G3705 — ὅραμα (hórama)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G3705
Original: ὅραμα
Transliteration: hórama
Pronunciation: hor'-am-ah
Part of Speech: Neuter noun
Root: From G3708 ὁράω (horáō) — to see, perceive, behold
Occurrences: 12 in NT (12 unique verses, 2 books)
First Occurrence: Matt 17:9 — "Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From G3708; something gazed at, i.e. a spectacle (especially supernatural) — a sight, vision. The noun denotes the concrete object of seeing, whether a waking spectacle (Matt 17:9 at the Transfiguration) or, far more commonly in Acts, a divinely given visionary appearance that communicates guidance or revelation.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Primary Domain: 33.56 — Non-Verbal Communication (supernatural visual communications)
Secondary Domain: 24.1 — See (sensory perception of sight)
Other words in 33.56: ὄναρ (G3677, "dream"), ἐνύπνιον (G1798, "dream"), ὀπτασία (G3701, "vision"), ἔκστασις (G1611, "trance"), ἐνυπνιάζομαι (G1797, "to dream")

Dual domain assignment reflects that ὅραμα names both a visual experience (domain 24) and a channel of divine communication (domain 33).

UBS Semantic Domains¶

Code	Domain Label	Notes
024	Sensory Events and States	`search_relationships.py` places horama in the field of seeing/perception, fitting the word's concrete "something seen" sense.
033	Communication	The same tool also locates horama in communicative/revelatory usage, matching Acts where the vision carries divine guidance or speech.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
a vision	7	58.3%
vision	4	33.3%
sight	1	8.3%

Translation is remarkably uniform — KJV renders ὅραμα as "vision" in 11 of 12 occurrences. The single "sight" is Acts 7:31 (the burning bush).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Acts	11	1.1
Matthew	1	0.1

Strikingly concentrated: 11 of 12 occurrences are in Acts, making ὅραμα a distinctive Lukan term for the Spirit's visual guidance of the early church's mission. The single non-Acts occurrence (Matt 17:9) refers to the Transfiguration. Absent entirely from the Gospels (except Matt 17:9), Pauline epistles, and Johannine writings.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Waking Supernatural Spectacle (Seen with Eyes Open)¶

Matt 17:9 — "Tell the ὅραμα to no man" (the Transfiguration — Peter, James, John seeing Moses, Elijah, and the glorified Christ)
Acts 7:31 — "Moses saw it, he wondered at the ὅραμα" (the burning bush)

2. Vision Given in the Night¶

Acts 16:9 — "A vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia"
Acts 18:9 — "Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision"

3. Vision Given in a Trance (ἔκστασις)¶

Acts 10:17 — "Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean"
Acts 10:19 — "While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him"
Acts 11:5 — "in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend"

4. Vision Containing a Messenger / Named Figure¶

Acts 9:10 — "to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias"
Acts 9:12 — "hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in"
Acts 10:3 — "He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour... an angel of God coming in to him"

5. Vision as Divine Directive for Mission¶

Acts 16:10 — "after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia"
Acts 12:9 — "wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ὁράω (horáō)	G3708	6x (50%)	cognate verb "to see" — "he saw a vision" (etymological pairing)
ἔπω (épō)	G2036	5x (42%)	"said" — the vision contains divine speech
ἀνήρ (anḗr)	G435	4x (33%)	"a man" appears in the vision (Ananias, Macedonian, angel-as-man)
κύριος (kýrios)	G2962	4x (33%)	"the Lord" is the speaker/giver of the vision
ἄγγελος (ággelos)	G32	2x (17%)	angelic figure within the vision
Κορνήλιος (Kornḗlios)	G2883	2x (17%)	Cornelius narrative (Acts 10)
Ἀνανίας (Ananías)	G367	2x (17%)	Ananias narrative (Acts 9)
Παῦλος (Paûlos)	G3972	2x (17%)	Paul as recipient
Πέτρος (Pétros)	G4074	2x (17%)	Peter as recipient
νύξ (nýx)	G3571	2x (17%)	"night" — temporal setting
εἰσέρχομαι (eisérchomai)	G1525	2x (17%)	figures "come in" within the vision

Pattern: ὅραμα consistently appears with (a) the cognate verb ὁράω, (b) divine speech (ἔπω/λέγω/κύριος), and (c) a named human recipient. The vision is audible as well as visual, and always directive.

Word Family / Cognates (from G3708 ὁράω)¶

G3708 ὁράω (horáō) — root verb: to see, perceive
G3706 ὅρασις (hórasis) — the act of seeing, an outward appearance (3v)
G3707 ὁρατός (horatós) — visible
G3701 ὀπτασία (optasía) — a vision, act of being seen (4v)

Synonyms¶

No direct synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G3705.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G3705.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ὀπτασία (optasía)	G3701	"a vision," "vision"	emphasizes the act/experience of appearing; used of 2 Cor 12:1 "visions and revelations"; rarer and more exalted register
ὅρασις (hórasis)	G3706	"vision," "sight"	names the faculty or external appearance (Rev 4:3 "in sight like a jasper"); only once overlaps with ὅραμα as a visionary noun (Acts 2:17)
ὄναρ (ónar)	G3677	"dream" (Matthew)	specifically a dream during sleep; Matthew's preferred term for Joseph's and the Magi's guidance
ἐνύπνιον (enýpnion)	G1798	"dream" (LXX/Acts 2:17)	quoted from Joel: "young men shall see visions (ὅραμα LXX variant/ὅρασις), old men shall dream dreams"
ἔκστασις (ékstasis)	G1611	"trance" (Acts 10:10, 11:5)	the psychic/bodily state in which ὅραμα is received
χᾶζον / LXX ὅρασις	H2377 (Heb)	"vision"	OT prophetic vision; LXX typically uses ὅρασις not ὅραμα for חָזוֹן

Hebrew Source (Greek ← Hebrew/Aramaic, LXX PMI ranking)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score
חֵזֵו (chêzêv, Aramaic)	H2376	4	13.56
לֵילְיָא (lêylᵉyâʼ, Aramaic "night")	H3916	3	12.85
מוֹרָא (môrâʼ, "fear/awe")	H4172	3	11.10
שָׁמַיִן (shâmayin, Aramaic "heaven")	H8065	4	11.07
חֲזָא (chăzâʼ, Aramaic "to see")	H2370	3	9.34
מַרְאֶה (marʼeh)	H4758	4	9.30
מוֹפֵת (môwphêth, "wonder")	H4159	3	8.96
אוֹת (ʼôwth, "sign")	H226	3	7.41

The LXX alignment is dominated by Aramaic Daniel vocabulary (חֵזֵו, חֲזָא, לֵילְיָא, שָׁמַיִן) — ὅραμα in the LXX most consistently translates the Aramaic "vision of the night" cluster of Daniel 2 and 7, linking NT Lukan usage to the apocalyptic visionary tradition of Daniel. Hebrew חָזוֹן (H2377) typically goes to ὅρασις, not ὅραμα.