"mystery"

[Jeshurun]

There are only three occurrences of the word "mystery" in the Bible. The first occurrence is at 2 Thessalonians 2:<sup>

<div align="left">5</sup> And upon her forehead was written a name, a mystery: "Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth." ⁶ And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.</div>
Well, on catching sight of her I wondered with great wonderment. ⁷ And so the angel said to me: "Why is it you wondered? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the wild beast that is carrying her and that has the seven heads and the ten horns: ⁸ The wild beast that you saw was, but is not, and yet is about to ascend out of the abyss, and it is to go off into destruction. And when they see how the wild beast was, but is not, and yet will be present, those who dwell on the earth will wonder admiringly, but their names have not been written upon the scroll of life from the founding of the world.</span>

Mystery is defined as:

noun (plural mys·ter·ies)Definition: 1. puzzling event or situation: an event or situation that is difficult to fully understand or explain
2. unknown one: an unknown, secret, or hidden person or thing
3. strangeness: the quality of being strange, secret, or puzzling
4. story about puzzling event: a book, play, or movie about a puzzling event, especially an unsolved crime, that makes great use of suspense
5. christianity something known by divine revelation: in Christian belief, a belief or truth that is considered to be beyond human understanding and can be made known only by divine revelation
6. christianity incident from life of Jesus Christ: an incident in the life of Jesus Christ that Christians believe to have special spiritual significance, especially, in Roman Catholicism, one of 15 events including the Annunciation and the Crucifixion
7. christianity Christian sacrament: one of the Christian sacraments, especially Communion
8. religion religious rite: a secret rite or ceremony performed by a religious group, especially in one of the ancient Mediterranean religions ( often used in the plural )
9. religion group of worshipers: a religious group, especially in one of the ancient Mediterranean religions, that has secret rites



Here are some similar words from the thesaurus:


mystery (adj)
Synonyms: unknown, <span style="color:#ff0000">anonymous, unidentified, secret, clandestine, furtive, enigmatic, covert, cryptic

[Steadfast]

Dear Brother Jesh,

I happened to be working on this word &#39;musterion&#39; recently and thought the information I found might be helpful for everyone.

Nice work, :clap: but actually the word &#39;mystery&#39; appears more often than we might think, which is why I find the lexicon studies the final authority in my own research. I found that using the lexicon gives greater depth of meaning and understanding in many instances.

This word study reveals the additional places where musterion occurs. I didn&#39;t check the OT for the Hebrew comparative, but that might also turn up something interesting. :)

Musterion

From E-Sword:

G3466

musterion (moos-tay&#39;-ree-on) From a derivative of μύω muo (to shut the mouth); a secret or "mystery" (through the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious rites): - mystery.

From:

http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=3466
hidden thing, secret, mystery generally mysteries, religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to ordinary mortals
a hidden or secret thing, not obvious to the understanding
a hidden purpose or counsel secret will 1c
of men 1c
of God: the secret counsels which govern God in dealing with the righteous, which are hidden from ungodly and wicked men but plain to the godly
in rabbinic writings, it denotes the mystic or hidden sense of an OT saying
of an image or form seen in a vision
of a dream
Matthew 13:11 – He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Mark 4:11 – And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables.

Luke 8:10 – And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

Romans 11:25 – For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Romans 16:25 –Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.

1 Corinthians 2:7 – But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.

1 Corinthians 4:1 – Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

1 Corinthians 13:2 – And thoughI have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity,I am nothing.

1 Corinthians 14:2 – For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

1 Corinthians 15:51 – Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.

Ephesians 1:9 – Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.

Ephesians 3:3 – How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words).

Ephesians 3:4 – Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ).

Ephesians 3:9 – And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:32 – This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Ephesians 6:19 – And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.

Colossians 1:26 – Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints.

Colossians 1:27 – To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 2:2 – That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.

Colossians 4:3 – Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds.

2 Thessalonians 2:7 – For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

1 Timothy 3:9 – Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

1 Timothy 3:16 – And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Revelation 1:20 – The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Revelation 10:7 – But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Revelation 17:5 – And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Revelation 17:7 – And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

Love, :Love:

Steadfast

[Jeshurun]

Thank you Steadfast. My Watchtower-trained brain still forgets there are other translations besides the NWT. But of course you know that my point was that Jehovah was indicating that BTG&#39;s influence would be coming from a secret, clandestine or hidden source. They are responsible for all the bloodshed on the earth, including the holy ones.

That&#39;s the whole point about what goes on in the world. The orders or directives come from the top down, like any organized crime. And of those underneath who fail to follow orders, they are sleeping with the fishes.

[Steadfast]

Dear Brother Jesh,

Check your IMs for a great link. :D

Love,

Steadfast