fā´vẽr (חן, ḥēn, רצון, rācōn, with other Hebrew words; χάρις, cháris): Means generally good will, acceptance, and the benefits flowing from these; in older usage it meant also the countenance, hence, appearance. Alternating in English Versions of the Bible with “grace,” it is used chiefly of man, but sometimes also of God ([Gen 18:3]; [Gen 30:27]; [Gen 39:21]; [Exo 3:21]; [2Sa 15:25], “in the eyes of Yahweh,” etc.). It is used perhaps in the sense of “countenance” in [Pro 31:30], “Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain” (the King James Version), where for “favor” the Revised Version (British and American) has “grace”; the reference is to external appearance. “Favored” is used in the sense of “appearance” in the phrase “well-favored” ([Gen 29:17]; [Gen 39:6]; [Gen 41:2], [Gen 41:4]).; conversely, “ill-favored” ([Gen 41:3], [Gen 41:4]). For “favor” the Revised Version (British and American) has “have pity on” ([Psa 109:12]), “good will” ([Pro 14:9]), “peace” ([Son 8:10]); the English Revised Version “grace” ([Rth 2:13]), the American Standard Revised Version “kindness” ([Est 2:17]; [Dan 1:9]), etc. In the American Standard Revised Version “the acceptable year of the Lord” ([Isa 61:2]) is changed Into “the year of Yahweh’s favor”; “Do I now persuade men” ([Gal 1:10]) into, “Am I now seeking the favor of men,” and there are other the Revised Version (British and American) changes.
