Christ Pantocrator

When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek as the Septuagint, Pantokrator was used both for YHWH Sabaoth (צבאות) "Lord of Hosts"[2] and for El Shaddai "God Almighty".

In this understanding, Pantokrator is a compound word formed from the Greek for "all" and the verb meaning "To accomplish something" or "to sustain something" (κρατεῖν, kratein).

In the half-length image, Christ holds the New Testament in his left hand and makes the gesture of teaching or of blessing with his right.

In the early Middle Ages, it usually presented Christ in a mandorla or other geometric frame, surrounded by the Four Evangelists or their symbols.

[11] The icon, traditionally half-length when in a semi-dome,[12] which became adopted for panel icons also, depicts Christ fully frontal with a somewhat melancholy and stern aspect, with the right hand raised in blessing or, in the early encaustic panel at Saint Catherine's Monastery, the conventional rhetorical gesture that represents teaching.

The left hand holds a closed book with a richly decorated cover featuring the Cross, representing the Gospels.

In many cases, Christ has a cruciform halo inscribed with the letters Ο Ω Ν, i.e. ὁ ὤν "He Who Is".