To derive by grammatical rules, as by adding the proper suffixes and affixes.

(17): ( n.) The peculiar characteristics of an organism as a type of others; also, the structure of the parts of an animal or plant.

(18): ( n.) To go to make up; to act as constituent of; to be the essential or constitutive elements of; to answer for; to make the shape of; - said of that out of which anything is formed or constituted, in whole or in part.

(19): ( v. t.) To treat (plates) so as to bring them to fit condition for introduction into a storage battery, causing one plate to be composed more or less of spongy lead, and the other of lead peroxide. This was formerly done by repeated slow alternations of the charging current, but now the plates or grids are coated or filled, one with a paste of red lead and the other with litharge, introduced into the cell, and formed by a direct charging current.

(20): ( n.) To give a particular shape to; to shape, mold, or fashion into a certain state or condition; to arrange; to adjust; also, to model by instruction and discipline; to mold by influence, etc.; to train.

(21): ( n.) That by which shape is given or determined; mold; pattern; model.

(22): ( n.) A long seat; a bench; hence, a rank of students in a school; a class; also, a class or rank in society.

(23): ( n.) Constitution; mode of construction, organization, etc.; system; as, a republican form of government.

(24): ( n.) To provide with a form, as a hare. See Form, n., 9.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words

Yâtsar ( יָצַר , Strong'S #3335), “to form, mold, fashion.” A word common to Hebrew in all its periods, yâtsar is used in modern Hebrew in the sense of “to produce,” or “to create.” The word is found just over 60 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. The first occurrence in the Old Testament is in Gen. 2:7: “… God formed man of the dust of the ground,” reflecting the basic meaning of “molding” something to a desired shape.

Yâtsar is a technical potter’s word, and it is often used in connection with the potter at work (Isa. 29:16; Jer. 18:4, 6). The word is sometimes used as a general term of “craftsmanship or handiwork,” whether molding, carving, or casting (Isa. 44:9-10, 12).

The word may be used to express the “forming of plans in one’s mind (Ps. 94:20; KJV, “frameth”). Yâtsar is frequently used to describe God’s creative activity, whether literally or figuratively. Thus, God “formed” not only man (Gen. 2:7-8) but the animals (Gen. 2:19). God also “formed” the nation of Israel (Isa. 27:11; 45:9, 11); Israel was “formed” as God’s special servant even from the womb (Isa. 44:2, 24; 49:5). While yet in the womb, Jeremiah was “formed” to be a prophet (Jer. 1:5). God “formed” locusts as a special visual lesson for Amos (Amos 7:1); the great sea monster, Leviathan, was “formed” to play in the seas (Ps. 104:26).

The concreteness of ancient Hebrew thinking is vividly seen in a statement such as this: “I form the light, and create darkness …” (Isa. 45:7). Similarly, the psalmist confessed to God: “… Thou hast made summer and winter” (Ps. 74:17). God “formed” the spirit of man (Zech. 12:1), as well as the heart or mind of man (Ps. 33:15). Yâtsar is used to express God’s “planning” or “preordaining” according to His divine purpose (Isa. 22:11; 46:11).

Almost one half of the uses of this word in the Old Testament are found in the Book of Isaiah, with God as the subject of most of them.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

( Philippians 2:6-8.) "Who (Christ Jesus) subsisting ( Huparchoon ) in the form (the self manifesting characteristics shining forth from the essence) of God esteemed His being on an equality with God ( To Einai Isa Τηeoo ) no robbery ( Harpagmon , not Harpagma , which Ellicott's translated, 'a thing to be grasped at,' would require), but took upon Him the form of a servant." He never emptied Himself of His being on an equality with God in essence, but only of the form of God for the time of His humiliation. The antithesis is between His being in the form of God and His assuming the form of a servant.

"Image" implies His being the exact essential inner likeness and perfect Representative of God. "Image" ( Eikoon ) supposes a prototype of which it is the exact counterpart, as the child is the living image of the parent. "Likeness" ( Homoiosis ), mere resemblance, is nowhere applied to the Son, as "image" is ( 1 Corinthians 11:7;  John 1:18;  John 14:9;  2 Corinthians 4:4;  Hebrews 1:3;  1 Timothy 3:16;  1 Timothy 6:16;  Colossians 1:15), "the Image of the invisible God." "Found (by His fellow men's outward cognizance) in fashion, ( Scheema ) as a man" signifies His outward presentation, habit, style, manner, dress, action ( Philippians 2:8).

King James Dictionary

FORM, n. L. forma.

1. The shape or external appearance of a body the figure, as defined by lines and angles that manner of being peculiar to each body, which exhibits it to the eye as distinct from every other body. Thus we speak of the form of a circle, the form of a square or triangle, a circular form, the form of the head or of the human body, a handsome form, an ugly form, a frightful form.

Matter is the basis or substratum of bodies, form is the particular disposition of matter in each body which distinguishes its appearance from that of every other body.

The form of his visage was changed.  Daniel 3 .

After that he appeared in another form to two of them, as they walked.  Mark 16 .

2. Manner of arranging particulars disposition of particular things as a form of words or expressions. 3. Model draught pattern.

Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me.  2 Timothy 1 .

4. Beauty elegance splendor dignity.

He hath no form nor comeliness.  Isaiah 53 .

5. Regularity method order. This is a rough draught to be reduced to form. 6. External appearance without the essential qualities empty show. 7. Stated method established practice ritual or prescribed mode as the forms of public worship the forms of judicial proceeding forms of civility. 8. Ceremony as, it is a mere matter of form. 9. Determinate shape.

The earth was without form, and void.  Genesis 1 .

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fôrm ( יצר , yācar , תּאר , tō'ar  ; μορφή , morphḗ ):

(1) To form is "to fashion," "create," "produce." In the Old Testament it is for the most part the translation of yācar , "to form," "to fashion" ( Genesis 2:7 , etc., "Yahweh God formed man of the dust of the ground," etc.); also of ḥūl and ḥı̄l , "to be twisted" "turned round" "to bring forth (in pain)" (compare  Isaiah 13:8;  Micah 4:10;  Deuteronomy 32:18 the King James Version, "God that formed thee";   Job 26:13 the King James Version;   Psalm 90:2 , "or ever thou hadst formed the earth" etc.;  Proverbs 26:10 the King James Version). In the New Testament we have morphóō , "to form" ( Galatians 4:19 , "until Christ be formed in you"); plássō , "to form," "to mold" ( Romans 9:20 , "him that formed it";  1 Timothy 2:13 , "Adam was first formed"; 2 Macc 7:23, "the Creator ... who formed the generation of man," the Revised Version (British and American) "fashioned"; 7:22, "that formed the members ( diarrhuthmı́zō )," the Revised Version (British and American) "brought into order").

(2) Form (noun) is used for ( a ) appearance, mar'eh , "sight," "appearance" ( Job 4:16 , "I could not discern the form thereof" the Revised Version (British and American) "appearance" with "form" for "image" ( temūnāh ) in next sentence); celem , Aramaic "image" ( Daniel 3:19 , "The form of his visage was changed"); rēw , "form," "likeness" ( Daniel 2:31;  Daniel 3:25 , the Revised Version (British and American) "aspect"); tō'ar , "visage," "form" ( 1 Samuel 28:14 , "What form is he of?"); ( b ) The fixed or characteristic form of anything, tabhnı̄th , "model," "form" ( Ezekiel 8:3;  Ezekiel 10:8 , "the form of a hand";  Ezekiel 8:10 , "every form of creeping things"); morphē , characteristic form as distinguished from schḗma , changing fashion ( Philippians 2:6 , "in the form of God";  Philippians 2:7 , "the form of a servant"; less distinctly  Mark 16:12 , "in another form"); ( c ) shape, model, pattern, mold, cūrāh , "shape," from cūr , "to cut or carve" ( Ezekiel 43:11 , ter , "the form of the house," etc.); mishpāt , "rule" ( 2 Chronicles 4:7 the King James Version); túpos , "type," "impress" ( Romans 6:17 , the Revised Version, margin "pattern"); hupotúpōsis , "outline," pattern ( 2 Timothy 1:13 , the Revised Version (British and American) "pattern"); mórphōsis , "form," "appearance" ( Romans 2:20 , "the form of knowledge"); ( d ) orderly arrangement, giving shape or form ( Genesis 1:2;  Jeremiah 4:23 , the earth was "without form," tōhū , the Revised Version (British and American) "waste"; The Wisdom of Solomon 11:17, ámorphos ); "form of speech" ( 2 Samuel 14:20 , aspect, pānı̄m , "face," the Revised Version (British and American) "to change the face of the matter"); as giving comeliness or beauty, tō'ar ( Isaiah 52:14;  Isaiah 53:2 , "He hath no form nor comeliness"; compare  Genesis 29:17;  Genesis 39:6 , etc.; The Wisdom of Solomon 15:5, "desiring the form ( eı́dos ) of a dead image," the Revised Version (British and American) "the breathless form"); ( e ) Show, without substance, morphōsis , "form" ( 2 Timothy 3:5 , "holding a form of godliness").

ARV has "didst form" for "hast possessed" ( Psalm 139:13 , so the English Revised Version, margin; both have "formed" for "made" ( Psalm 104:26 ), the American Standard Revised Version for "framed" twice ( Isaiah 29:16 ); both for "formed thee," "gave birth" ( Deuteronomy 32:18 ); "pierced" ( Job 26:13 ); "woundeth" ( Proverbs 26:10 ); "fastened" ( Isaiah 44:10 ); for "are formed from" ( Job 26:5 ), "tremble"; for "their form" ( 2 Chronicles 4:7 ), "the ordinance concerning them"; "form" for "similitude" ( Numbers 12:8;  Deuteronomy 4:12 ,  Deuteronomy 4:15 ); for "size" ( 1 Kings 6:25;  1 Kings 7:37 ); for "shape" ( Luke 3:22;  John 5:37 ); "in the form" for "similitude" ( Deuteronomy 4:16 ); for "or the like" ( Deuteronomy 4:23 ,  Deuteronomy 4:15 ); the American Standard Revised Version "(beholding) thy form" for "thy likeness" ( Psalm 17:15 , the English Revised Version, margin); "every form" for "all appearance" ( 1 Thessalonians 5:22; so the English Revised Version, margin "appearance").

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Lat. forma, by transpose from Μορφή ) is defined by Aristotle as Λόγος Τῆς Οὐσίας , the doctrine of the Substance or Essence of a thing. "A trumpet may be said to consist of two parts, the Matter or brass of which it is made, and the form which the maker gives to it. The latter is essential, but not the former; since, although the matter were silver, it would still be a trumpet, but, without the farm it would not. Now, although there can be no form without matter, yet as it is the form which makes the thing what it is, the word form came to signify essence or nature" (Fleming, s.v.). The Scholastics distinguished form substantial from form accidental. Substantial form they defined as actus primaries una cum materia constituens unum per se; accidental forms as actus secondarius constituting a unit per accidens. The unit of being composed of soul and body was defined to be of the former sort. Form, according to the ancient definitions, is therefore necessary to matter; absolutely formless matter is inconceivable. Lord Bacon (Nov. Organ. 2:17, says: "When we speak of forms, we understand nothing more than the laws and modes of action which regulate and constitute any simple nature, such as heat, light, weight, in all kinds of matter susceptible of them; so that the form of heat, or the form of light, and the law of heat, and the law of light, are the same thing." Also (Nov. Organ. 2:13), "The form of a thing is the very thing itself, and the thing no otherwise differs from the form thane as the apparent differs from the existent, the outward from the inward, or that which is considered in relation to man from that which is considered in relation to the universe."

"The sense attached at the present day to the words form and matter. is somewhat different from, though closely related to, these. The form is what the mind impresses upon its perceptions of objects, which are the matter; form therefore means mode of viewing objects that are presented to the mind. When the attention is directed to any object, we do not see the object itself, but contemplate it in the light of our own prior conceptions. A rich man, for example, is regarded by the poor and ignorant under the form of a very fortunate person, able to purchase luxuries which are above their own reach; by the religious mind under the form of a person with: more than ordinary temptations to contend with; by the political economist under that of an example of the unequal distribution of wealth; by the tradesman under that of one whose patronage is valuable. Now the object is really the. same to all these observers; the sauce rich man has been represented under all these different forms. And the reason that the observers are able to find many in one is that they connect him severally with their own prior conceptions. The form, then, in this view, is mode of knowing, and the matter is the perception or object we have to know" (Thomson, Outline of Laws of Thought, page 34). Sir W. Hamilton calls the theory of substantial forms "the theory of qualities viewed as entities conjoined with, and not as mere dispositions or modifications of matter" (Hamilton's edition of Reid's Works, page 827).

Dr. M'Cosh remarks, on the distinction between form and matter, that "this phraseology was introduced by Aristotle, who represented everything as having in itself both matter ( Ὕλη ) and form ( Εϊ v Δος ). It had a new signification given to, it by Kant, who supposes that the mind supplies from its own furniture a form to impose on the matter presented from without. The form thus corresponds to the a Priori element, and the matter to the A Posteriori. But the view thus given of the relation in which the knowing mind stands to the known object is altogether a mistaken one. It supposes. that the mind in cognition adds an element from its own resources, whereas it is simply so constituted as to know what is in the object. This doctrine needs only to be carried out consequentially to sap the foundations of all knowledge; for if thee mind may contribute from its own stores one element, why not another? whey not all the elements? In fact, Kant did, by this distinction, open the way to all those later speculations which represent the whole universe of being as an ideal construction. There can, I think, be no impropriety in speaking of the original principles of the mind as forms or rules, but they are forms merely, as are the rules of grammar, which do not add anything to correct speaking and writing, but are merely the expression of the laws which they follow. As to the word matter,' it has either no meaning in such an application, or a meaning of a misleading character" (Intuitions of the Mind, N.Y. 1866, page 308). Formal, in philosophy, is that which relates to the form, as opposed to material, or that which relates to the matter. So formal logic gives the theory of reasoning as grounded in the laws. of thought, without reference to the subject-matter to which reasoning may be applied. — Fleming, Vocabulary of Philosophy, s.v.; Krug, Handwort. der philosoph. Wissenschaften, 2:56.