G3359 — μέτωπον (metopon)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G3359
Original: μέτωπον
Transliteration: metopon
Pronunciation: met'-o-pon
Part of Speech: Neuter noun
Root: From μετά (meta, "between") + ὤψ (ops, "the face"); the forehead as the area opposite/between the eyes
Occurrences: 8 in NT (8 unique verses, 1 book)
First Occurrence: Rev 7:3 — "Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."
Hapax Legomenon: No (but confined entirely to Revelation)

Lexicon Definition¶

From μετά and ὤψ (the face); the forehead (as opposite the countenance).

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 8.002 — Parts of the Body
Parent Domain: 8 — Body, Body Parts, and Body Products
Gloss: forehead
Other words in subdomain: ἀγκάλη (G43, bent arm), αἷμα (G129, blood), γλῶσσα (G1100, tongue), γόνυ (G1119, knee), δάκτυλος (G1147, finger), δεξιός (G1188, right hand), θρίξ (G2359, hair), χείρ (G5495, hand)

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[008] Body, Body Parts, and Body Products
UBS keeps μέτωπον in the concrete body-part field, matching Revelation's repeated use of the forehead as a visible location for names, seals, and marks.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
foreheads	6	75%
forehead	2	25%

Uniformly translated — no semantic ambiguity in the KJV rendering.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	8	2.0

Exclusive to Revelation. No other NT book uses this word. The LXX equivalent H4696 (metsach) appears 13x in the OT, but the Greek metopon itself is an NT-Revelation-only term.

Morphological Distribution¶

Form	Parsing	Count	Verses
μετώπων	Gen Pl N	4	Rev 7:3; 9:4; 14:1; 22:4
μέτωπον	Acc Sg N	3	Rev 13:16; 17:5; 20:4
μετώπου	Gen Sg N	1	Rev 14:9

The plural (genitive) form dominates (4/8), always referring to the foreheads of a group (servants of God, the 144,000, the saints). The singular forms appear in contexts of the beast's mark (13:16; 14:9), Babylon's inscription (17:5), and resistance to the mark (20:4).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Location of God's Seal / Name¶

Rev 7:3 — "till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads"
Rev 14:1 — "having his Father's name written in their foreheads"
Rev 22:4 — "and his name shall be in their foreheads"

2. Location of the Beast's Mark¶

Rev 13:16 — "to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads"
Rev 14:9 — "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand"

3. Location of Babylon's Identity¶

Rev 17:5 — "And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT"

4. Criterion of Protection / Judgment¶

Rev 9:4 — "but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads"
Rev 20:4 — "which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
γῆ (ge)	G1093	3x (38%)	Context of judgment affecting the earth (Rev 7:3; 9:4)
θεός (theos)	G2316	3x (38%)	"servants of our God" — sealed in foreheads (Rev 7:3; 9:4; 14:1)
μέγας (megas)	G3173	3x (38%)	"great" Babylon / great voice of warning (Rev 14:9; 17:5; 20:4)
ὄνομα (onoma)	G3686	3x (38%)	Name written in/on the forehead (Rev 14:1; 17:5; 22:4)
χάραγμα (charagma)	G5480	3x (38%)	Mark received in the forehead (Rev 13:16; 14:9; 20:4)
εἰκών (eikon)	G1504	2x (25%)	Image of the beast — linked with forehead-mark (Rev 14:9; 20:4)
θηρίον (therion)	G2342	2x (25%)	Beast that imposes the mark on foreheads (Rev 14:9; 20:4)
δοῦλος (doulos)	G1401	2x (25%)	Servants of God sealed in foreheads (Rev 7:3; 22:4)
χείρ (cheir)	G5495	2x (25%)	Paired location: "forehead or hand" (Rev 13:16; 20:4)
προσκυνέω (proskyneo)	G4352	2x (25%)	Worship of the beast linked to forehead-mark (Rev 14:9; 20:4)

Synonyms¶

G4645 σκληρύνω (sklērynō) — harden, render stubborn; returned by search_relationships.py as a semantic neighbor, echoing the forehead's association with fixed resolve or stubbornness.

Antonyms¶

No direct antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G3359.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
מֵצַח (metsach)	H4696	"forehead"	Hebrew OT equivalent; broader usage including priestly plate (Exod 28:38), physical injury (1 Sam 17:49), and metaphorical stubbornness (Ezek 3:7-9); metopon is confined to Revelation's seal/mark imagery

Domain Neighbors (Body Part Terms)¶

Word	Strong's	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation	Key Difference
χείρ (cheir)	G5495	169	hand, right hand	Paired location for the mark; far more common across NT
δάκτυλος (daktylos)	G1147	8	finger	Same frequency (8x) but distributed across Gospels/Acts; no Revelation usage
δεξιός (dexios)	G1188	49	right hand, right side	Often modifies cheir; co-occurs with metopon in the mark passages

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
מֵצַח (metsach)	H4696	6	21.99
פָּנִים (paniym)	H6440	3	3.70

The primary Hebrew equivalent is H4696 metsach (PMI 21.99), a near-exclusive mapping. The secondary mapping to paniym ("face") reflects the broader semantic relationship — metopon is etymologically "between the face" (the brow area of the face).