FACE (אֲנְפִּין, אַפ֮, H678, face, nose; עַ֫יִנ֒, H6524, eyes, aspect; פָּנִים, face, the commonest term; Gr. ὄψις, G4071, face; πρόσωπον, G4725, face). Not only does the word refer to the face of a man (Gen 3:19; James 1:23) but also the face of the flocks (Gen 30:40), the seraphim (Isa 6:2), the living creatures around the throne (Rev 4:7), the face of God (Num 6:25), the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:6), the face of the waters (Gen 1:2), of all the earth (1:29), the moon (Job 26:9) and the sky (Matt 16:3). The face is all the head except the brain case. Nose and eyes may stand for the whole countenance. The man himself may be meant (Deut 7:10) as in the oriental circumlocution for “I.”

The face reflects feelings. “Cain was very angry and his countenance fell” (Gen 4:5) or “a glad heart makes a cheerful countenance” (Prov 15:13). The face was covered in mourning like David’s after Absalom’s defection and death (2 Sam 19:4), or in the doom of Haman (Esth 7:8), or by a harlot (Gen 38:15), although “covered his face with his fat” suggests prosperity and arrogance (Job 15:27). Moses hid his face in reverence (Exod 3:6) but put a veil on his face when talking with his people to dim the shine received while talking with God (Exod 34:29-35).

To seek the face is to desire an audience (Ps 105:4) but to turn away or hide the face is rejection (13:1), or to forsake the house of God (2 Chron 29:6), and to harden the face is to promise no appeal (Prov 21:29). A woman falls on her face in humility and astonishment (Ruth 2:10). Favors are granted when the face is lifted up (Num 6:25) but to spit in the face was a grave insult (Matt 26:67). Determination was evident when Christ set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51) and calamity when the face was set against a people (Jer 44:11).

Much is said about the face of God. It means God Himself or His glory in its fullest which could not be seen by Moses before he received the Ten Commandments (Exod 33:20). When Jacob said, “I have seen God face to face,” he was referring to the relationship of closest intimacy he felt because of his wrestling with the man by the ford of Jabbok and the blessing given to him. “No one has ever seen God” (John 1:18) face to face but “the knowledge of the glory of God” is seen in the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:6). “Speaking face to face” suggests that God shows His attributes even though not in their completeness, yet His servants are promised that they shall see His face (Rev 22:4) when they approach the throne of God in the new Jerusalem. The service of the priests is called appearing before the face of the Lord (Deut 10:8).

God hides His face when angry (Job 13:24), sets His face against the wicked for evil (Jer 44:11) and hides His face from sin, both to show His displeasure with it (Ps 27:9) and to show He has forgiven it (51:9).

The shewbread in the Ark was called the bread of the Presence, but a literal tr. is the bread of the face (Exod 25:30).