The EXACT IMPRINT — from charassō, 'to engrave, to cut': first the engraving-tool, then the DIE that stamps a coin or seal, then the impression it leaves, which carries every feature of the original precisely. It is the source of English 'character'. ⚠ It occurs only at Hebrews 1:3, of the Son as the charaktēr of God's substance — the exact stamp of God's very being, as a coin bears the exact image of its die. The metaphor claims more than resemblance: the impression is made BY the original and reproduces it feature for feature. KJV 'the express image', ASV 'the very image', NIV 'the exact representation'. → first discussed at Hebrews 1:3