The Greek word doxa in the Greek translations of the Old Testament and of the New Testament is usually rendered "glory" in the English versions, a translation of the Latin gloria. The Hebrew word kabod is usually rendered "honour" when applied to man, but rendered "glory" when applied to our Heavenly Father. Doxa means opinion, estimation, esteem, and repute. Kabad means to be heavy or make weighty, and esteem in its figurative sense.

Funk and Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary of the English Language has these three definitions under "glory," as follows: (1) in religious symbolism, the complete representation of an emanation of light from the person of a sanctified being, consisting of the aureole and the nimbus; (2) the quality of being radiant; as the glory of the sun; (3) any ring of light; a halo. Neither the Hebrew words kabod and kabad nor the Greek words doxa and dokeo carry these meanings.

The Church identified Elohim with the Sun-deity, which was the prevailing deity of the Roman emperors, the Roman capital, and the Roman empire. Gloria, a Roman goddess, was personified on an icon as a woman whose upper body was almost naked, holding a circle on which are zodiac signs. In the dictionaries, encyclopedias, and ecclesiastical books are found many illustrations of our Saviour, the Virgin, and the saints, encircled with radiant circles or emanations of light around them.

Instead of "glory," such words as "esteem," "high esteem," or "repute," which carry the meanings of the Hebrew and Greek words, can be used.