Phoster
A. The noun phoster (fwsthvr) belongs to the following word group:
1. Phos (fw~$) (noun), “light, source of light.”
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Photizo (verb) (fwtivzw), “to give light, light up, bring to light, reveal, enlighten.”
Photeinos (adjective) (fwteinov$), “bright, radiant, luminous, full of light.”
Photismos (noun) (fwtismov$), “bring light, illumination, enlightenment, revelation.”
Phosphoros (adjective) (fwsfovro$), “light bearing, the morning star, daystar.”
Epiphosko (verb) (e)pifwvskw), “to dawn, to break forth, to shine forth, to draw near.”
B. Classical and LXX
1. The noun phoster is related to the verb phos, “light,” which appears in classical literature
as early as Homer in the 8th century B.C.
2. Phoster does not appear in Greek literature prior to the LXX where it means “stars, lights
of heaven, luminaries.”
3. In later Greek literature around the 2nd and 3rd century A.D. it meant “splendor,
radiance.”
4. Liddel and Scott list the following classical meanings for the word (page 1968):
a. That which gives light, lights of heaven, stars
b. Splendor, radiance
c. Metaphorically, of a king
d. Of the eyes
e. Opening for light, door or window
5. The word occurs 8 times in the LXX.
6. It appears 4 times in the restoration account for the moon and the sun (Gen. 1:14, 16)
where it translates the Hebrew term ma`or (rwam).
7. Moses uses a different word in Genesis for the moon and the sun which are respectively
called the lesser and the greater light.
8. He employs a different word for the stars and planets, which is kokab (kkwk).
9. Therefore, the translators of the LXX also made a distinction in their translation
10. Phoster is used in a parallel passage in Daniel 12:3 where it translates the Hebrew zohar
(rhz).
C. NT
1. The noun phos appears 73 times in the NT.
2. Its cognate verb photizo is found only 11 times in the NT.
3. The noun photismos occurs only twice (2 Cor. 4:4, 6).
4. The adjective photeinos appears only 5 times (Mt. 6:22; 17:5; Lk. 11:34, 36 twice).
5. The adjective phosphoros is a hapax legomenon (2 Pt. 1:19).
6. The noun phoster occurs only twice in the NT (Phil. 2:15; Rv. 21:11).
7. It is used for the radiance or splendor of the New Jerusalem (Rv. 21:11).
8. Bauer, Gingrich and Danker give the word a 2-fold definition (A Greek-English
Dictionary of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature page 872):
a. Light-giving body, especially of heavenly bodies, specifically star
b. Splendor, radiance
9. The New Thayer Greek-English Lexicon also gives a 2-fold definition for the word in the
NT (page 663):
a. That which gives light, an illuminator: of the stars (luminaries)
b. Light, brightness
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10. Louw and Nida define the word (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on
Semantic Domains volume 2):
a. Any light-producing object in the sky, such as the sun, moon, and other planets and
stars
b. The state of brightness or shining
11. Martin Winter defines the word in the NT (EDNT volume 3):
a. Celestial light, star (Phil. 2:15)
b. Radiance (Rv. 21:11)
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