The meaning of Orphan in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)

or'-fan: This word occurs once only in the Old Testament (Lamentations 5:3, where it stands for yathom, elsewhere rendered "fatherless," and in the Septuagint always orphanos); in the Apocrypha it occurs 3 times (2 Esdras 2:20; Tobit 1:8; 2 Macc 8:28). There is no clear case where it means the loss of both parents. The Scriptures devote considerable attention to the widow and orphan, and the idea is that the child is fatherless. It is not found in the King James Version of the New Testament; but the Greek word orphanos occurs twice, John 14:18 (the King James Version "comfortless," the Revised Version (British and American) "desolate," margin "orphans") and James 1:27 ("fatherless").

See FATHERLESS.

D. Miall Edwards

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