SPECIAL TOPIC: HEAD (KEPHALĒ)

SPECIAL TOPIC: HEAD (kephalē)

There has been extensive theological discussion over the meaning of "head" (kephalē). The term can be understood as

1. its OT Hebrew equivalent is rosh (BDB 910, KB 1164), which can mean

a. head

b. chief

c. beginning or origin (cf. Pro. 8:23; Eccl. 3:11; Isa. 41:4)

d. total amount

(cf. Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, vol. 3, pp. 1015-1020)

2. in the LXX rosh is translated by the Greek word

a. archē (beginning, cf. Ps. 137:6)

b. prōtotokos (first, cf. 1 Chr. 5:12)

c. kephalē (head)

(1) head of a human

(2) head of an animal

(3) top of a mountain

(4) top of a tower (cf. Matt. 21:42)

3. in the NT kephalē

a. head of a human (cf. 1 Cor. 11:4,5,7)

b. head of an animal

c. idiomatic of the whole person

d. beginning or source (cf. 1 Cor. 11:3)

e. sum (cf. Rom. 13:9)

f. leader

(1) Jesus is head over all rulers and authority, cf. Col. 2:10

(2) Jesus is head of the church (cf. Eph. 4:15; 5:23; Col. 1:18; 2:19

g. husband (cf. Eph. 5:23)

(cf. Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 2, pp. 156-163)