Original Word: κανών, όνος, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: kanón
Phonetic Spelling: (kan-ohn')
Short Definition: rule, regulation, province
Definition: (lit: a level, ruler), a rule, regulation, rule of conduct or doctrine, (b) a measured (defined) area, province.

2583 kanṓn – properly, a rod (bar) used as a measuring standard, originally, a cane or reed used as a standard of measure; (figuratively) a rule; a standard or norm (see Gal 6:16).

2583 /kanṓn ("rule, standard") was used for a summary of orthodox Christian doctrine in the early Church (its "consensual theology") – called "the rule (kanōn) of truth" or "rule of faith" (regula fidei). This represented the core theological convictions prevailing in the local churches in the "post-apostolic era" (particularly from ad 100 on).

These beliefs ("rule of faith") were written down by Irenaeus (about ad 185) and Tertullian (about ad 200). They emphasized: Christ came in the flesh through a virgin birth; His physical resurrection; and the glorification of all believers at Christ's coming (i.e. through the physical resurrection of their bodies). See: Ignatius (Philadelphians 7-9); Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3:17); and Tertullian (Prescription, 9,13,37,44).

STRONGS NT 2583: κανών

κανών, κανόνος, ὁ (κάννα, Hebrew קָנֶה a cane, reed; Arabic: a reed, and a spear, and a straight stick or staff (cf. Vanicek, Fremdwörter etc., p. 21)), properly, a rod or straight piece of rounded wood to which anything is fastened to keep it straight; used for various purposes (see Passow (or Liddell and Scott), under the word); a measuring rod, rule; a carpenter's line or measuring tape, Schol. on Euripides, Hippolytus, 468; hence, equivalent to τό μέτρον τοῦ πηδηματος (Pollux, Onom. 3, 30, 151), the measure of a leap, as in the Olympic games; accordingly in the N. T.

1. "a definitely bounded or fixed space within the limits of which one's power or influence is confined; the province assigned one; one's sphere of activity": 2 Corinthians 10:13, 15f.

2. Metaphorically, any rule or standard, a principle or law of investigating, judging, living, acting (often so in classical Greek, as τοῦ καλοῦ, Euripides, Hec. 602; ὁροι τῶν ἀγαθῶν καί κανονες, Demosthenes, pro cor., p. 324, 27): Galatians 6:16; Philippians 3:16 Rec. Cf. Credner, Zur Gesch. des Kanons (Hal., 1847), pp. 6ff; (especially Westcott, The Canon of the N. T., Appendix A; briefly in B. D. under the word Canon of Scripture; for examples of later usage see Sophocles' Lexicon, under the word).

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

line, rule.

From kane (a straight reed, i.e. Rod); a rule ("canon"), i.e. (figuratively) a standard (of faith and practice); by implication, a boundary, i.e. (figuratively) a sphere (of activity) -- line, rule.

Forms and Transliterations

κανονα κανόνα κανονι κανόνι κανονος κανόνος kanona kanóna kanoni kanóni kanonos kanónos

Links

Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts