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“Four, For, Fore!”
Categories: DOCTRINE, GRAB BAG, NEW TESTAMENTWhat does the word ‘for’ mean? Example: for forgiveness, for remission of sin, etc.Sincerely,
Looking ‘For’ Answers
Dear Looking ‘For’ Answers,
In English, the word ‘for’ can mean ‘because of’ or ‘in order to receive, acquire, or achieve’… but in the Greek language, it can only mean one of these things (more on this a little later). For example, if someone said, “I went to the store for my wife”, they probably mean that they went to the store because their wife asked them to. On the other hand, if I said, “I went to the store for milk”, I probably mean that I went to go and get milk… not that the milk asked me to go to the store! In the English language, the word ‘for’ can be used with either definition, and context has to decide which is the more appropriate use of the word.
However, the Greek language (the original language of the New Testament) is much more precise. The word used in the phrase “for forgiveness of sins” in places like Acts 2:38 is a word that specifically means “that you might receive, acquire, go towards, unto”. The Greek word translated most often as ‘for’ in most modern translations is ‘eis’ (pronounced the same as ‘ace’), and it always means the same as “I went to the store for milk”… never “I went to the store for my wife”.
