# G1504 - eikon **Strong's:** [G1504](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1504/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** i-kone' **Part of speech:** feminine noun **Hebrew equivalents (LXX):** [H6754 - tselem](/codex/h6754-tselem/) (צֶלֶם, "image", in [Genesis 1:26-27](/codex/genesis-1-26-27/)); also [H1823 - demuth](/codex/h1823-demuth/) (דְּמוּת, "likeness"). **NT occurrences:** ~23 ## Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG) 1. **Image, likeness, statue**, physical representation; profile; engraved figure on a coin ([Matthew 22:20](/codex/matthew-22-20/)). 2. **Representation, manifestation**, that which makes visible the otherwise-invisible original. The image is not merely *similar* to its source but *derives from* and *makes-present* the source. 3. **Type, pattern** (rare), symbolic foreshadowing. The English word "icon" derives directly from this lexeme, retaining the sense of representational image. ## Theological force, two domains The word's theological work happens in two distinct (and connected) domains: **1. Christological, Christ as the image of the invisible God.** Christ is the *eikōn theou*, the visible manifestation of the otherwise-invisible Father. The claim is bilateral: - The Son is **derivative from** the Father (eternally generated; truly *of* the Father). - The Son **makes visible** what otherwise cannot be seen ([John 1:18](/codex/john-1-18/) "no one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him"). This is a **representation that participates in its source**, not a mere copy. Christ doesn't *resemble* God the way a portrait resembles its subject; He *is* the divine being in visible form. [Hebrews 1:3](/codex/hebrews-1-3/)'s *charaktēr tēs hypostaseōs* (the exact representation of His nature) is the sister concept. **2. Anthropological, humans as the image of God ([Genesis 1.27](/codex/genesis-1-27/)).** Humans are *kat' eikona theou*, according to the image of God. The Pauline/NT development: - Humans bear the imago Dei ([1 Corinthians 11:7](/codex/1-corinthians-11-7/); [James 3:9](/codex/james-3-9/)). - The imago is **marred** by the Fall but not destroyed. - The imago is **restored** in believers progressively, through union with Christ, the perfect imago ([Romans 8:29](/codex/romans-8-29/) "to be conformed to the image of His Son"; [2 Corinthians 3:18](/codex/2-corinthians-3-18/) "transformed into the same image"; [Colossians 3:10](/codex/colossians-3-10/) "renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him"). Christology and anthropology converge: humans are made in the image of God ([Genesis 1:27](/codex/genesis-1-27/)); Christ *is* the image of God ([Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/)); restoration of fallen humans is conformity to Christ ([Romans 8:29](/codex/romans-8-29/)). Christ is both the *original imago* (eternal) and the *restored imago* (incarnate model). ## Notable verses ### Christ as imago Dei - **[Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/)**, "He is the *eikōn* of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" - **[2 Corinthians 4:4](/codex/2-corinthians-4-4/)**, "the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the *eikōn* of God" - **[Hebrews 1:3](/codex/hebrews-1-3/)**, "He is the radiance of His glory and the *charaktēr* (exact representation) of His *hypostasis*" (related concept, different lexeme) - **[John 14:9](/codex/john-14-9/)**, "he who has seen Me has seen the Father" - **[John 1:18](/codex/john-1-18/)**, "no one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God… has explained Him" ### Humans as imago Dei - **[Genesis 1:26-27](/codex/genesis-1-26-27/)** (LXX *kat' eikona*), "Let Us make man in Our *eikōn*" - **[Genesis 9:6](/codex/genesis-9-6/)**, murder forbidden because of imago Dei - **[1 Corinthians 11:7](/codex/1-corinthians-11-7/)**, "man… is the *eikōn* and glory of God" - **[James 3:9](/codex/james-3-9/)**, "with [the tongue] we curse men, who have been made in the *likeness* of God" ### Restoration / sanctification, conformity to Christ's image - **[Romans 8:29](/codex/romans-8-29/)**, "predestined to become conformed to the *eikōn* of His Son" - **[2 Corinthians 3:18](/codex/2-corinthians-3-18/)**, "we all… are being transformed into the same *eikōn* from glory to glory" - **[Colossians 3:10](/codex/colossians-3-10/)**, "renewed to a true knowledge according to the *eikōn* of the One who created him" - **[1 Corinthians 15:49](/codex/1-corinthians-15-49/)**, "as we have borne the *eikōn* of the earthly, we will also bear the *eikōn* of the heavenly" ### Idolatry, false images - **[Romans 1:23](/codex/romans-1-23/)**, "exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an *eikōn* in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals" - **[Revelation 13:14-15](/codex/revelation-13-14-15/); 14:9, 11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4**, the *eikōn* of the beast (the antichrist's idolatrous image) ### Coins / political authority - **[Matthew 22:20](/codex/matthew-22-20/)**, "whose *eikōn* and inscription is this?" (Caesar's denarius) - **[Mark 12:16](/codex/mark-12-16/); [Luke 20:24](/codex/luke-20-24/)**, parallels ## Patristic / scholarly note The patristic doctrine of the imago Dei is one of the most developed Christian anthropological themes. Irenaeus (*Against Heresies* IV.16.2; V.16.2, c. AD 180) distinguishes "image" (the original endowment, marred by Fall but not lost) from "likeness" (the dynamic conformity to God, lost at Fall, restored in Christ). Athanasius (*On the Incarnation* 11-13, c. AD 318) takes Christ's incarnation as the restoration of the marred imago. Augustine (*De Trinitate* 12-14) locates the imago specifically in the rational soul's threefold structure (memory, intellect, will), corresponding analogously to the Trinity. The Eastern Orthodox iconographic tradition takes its name and theological warrant from this lexeme: icons are not idols (which is what was condemned at Hieria, AD 754) but *images* of the imaged-One, Christ, who Himself is the imago of the Father. The Iconoclast Controversy (8th-9th c.) and its resolution at Nicaea II (AD 787) hinges on this distinction. Modern conservative scholarship (Anthony Hoekema, *Created in God's Image*, 1986; David VanDrunen, *Bioethics and the Christian Life*, 2009) develops the imago Dei doctrine for contemporary ethics, pro-life, anti-discrimination, human dignity grounded in this lexeme's theological weight. ## Verses in this codex _See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Top-cited references: [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), [Genesis 1.27](/codex/genesis-1-27/) (LXX uses same word). ## See also - [H6754 - tselem](/codex/h6754-tselem/), Hebrew "image" ([Genesis 1:26](/codex/genesis-1-26/)) - [H1823 - demuth](/codex/h1823-demuth/), Hebrew "likeness" ([Genesis 1:26](/codex/genesis-1-26/)) - [G3056 - logos](/codex/g3056-logos/), closely related Christological concept - [G3444 - morphe](/codex/g3444-morphe/), "form" ([Phil 2:6](/codex/philippians-2-6/)), related but distinct - [G5485 - charis](/codex/g5485-charis/), the means of imago restoration - [Genesis 1.27](/codex/genesis-1-27/), [Colossians 1.15](/codex/colossians-1-15/), locus classicus passages