Bite 17: Word Study–Sealed

Before we get going, let’s remember to pray. Illumination of our hearts will only happen by the power of the Spirit, so let’s remember to ask for it. I’ve been listening to some old Tim Keller sermons on prayer this week and he speaks regularly of not just knowing about God, but experiencing what we know about God. To have it hit us emotionally; in the heart. In particular this week, I’d like that for myself. Not an intellectual exercise to know God, but to have my heart truly feel his presence and power. It’s through the discipline of prayer the Spirit works that in our hearts.

As well as praying for illumination, we want to stay grounded in context. We’re getting up close and personal with trees; we could easily lose sight of the forest. Today we are going to investigate the Greek word behind the English word sealed. This is the section where our word is found:

¹³ In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:13–14 (ESV)

Cross References

This Greek word is used a number of times in the NT, most heavily in Revelation. Trying to keep this Bite on the small side, I choose not to tackle how it is used in Revelation because not only would I need to think about how the word is used, but I would have to think about what I don’t understand in the midst of that genre of literature. I can only focus on one or maybe two things at a time. Revelation is a boat-load of stuff to think about all by itself. I’m not dismissing Revelation; my intention is to stick to Paul’s usage in our exploration today. Therefore, since Revelation is not written by our author and it’s not our type of literature, I’m choosing to count it as study for another day.

Here is the wheel of translation for the ESV from my Logos Bible Software. In Greek the lemma (the word we would look up in the dictionary) is σφραγίζω and transliterated, it is sphragizō.

You can see the word is used 15 times in the NT: 3 times in the gospels, 3 times by Paul, 8 times in Revelation, and once it is translated as delivered. Heeding the principle from our concentric circles, we will focus on how Paul uses it.

(Taking a moment to consider my style as a writer. I apologize to anyone who is even more of a grammar Nazi than I am. I notice that I cannot, to save my life, be consistent between present tense and past tense when discussing what Paul wrote. Sometimes I will say that he wrote in the past tense and sometimes that he is writing currently. I reconcile my goofiness by thinking that both are correct. He did write in the past. And, Hebrew style, in order to make the writing more dynamic, was to write in more of a present tense. I apologize to anyone for whom the shifting about is jarring. I am aware of it and I’m working on becoming more consistent. I’m leaning toward going Hebrew and sticking with present tense. I think it’s more arty. Therefore it is more fun. I like fun. End of side conversation.)

Here are the 3 occasions when Paul uses the word σφραγίζω (sphragizō).

¹³ In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit

Ephesians 1:13 (ESV)

³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Ephesians 4:30 (ESV)

²¹ And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, ²² and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

2 Corinthians 1:21–22 (ESV)

Let’s make a list of what we learn from these verses.

• Getting sealed comes from hearing the gospel and believing in Jesus
• Recipients are sealed by Holy Spirit for the day of redemption
• God has put his seal on us (the Corinthian recipients)

From this list did Jesus seal us? Did the Holy Spirit seal us? Or did God seal us? Well, yes.

I believe what we see in the process of getting sealed is the trinity acting as a separate but cohesive unit to bring about salvation. The end result: we are sealed. Based on these verses, we can see the triune God active together and the truth that we are sealed, but we need to dig with a different tool to start to see what the definition is. What did the original audience hear when the letter was read out loud to them?

Let’s see how the translators tried to present the word to bring us understanding.

Translation Comparison

We will use the NET, NASB, RSV, and LEB for our harmonization to try and discern the definition.

¹³ And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ—you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit,¹⁴ who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:13–14 (NET)

¹³ In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, ¹⁴ who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:13–14 (NASB95)

¹³ In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:13–14 (RSV)

¹³ in whom also you, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also when you believed you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:13–14 (LEB)

The only bit of additional information I see from these is the NET translators included the English word marked in the verse. Thinking about all the other usages of the Greek word behind the word seal up in that list from Logos, did you notice how it was used?

• …sealing the stone…
• …sets his seal to this…
• …has set his seal…
• …have sealed the servants…on their foreheads.

Because I’m attempting to leave my backpack of understanding at the door, I’m choosing not to make an assumption about what seal in English means in any of the verses. However, glancing at how it is used all over, I can derive from the context that it is very likely something that is observable. Perhaps you’re more observant than I am, but the NET variance tipped me off to notice it.

Now my list has one more detail added:

• Getting sealed comes from hearing the gospel and believing in Jesus
• Recipients are sealed by Holy Spirit for the day of redemption
• God has put his seal on us (the Corinthian recipients)
• The seal is some kind of mark

Let’s scurry off to the dictionaries.

Dictionaries

To refresh our memories, the Greek lemma (the word we would look up in the dictionary) is σφραγίζω and transliterated, it is sphragizō. In case we see the word in the entry of the dictionary, I want you to be able to recognize it and hopefully understand it better.

This entry in BDAG gets thick to wade through, but if you can untangle it, it is interesting reading.

③ to mark with a seal as a means of identification, mark, seal (Eur., Iph. T. 1372; Mel., P. 16, 104 al.; in pap, of all kinds of animals), so that the mark denoting ownership also carries w. it the protection of the owner (on the apotropaic aspect cp. TestSol 14:2): σφραγίσωμεν τοὺς δούλους τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπὶ τῶν μετώπων αὐτῶν Rv 7:3 (marking w. a seal on the forehead in the cult of Mithra: Tertullian, Praescr. Haer. 40). Corresp. ἐσφραγισμένοι vs. 4ab, 5, 8 (on the concept of sealing eschatologically cp. Ezk 9:4ff; Is 44:5; PsSol 15:6, 9; 4 Esdr 6:5f; 8:51ff. S. also LBrun, Übriggebliebene u. Märtyrer in Apk: StKr 102, 1930, 215–31). This forms a basis for understanding the imagery which speaks of those who enter the Christian community as being sealed with or by the Holy Spirit Eph 1:13; cp. 4:30.

¹

I see the key concepts presented as the mark or seal indicates ownership and with it the protection of the owner. Continuing through the entry past some of the words we probably don’t recognize because of the language barrier, we get to the description of how Paul uses it in Ephesians. Both in our text and in chapter 4. Additionally there are descriptions of the sealing of foreheads in Revelation, there is a mention of a cult in the writings of Tertullian, plus the examples of sealing that occurred in the OT in Ezk 9:4ff and Is 44:5. All of those examples, according here to BDAG “forms a basis for understanding the imagery which speaks of those who enter the Christian community as being sealed with or by the Holy Spirit.”

Moving along to TDNTA, if you have access to the full article, it gives a thorough definition which I think helps frame the context in which the original audience would have heard this word. I can’t include the entire entry here, but I will quote a couple of excerpts.

A. Seal in the Nonbiblical World.

2. Legal Significance. The seal serves as a legal protection and guarantee. It is thus placed on property, on wills, etc. Laws prohibit the misuse of seals, which owners often break just before death. Seals serve as proof of identity. They also protect houses, graves, etc. against violation. Both testator and witnesses seal wills. In Roman law all six witnesses must break their own seals to open the will, and in South Babylonia beneficiaries signify or seal when the inheritance is divided. Seals also serve as accreditation, e.g., of weights and measures. The seal plays an important public role in government. All authorities have seals. The king’s seal confers authorization. In both private and public life holding a seal expresses an element of power.

²

Perhaps in your world, seals are a big deal. In my world, I never see a seal, consequently, I don’t give them even a thought. With all the kingdoms, Roman authorities, and governmental upheaval in the times that Paul was writing, it sounds like seals were critical to the legal system. And maybe they still are, but I’m not in that realm.

Continuing on in TDNTA, the article explains the significance of the seal in the OT as well as in Judaism. Traveling through time and its usage, the description turns to how it’s used in the NT. Our usage is set in contrast to the “literal sense” in the entry, and is called the “transferred sense”.

Here is the section that mentions Paul’s usage as a verb and a noun in other letters as well as our text.

b. The Transferred Sense. In 1 Cor. 9:2 the church itself serves to confirm or validate Paul’s apostleship….In Rom. 4:11 Paul describes circumcision as a seal, not so much of belonging to God as of restoration to fellowship with God by faith. Circumcision does not replace justification but follows and confirms it; it denotes membership in God’s justified people. In 2 Cor. 1:22 the sealing of the Spirit refers to God’s making believers his inviolable possession. In Eph. 1:13–14 and 4:30 the Spirit is a pledge of the inheritance and hence the seal by which believers are marked and appointed for redemption. There is no specific reference to baptism, and the main idea is that of the marking of those who belong to God

³

From these explanations, I see words that try to convey what happens around a seal:

• confirm
• validate
• restoration
• denoting
• makes

The conclusion is succinct. What belongs to God is marked by this seal. Finishing up with dictionaries, let’s take a look at the definition in the Greek section of MCE.

In a figurative sense, sphragizō certifies the truth of something (Jn. 3:33; cf. Rom. 15:28), and particularly the approval of God (Jn. 6:27; Rev. 7:3–5, 8). Paul says that believers “are sealed” with the Holy Spirit as a “deposit guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Cor. 1:22; cf. Eph. 1:13). In addition to marking believers as authentic, the Holy Spirit “has sealed [believers] for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:13)

⁴

Distilling what we’ve gleaned from the dictionaries, let’s finish the list for now for the definition of sealed.

• Getting sealed comes from hearing the gospel and believing in Jesus
• Recipients are sealed by Holy Spirit for the day of redemption
• God has put his seal on us (the Corinthian recipients)
• The seal is some kind of mark
• Seal indicates God’s possession
• This seal is not visibly observable
  • BDAG uses the word “imagery” for being sealed
  • TDNTA uses the description “transferred sense”
  • TDNTA also points out there isn’t even an outward sign like baptism associated with the seal
  • MCE uses the term “figurative sense”

Conclusion

Striking that the way seal is used in our text is not like the seal that human authorities use where the mark is apparent, isn’t it? This seal is a figurative “seal”. It’s a real seal, but it isn’t visible. As far as this promise and guarantee, it is not an outward sign or mark. The belief is by faith and we can know we are sealed by faith. It’s an attempt on God’s part to draw us a picture of how securely we are part of his family. We have a legal mark on us that cannot be broken.

Our Bible Study Bite for today is again to remember to leave the backpack of understanding at the door. When we come across a word like seal, especially when it is tied to a word like mark, without thinking about it we can assume there must be something visible–what we look like. We do not see evidence of that in any of the texts Paul used the word.

Next time we are going to put the entire passage together and apply it.

1. Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 980). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
2. Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 1127). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
3. Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 1128). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
4. Mounce, W. D. (2006). Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (p. 620). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.