A view (the act of seeing); also an appearance (the thing seen), whether (real) a shape (especially if handsome, comeliness; often plural the looks), or (mental) a vision
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The Hebrew noun mareh can describe ordinary appearance, something seen, visible form, or a prophetic vision. Narratives use it for human beauty and physical features; priestly texts use visible appearance in careful examination; Exodus and Ezekiel describe manifestations with guarded comparison; Daniel speaks of visions that require interpretation.
Reader summary
Full entry for מַרְאֶה (H4758) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Hebrew noun mareh can describe ordinary appearance, something seen, visible form, or a prophetic vision. Narratives use it for human beauty and physical features; priestly texts use visible appearance in careful examination; Exodus and Ezekiel describe manifestations with guarded comparison; Daniel speaks of visions that require interpretation.
The BSB source-word alignment has 103 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include . . . (20), The vision (5), his appearance (4), appear (3), their appearance (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 2:9. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (36), Daniel (12), Genesis (11), Leviticus (11).
The Hebrew noun mareh can describe ordinary appearance, something seen, visible form, or a prophetic vision. Narratives use it for human beauty and physical features; priestly texts use visible appearance in careful examination; Exodus and Ezekiel describe manifestations with guarded comparison; Daniel speaks of visions that require interpretation. The noun therefore does not make everything seen a revelation, and it does not make outward attractiveness a trustworthy measure of character.
First Samuel explicitly contrasts human attention to appearance with the Lord’s regard for the heart. Responsible teaching follows genre, grammar, and context to distinguish observation, comparison, symbol, and God-given vision. It tests claims about spiritual experiences by Scripture and accountable discernment, protects people from manipulative vision claims, and avoids treating hallucinations, intrusive images, dreams, disability, or unusual perception as automatic evidence of divine favor, sin, or mental illness.
Mareh spans ordinary visible appearance, an observed condition, a striking sight, and visionary representation. Narrative and prophetic contexts mark the difference, while comparison language often preserves the limits of what a witness can describe.
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the Lord does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the Lord sees the heart.”
The Lord rejects appearance and height as decisive criteria, contrasting human sight with divine knowledge of the heart.
So Moses thought, “I must go over and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burning up?”
Moses turns aside to examine the remarkable sight of a bush that burns without being consumed before God addresses him.
While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.
Daniel seeks understanding of a vision he has seen, showing that receiving imagery does not equal possessing its interpretation.
The vision of the evenings and the mornings that has been spoken is true. Now you must seal up the vision, for it concerns the distant future.”
The interpreted vision is declared true yet sealed for a distant future, binding its meaning to revealed explanation and timing.
The appearance of the brilliant light all around Him was like that of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell facedown and heard a voice speaking.
Ezekiel repeatedly uses resemblance language around the appearance of divine glory, speaking reverently without claiming exhaustive description.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. a view (the act of seeing); also an appearance (the thing seen), whether (real) a shape (especially if handsome, comeliness; often plural the looks), or (mental) a vision
a view (the act of seeing); also an appearance (the thing seen), whether (real) a shape (especially if handsome, comeliness; often plural the looks), or (mental) a vision BDB: sight Usage: × apparently, appearance(-reth), × as soon as beautiful(-ly), countenance, fair, favoured, form, goodly, to look (up) on (to), look(-eth), pattern, to see, seem, sight, visage, vision.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
מַרְאֶה is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Mareh trains readers to honor sight without surrendering discernment to it. Samuel sees Jesse’s impressive son, but God warns that human beings look at outward appearance while the Lord sees the heart. The lesson is not that bodies are unimportant; it is that visible traits cannot carry the moral and vocational weight people assign them. Moses notices a remarkable sight and approaches, yet the authority of the encounter comes from God’s spoken self-disclosure, not spectacle alone.
Daniel receives imagery but must seek understanding, and the vision’s meaning is governed by interpretation within the book. Ezekiel’s repeated phrases of likeness and appearance show reverent restraint before divine glory. Churches should therefore resist beauty bias, ableism, racialized judgment, and charisma-driven leadership selection. They should also test claimed visions without ridicule or credulity, distinguish spiritual discernment from clinical diagnosis, and encourage qualified care when unusual perceptions cause distress or danger.
Scripture, communal accountability, truthful fruit, and the passage’s own explanation remain more reliable than intensity or novelty.
1Sam.16.7
Mareh is a Hebrew noun related to seeing and can mean appearance, visible form, sight, or vision. Formulae such as appearance of and likeness of, along with genre and supplied interpretation, prevent these senses from being flattened together.
Jesus refuses judgment by appearances and teaches recognition by fruit. The apostolic writings test prophetic speech, center revelation in Christ, reject favoritism, and call communities to sober discernment rather than despising every claim or believing every spiritual experience.