To observe means to take heed, keep, watch, regard, or follow. In Scripture it may refer to keeping a feast or law, remembering a saying, watching over someone, or giving attention to something.
Definition
To observe means to take heed, keep, watch, regard, follow, or care for. Its meaning depends on the context: one may observe a feast or law, keep a saying in mind, watch someone, regard vain things, or keep a person safe.
Biblical Usage
Biblical translations use observe for keeping a feast or law, remembering a saying, watching people, regarding vanities, caring for someone, and protecting someone. “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation” means it does not come in a manner that can simply be observed, though the exact force is disputed.
Historical Background
The word represents several Hebrew and Greek expressions, chiefly one meaning to keep or watch. Some King James usages are archaic and are clarified by later translations such as remember, watch, regard, care for, and keep safe.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>ob-zurv' (representing various words, but chiefly shamar, "to keep," "to watch" etc.): Properly means "to take heed to," as in Isa 42:20, "Thou seest many things, but thou observest not" and from this sense all the usages of the word in English Versions of the Bible can be understood. Most of them, indeed are quite good modern usage (as "observe a feast," Ex 12:17, etc.; "observe a law" Le 19:37, etc.), but a few are archaic. So Ge 37:11, the King James Version "His father observed the saying" (the Revised Version (British and American) "kept the saying in mind"); Ho 13:7, "As a leopard .... will I observe them" (the Revised Version (British and American) "watch"); Jon 2:8, "observe lying vanities" (the Revised Version (British and American) "regard," but "give heed to" would be clearer; compare Ps 107:43). Still farther from modern usage is Ho 14:8, "I have heard him, and observed him" (the Revised Version (British and American) "will regard"; the meaning is "care for"); and Mr 6:20, "For Herod feared John .... and observed him" (the Revised Version (British and American) "kept him safe"). In the last case, the King James Version editors seem to have used "to observe" as meaning "to give reverence to."</p><p>Observation is found in Lu 17:20, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation" (meta paratereseos). The meaning of the English is, "so that it can be observed," but the exact force of the underlying Greek ("visibly"? "so that it can be computed in advance"?) is a matter of extraordinary dispute at the present time.</p><p>See KINGDOM OF GOD.</p><p>Burton Scott Easton</p>
