📖 Biblical Definition
"Behold" is the Bible's shout of "look here!" used to arrest the reader's attention at decisive moments. "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). "Behold, the virgin shall conceive" (Isa 7:14). "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev 21:5). "Behold, I am coming soon" (Rev 22:12). The word hinneh appears over 1,000 times in the OT; idou over 200 in the NT. When Scripture says "behold," stop reading fast — something weighty is next. Modern translations sometimes render it "look" or "see" or omit it entirely, at the cost of the verbal spotlight.
📜 KJV Continual Tense
In KJV: beholdeth — sustained, attentive looking.
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"Behold!" is more than a synonym for "look." When the KJV uses beholdeth, it marks sustained attentive seeing. James 1:23-24 uses it sharply: a man "beholdeth his natural face in a glass" — he looks long enough to register but not long enough to be transformed.
Contrast Paul's 2 Corinthians 3:18: "we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image." The continuous beholding is what transforms.
Beholdeth demands the kind of looking that lingers.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
BE-HOLD', v.t.
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BE-HOLD', v.t. [Sax. behealdan.] To fix the eyes upon; to see with attention. As an interjection, equivalent to the Greek idou and Hebrew hinneh, used in Scripture to call the reader's attention to something of capital importance — an angelic annunciation, a prophetic vision, a great promise, a warning of coming judgment. "Behold" in the Bible is the verbal equivalent of a spotlight striking the stage.
📖 Key Scripture
John 1:29 — "The next day He saw Jesus coming toward Him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!""
Isaiah 7:14 — "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel."
Revelation 21:5 — "And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new.""
Revelation 22:12 — "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern translations sometimes erase "behold." Recover it. When the Bible says "behold," it means stop and look.
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Scripture's "behold" is a deliberate attention-arresting device used at the Bible's most important moments. Contemporary translations (NIV, CSB) sometimes smooth it to "look" or drop it entirely, under the theory that English readers find "behold" archaic. The cost is theological: the verbal spotlight that the Hebrew and Greek pause on is washed out. Read with "behold" intact. When you see it, slow down. What follows is never ordinary.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
H2009 — hinneh. G2400 — idou.
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H2009 — hinneh (הִנֵּה) — behold; attention-getter, appears 1,000+ times in the OT.
G2400 — idou (ἰδού) — behold; NT attention-getter.
Usage
""Behold" is Scripture's spotlight. Translations that remove it are editing out the stage directions."
"Behold, the Lamb. Behold, the virgin. Behold, I make all things new. Stop when the Bible tells you to stop."