Word Study: Glory
Word family: Glory, glorious, glorify .
Synonyms: Highest honour, majesty, magnificence, brightness, splendour, greatness, blessedness.
Related ideas: Heaven, worship, praise, blessedness, light, kingdom, power, eternal life.
Definitions: Glory usually refers to the blessedness, brightness, honour, and magnificent excellence of God and his heaven, or our acknowledgement of it.
Greek References: δοξα (doxa) 1391 (Strong)
Scripture:
The glory of earthly things...
- Matthew 4:8, Luke 4:5-7. The devil shows Jesus "the kingdoms of the world and their glory".
- Matthew 6:29, Luke 12:27. Jesus speaks of "Solomon in all his glory".
- Luke 14:10-11. Jesus spoke of an honoured guest as having "glory before all".
- 1Corinthians 15:41. "There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory."
- John 5:44. "How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?"
The Father’s glory
- Matthew 6:13. Jesus teaches people to pray,"For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen".
- Matthew 16:27, Mark 8:38, cf Luke 9:26. Jesus is "to come in the glory of His Father".
- Luke 2:8-9, 14. Shepherds were watching their flock by night, and "Behold an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. A multitude of the heavenly host praised God saying, 'Glory to God in the Highest...'"
- Luke 17:17-18. Jesus had healed ten lepers, but only one returned to Jesus "to give glory to God".
- Revelation 4:11. "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."
The glory of Christ
- Revelation 5:13b. "Blessing and honour and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb for evermore."
- Psalm 24:9-10 [23:9-10 in Septuagint ], "Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory."
- John 7:18. "Whoever speaks on their own authority does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is no unrighteousness in him."
- Matthew 19:28. Jesus "will sit on His glorious throne [KJV: the throne of his glory]."
- Matthew 24:30, Mark 13:26, Luke 21:27. "They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory".
- Matthew 25:31. "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory".
- Mark 10:37. James and John asked Jesus, "Grant us, that we may sit, one on your right hand, the other on your left, in your glory".
- Luke 9:31-32, 2Peter 1:16-18. Christ"s "glory" was seen by Peter, John, and James, on the Mount of Transfiguration.
- Luke 19:38. As Jesus rode a colt into Jerusalem, the crowd of disciples called out,"Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in Heaven and glory in the Highest!"
- Luke 24:26. The resurrected Jesus said to his disciples, "Ought not the Messiah to have suffered these things and [then] to enter into His glory?"
- John 1:14. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten [unique Son] of the Father full of grace and truth".
The glory of God’s people
- Luke 2:32. Simeon spoke of Jesus as the Light for "revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel".
- 2Corinthians 3:7-18. A discourse about the glory of Moses’s face and what it signified about the ten commandments —and what that means for the church’s progress "from glory to glory".
- Romans 9:23. "...and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he called..."
- Colossians 1:27. "...God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
Comment: The Greek "doxa" is translated "glory" about 150 times in most English versions of the New Testament. In a few passages translators may use a different word such as: approval, brightness, honour, majesty. The word "doxa" usually refers to the blessedness, brightness, honour, and magnificent excellence of God and his heaven. Only in a few cases does "doxa" refer to something less, such as the glory of the sun and moon or the glory of a king like Solomon.