Often translated as partiality, respect [of] persons, favor, or favortism, תַכִּיר פָּנִים takir paniym (H5234 + H6440), literally means to “recognize or pay attention to faces” where תַכִּיר takir is a form of the word נָכַר nakar which means “to recognize” (cf. Genesis 27:23) and פָּנִים paniym is the masculine plural of the word פָּנָה panah (H6437) which means face. This same term in Greek is ἐπιγινώσκω πρόσωπον epiginōskō prosōpon meaning “discriminate a person.” ἐπιγινώσκω epiginōskō (G1921) means “to recognize” (cf. Genesis 27:23), and is contemporarily translated as “aware.” πρόσωπον prosōpon (G4383) means “person” but specifically refers to the face, as in the front of the human head.
In James 2:1 and James 2:9, “respect of persons” is translated from προσωπολημπτέω prosōpolēmpteō (G4380) which means “to personify or discriminate” and James 2:4 uses διακρίνω diakrinō (G1252) which means “to discriminate, distinguish, discern, or detect.”
« Back to Glossary Index