Merchandise
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [1]
denotes "commerce, business, trade" [akin to No. 2, and to emporos, "one on a journey" (en, "in," poros, "a journey"), "a merchant"], occurs in Matthew 22:5 .
denotes "a trading place, exchange" (Eng., "emporium"), John 2:16 , "(a house) of merchandise."
is translated "merchandise" in Revelation 18:11,12 : see Burden , A, No. 3.
primarily signifies "to travel," especially for business; then, "to traffic, trade," James 4:13; then, "to make a gain of, make merchandise of," 2—Peter 2:3 .
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types [2]
2 Peter 2:3 (a) This is a very real and true figure or picture of that which happens in many religions. The devotees of many religious sects are absolutely bound to the rule and laws of their religion. Their leaders can do anything they wish to them, even to the suffering of the body. Men are only free in those groups where the Lord Jesus Christ is loved and trusted, and His Word is believed, accepted and practiced. There are religious slaves by the millions (See Revelation 18:13 Marg).
Matthew 22:5 (c) This is a type of any kind of business which allures and entices one away from the Lord Jesus and His fellowship.
John 2:16 (c) We see here a picture of any worldly enterprise brought into the house of GOD wherein His house loses its holy character and becomes a place for commercial enterprise.
Revelation 18:12-13 (b) This is a word to describe the great traffic carried on by the church, principally the Roman Catholic Church, which buys and sells vast quantities of various articles for the promotion and maintenance of its many activities. Included in this merchandise are the bodies and the souls of men which the Roman Catholics buy and sell for a profit.
Webster's Dictionary [3]
(1): ( n.) The act or business of trading; trade; traffic.
(2): ( v. i.) To trade; to carry on commerce.
(3): ( n.) The objects of commerce; whatever is usually bought or sold in trade, or market, or by merchants; wares; goods; commodities.
(4): ( v. t.) To make merchandise of; to buy and sell.
King James Dictionary [4]
MER'CHANDISE, n.
1. The objects of commerce wares, goods, commodities, whatever is usually bought or sold in trade. But provisions daily sold in market, horses, cattle, and fuel are not usually included in the term,and real estate never. 2. Trade traffick commerce.
MER'CHANDISE, To trade to carry on commerce.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [5]
mûr´chan - dı̄z ((1) עמר , ‛āmar (2) סחר , ṣaḥar , (3) סחר , ṣāḥar , (4) סחרה , ṣeḥōrāḥ , (5) רכלּה , rekhullāh , (6) מערב , ma‛ărābh , (7) מרכּלת , markōleth ; (8) ἐμπορία , emporı́a (9) ἐμπόριον , empórion , (10) γόμος , gómos ): There seem to be 4 distinct meanings of the word according to the Revised Version (British and American), namely: (1) The products, i.e. goods or things sold or exchanged, and so merchandise in the present-day usage: ( a ) ṣaḥar is translated thus in Proverbs 31:18; Isaiah 23:18; ( b ) ṣāḥar is translated thus in Isaiah 45:14; these two are from a root meaning "to travel around as a peddler"; ( c ) rekhullāh , translated thus in Ezekiel 26:12 , from a root meaning "to travel for trading purposes"; ( d ) ma‛ărābh , translated thus in Ezekiel 27:9 , Ezekiel 27:27 , Ezekiel 27:33 , Ezekiel 27:34 , from a root meaning "to intermix, to barter"; ( e ) markōleth ; translated thus in Ezekiel 27:24 (the above 5 Hebrew words are all used to designate the goods or wares which were bartered); ( f ) ‛āmar , occurring in Deuteronomy 21:14; Deuteronomy 24:7 , translated in the King James Version "make merchandise of," but in the Revised Version (British and American) "deal with as a slave," or the Revised Version margin "deal with as a chattel"; ( g ) emporia , translated "merchandise" in Matthew 22:5; ( h ) emporion , likewise in John 2:16 (the same Greek word is used in 2 Peter 2:3 for the American Standard Revised Version "make merchandise of you"); ( i ) gomos , "merchandise," margin "cargo."
(2) The process of trade itself, i.e. the business: rekhullāh has in it the root meaning of "itinerant trading", and so in Ezekiel 28:16 the correct translation is not "merchandise," as in the King James Version, but "traffic," "abundance of thy traffic," i.e. doing a thriving business: "trade was good."
(3) The place of trading, i.e. emporium, mart, etc.: ṣeḥōrāḥ in Ezekiel 27:15 is translated "mart." In John 2:16 reference is made to the "house of merchandise."
(4) The profits of trading: In Proverbs 3:14 , ṣaḥar is translated "gaining." Referring to wisdom, "For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver, and the profit thereof than fine gold"; the King James Version "merchandise."
