Enlighten - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ENLIGHTEN

en-lit'-'-n:

(1) 'or, "illumination" in every sense, used in the ordinary sense of giving natural light (Psalms 97:4 the King James Version; see also Ezra 9:8) or as a sign of health and vigor (1 Samuel 14:27,29). "His eyes were enlightened," literally, "became bright." He had become weary and faint with the day's exertions and anxieties, and now recovers (see Job 33:30 and compare Psalms 13:3). Thus in sickness and grief, the eyes are dull and heavy; dying eyes are glazed; but health and joy render them bright and sparkling, as with a light from within.

(2) In Psalms 18:28 the King James Version, The word naghah, figuratively describes the believer's deliverance from the gloom of adversity and the restoration of joy in the knowledge of God.

(3) Most frequently the terms so translated mean the giving of spiritual light to the soul (Psalms 19:8; Ephesians 1:18, photizo; Hebrews 6:4; 10:32). This spiritual enlightening the Spirit of God brings about through the Divine word (Psalms 119:130; 2 Timothy 3:15; 2 Peter 1:19). Sin mars the intellectual discernment; "but he that is spiritual discerneth all things" (1 Corinthians 2:15 King James Version, margin).

M. O. Evans

Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'ENLIGHTEN'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.