# G0602 - apokalypsis **Strong's:** [G0602](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g602/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** ap-ok-al'-oop-sis **Part of speech:** feminine noun (from the verb ἀποκαλύπτω, "to uncover / unveil / reveal") **Etymology:** *apo-* (away / off) + *kalyptō* (to cover / hide), literally "an uncovering / an un-veiling." **Hebrew equivalents (LXX background):** גָּלָה (*galah*, "to uncover / reveal / make known"); נִגְלָה (*niglah*, "to be revealed"). **NT occurrences:** 18, concentrated in the Pauline epistles (esp. Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Galatians) and 1 Peter, with the climactic title-use in [Revelation 1:1](/codex/revelation-1-1/). ## Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG) 1. **A revealing / unveiling / making manifest**, the act of uncovering what was previously hidden. The literal sense. 2. **A revelation as divine self-disclosure**, God's making-known of Himself, His will, or His mysteries to humans. The dominant theological sense. 3. **The eschatological appearing / parousia of Christ**, the *apokalypsis tou Iēsou*, the eschatological public-unveiling of Christ at His second coming. The NT-Pauline-Petrine technical sense for the Last Day. 4. **The Apocalypse / the book of Revelation**, by metonymy, the title of the last book of the NT (which opens "*apokalypsis Iēsou Christou*"). ## Theological force, God's self-disclosure and the eschatological unveiling *Apokalypsis* is one of the most theologically charged eschatological terms in the NT. Its semantic structure is *epistemic-and-eschatological*: something *previously hidden* is *now made manifest*. The theological work splits into two main streams: ### Stream 1, Revelation as divine self-disclosure God reveals Himself; humans on their own resources cannot reach this knowledge. The *apokalypsis*-vocabulary captures the *gracious initiative* of divine self-communication. - **[Romans 16:25](/codex/romans-16-25/)**, "the gospel... according to the *revelation of the mystery* (*apokalypsin mystēriou*) which has been kept secret for long ages past", the gospel itself as revelation - **[1 Corinthians 14:6](/codex/1-corinthians-14-6/), [26](/codex/1-corinthians-14-26/), [30](/codex/1-corinthians-14-30/)**, *apokalypsis* as a charismatic gift in the gathered community - **[2 Corinthians 12:1](/codex/2-corinthians-12-1/), [7](/codex/2-corinthians-12-7/)**, Paul's *apokalypseis* (revelations of the Lord) - **[Galatians 1:12](/codex/galatians-1-12/), [16](/codex/galatians-1-16/)**, "I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through *apokalypseōs* of Jesus Christ... God was pleased to *apokalypsai* His Son in me" - **[Ephesians 1:17](/codex/ephesians-1-17/); 3:3**, "the spirit of wisdom and *apokalypseōs*"; "by *apokalypsin* the mystery was made known to me" The NT epistemology: divine truth is not the conclusion of human reasoning ascending; it is the gift of God descending. Apokalypsis-vocabulary asserts the *primacy of revelation* over human autonomous reason. (Cf. [Reformed Epistemology](/codex/reformed-epistemology/), Plantinga's *sensus divinitatis* and warranted Christian belief operate downstream of this NT epistemology.) ### Stream 2, The eschatological apokalypsis of Christ The Pauline-Petrine technical use: *apokalypsis tou Iēsou* / *apokalypsis tou Christou*, the eschatological public-unveiling of Christ at the parousia. - **[1 Corinthians 1:7](/codex/1-corinthians-1-7/)**, "awaiting eagerly the *apokalypsin tou Kyriou hēmōn Iēsou Christou*" - **[2 Thessalonians 1:7](/codex/2-thessalonians-1-7/)**, "when the Lord Jesus will be revealed (*en tē apokalypsei*) from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire" - **[1 Peter 1:7](/codex/1-peter-1-7/), [13](/codex/1-peter-1-13/); 4:13**, "the *apokalypsei* of Jesus Christ" (3 occurrences); the standard Petrine eschatological-hope vocabulary - **[Romans 2:5](/codex/romans-2-5/)**, "the day of wrath and *apokalypseōs* of the righteous judgment of God" - **[Romans 8:19](/codex/romans-8-19/)**, "the creation waits eagerly for the *apokalypsin* of the sons of God" The eschatological *apokalypsis* is the *public manifestation* of what is *now hidden*: Christ's lordship is currently veiled (concealed under apparent worldly powers); at the *apokalypsis*, it becomes *visible-to-all*, *unanswerable*, *consummating*. The believer's hope is the *apokalypsis*, the day when faith becomes sight. ### Stream 3, The book of Revelation **[Revelation 1:1](/codex/revelation-1-1/)**, "*Apokalypsis Iēsou Christou*, which God gave Him to show to His servants...", the title-case use. The Apocalypse / Revelation is the *unveiling-from-Jesus-Christ* (genitive ambiguous: revelation *of* Christ as content, *from* Christ as source, *both* canonically). The book functions as a *now*-revelation of the eschatological *then*-revelation: it discloses in symbolic-vision form what the *apokalypsis-of-Christ* will publicly consummate. ## Notable verses ### Apokalypsis as divine self-disclosure - **[Matthew 11:25-27](/codex/matthew-11-25-27/)**, Jesus: "Father... You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have *revealed* (*apekalypsas*) them to infants... no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to *reveal* (*apokalypsai*) Him" - **[Matthew 16:17](/codex/matthew-16-17/)**, Peter's confession: "flesh and blood did not *reveal* (*apekalypsen*) this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" - **[Luke 2:32](/codex/luke-2-32/)**, "a light *for revelation* (*apokalypsin*) to the Gentiles" (Simeon's prophecy) - **[Romans 1:17-18](/codex/romans-1-17-18/)**, "the righteousness of God is *revealed* (*apokalyptetai*)... for the wrath of God is *revealed* (*apokalyptetai*) from heaven" - **[Romans 16:25](/codex/romans-16-25/)**, "the *revelation of the mystery*" - **[Galatians 1:12](/codex/galatians-1-12/), [16](/codex/galatians-1-16/)**, Paul's apostolic *apokalypsis*-credentials - **[Ephesians 3:3-5](/codex/ephesians-3-3-5/)**, the mystery now revealed - **[1 Peter 1:5](/codex/1-peter-1-5/)**, "salvation ready to be *revealed* in the last time" ### Eschatological apokalypsis - **[1 Corinthians 1:7](/codex/1-corinthians-1-7/)**, awaiting the *apokalypsin* - **[2 Thessalonians 1:7](/codex/2-thessalonians-1-7/)**, Christ revealed from heaven - **[1 Peter 1:7](/codex/1-peter-1-7/), [13](/codex/1-peter-1-13/); 4.13**, Petrine eschatological-hope - **[Romans 2:5](/codex/romans-2-5/)**, day of wrath and revelation - **[Romans 8:18-19](/codex/romans-8-18-19/)**, creation awaiting the revelation of the sons of God ### The book itself - **[Revelation 1:1](/codex/revelation-1-1/)**, "*Apokalypsis Iēsou Christou*" ## Patristic / scholarly note The patristic tradition uniformly treats *apokalypsis* as a key NT category. **[Justin Martyr](/codex/justin-martyr/)** (*First Apology*; *Dialogue with Trypho*), develops the OT-prophetic-revelation tradition's continuity with the NT *apokalypsis*. **Origen** (*De Principiis*), extensive treatment of revelation as the divine epistemological framework; the OT and NT are continuous *revelations* of the one divine economy. **Karl Barth** (*Church Dogmatics* I.1-2), modern dogmatic emphasis on *Word-of-God-as-revelation*; *Apokalypsis* / *Offenbarung* is the central concept of Barth's theological epistemology. Revelation is not knowledge-attained but knowledge-given; the *apokalypsis* establishes the *direction* of theological knowing, from God to humanity, not the reverse. **Reformed epistemology** (Alvin Plantinga, *Warranted Christian Belief*, 2000), the *sensus divinitatis* and the Holy Spirit's testimony are downstream of the broader *apokalypsis* tradition: divine knowledge is *given*, not *constructed*. Properly basic Christian belief is the epistemic shape of *apokalypsis*-receptive cognition. In **eschatology**, the *apokalypsis*-tradition is one of three major NT eschatological-vocabulary clusters: - **Apokalypsis**, *unveiling* (epistemic emphasis) - **[G3952 - parousia](/codex/g3952-parousia/)**, *coming / presence* (locative-personal emphasis) - **G2015 *epiphaneia***, *appearing / manifestation* (visible-shining emphasis) The three are largely coextensive but emphasize different angles. The Pauline-Petrine technical use of *apokalypsis tou Iēsou Christou* leans into the *epistemic-public-unveiling* dimension: at the eschaton, what is now hidden becomes manifest. The genitive in *Apokalypsis Iēsou Christou* ([Rev 1:1](/codex/revelation-1-1/)) has been the subject of major exegetical debate. The strongest reading (D.A. Carson; G.K. Beale, *Revelation* NIGTC, 1999; Richard Bauckham, *The Theology of the Book of Revelation*, 1993) takes it as *both* subjective genitive ("revelation *from* Christ") *and* objective genitive ("revelation *of* / *concerning* Christ"). The book's content is Christ-revealing-and-revealed. ## Verses in this codex _See Obsidian's backlinks pane for every verse page linking here._ Anchors: [Matthew 16:17](/codex/matthew-16-17/) (the Father's revealing), [Romans 1:17-18](/codex/romans-1-17-18/) (the gospel revelation), [Galatians 1:12](/codex/galatians-1-12/), [16](/codex/galatians-1-16/) (Paul's apostolic credential), [1 Corinthians 1:7](/codex/1-corinthians-1-7/) (eschatological awaiting), [1 Peter 1:7](/codex/1-peter-1-7/), [Revelation 1:1](/codex/revelation-1-1/) (title-case use). ## See also - [G3952 - parousia](/codex/g3952-parousia/), *parousia* (coming / presence), companion eschatological term - [G3466 - mysterion](/codex/g3466-mysterion/), *mystērion* (mystery), companion (the *mystery now revealed*) - H1540 - galah, *galah* (to uncover / reveal), Hebrew correspondent - [Reformed Epistemology](/codex/reformed-epistemology/), concept hub the *apokalypsis* tradition undergirds - [Argument from Religious Experience](/codex/argument-from-religious-experience/), the apologetic frame - Passages: [Matthew 16:17](/codex/matthew-16-17/), [Romans 1:17-18](/codex/romans-1-17-18/), [Romans 8:18-19](/codex/romans-8-18-19/), [Galatians 1:12](/codex/galatians-1-12/), [16](/codex/galatians-1-16/), [1 Corinthians 1:7](/codex/1-corinthians-1-7/), [Revelation 1:1](/codex/revelation-1-1/)