פָּנִים
pânîym · paw-neem' · noun · “face, presence”
Panim (always plural in form) means face or presence — and is one of the warmest biblical pictures of God’s nearness. The priestly blessing asks God to make his face shine on us.
Panim covers the face, and so by extension someone’s presence — to be “before the face” of another is to be in their presence. The word is always plural in form, perhaps because a face shows many sides.
It anchors some of Scripture’s tenderest words. God speaks to Moses “face to face” (panim el-panim); the priestly blessing asks that the LORD’s face shine on his people; the deepest hope of the Psalms is to “seek God’s face.”
Definition: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
KJV usage: [phrase] accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, [idiom] as (long as), at, [phrase] battle, [phrase] because (of), [phrase] beseech, countenance, edge, [phrase] employ, endure, [phrase] enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-part), form(-er time, -ward), from, front, heaviness, [idiom] him(-self), [phrase] honourable, [phrase] impudent, [phrase] in, it, look(-eth) (-s), [idiom] me, [phrase] meet, [idiom] more than, mouth, of, off, (of) old (time), [idiom] on, open, [phrase] out of, over against, the partial, person, [phrase] please, presence, propect, was purposed, by reason of, [phrase] regard, right forth, [phrase] serve, [idiom] shewbread, sight, state, straight, [phrase] street, [idiom] thee, [idiom] them(-selves), through ([phrase] -out), till, time(-s) past, (un-) to(-ward), [phrase] upon, upside ([phrase] down), with(-in, [phrase] -stand), [idiom] ye, [idiom] you.
Reference gloss from Strong's Concordance (1890, public domain).
Original BibleDawn word study. Original-language data and the public-domain Strong's (1890) gloss are referenced; see sources.