Lexicon

G0602 - apokalypsis

Strong's: G0602 · 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.

Semantic range (Thayer / BDAG)

A revealing / unveiling / making manifest, the act of uncovering what was previously hidden. The literal sense.
A revelation as divine self-disclosure, God's making-known of Himself, His will, or His mysteries to humans. The dominant theological sense.
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.
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, "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, 26, 30, apokalypsis as a charismatic gift in the gathered community
2 Corinthians 12:1, 7, Paul's apokalypseis (revelations of the Lord)
Galatians 1:12, 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; 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, 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, "awaiting eagerly the apokalypsin tou Kyriou hēmōn Iēsou Christou"
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, 13; 4:13, "the apokalypsei of Jesus Christ" (3 occurrences); the standard Petrine eschatological-hope vocabulary
Romans 2:5, "the day of wrath and apokalypseōs of the righteous judgment of God"
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, "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, 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, Peter's confession: "flesh and blood did not reveal (apekalypsen) this to you, but My Father who is in heaven"
Luke 2:32, "a light for revelation (apokalypsin) to the Gentiles" (Simeon's prophecy)
Romans 1:17-18, "the righteousness of God is revealed (apokalyptetai)... for the wrath of God is revealed (apokalyptetai) from heaven"
Romans 16:25, "the revelation of the mystery"
Galatians 1:12, 16, Paul's apostolic apokalypsis-credentials
Ephesians 3:3-5, the mystery now revealed
1 Peter 1:5, "salvation ready to be revealed in the last time"

Eschatological apokalypsis

1 Corinthians 1:7, awaiting the apokalypsin
2 Thessalonians 1:7, Christ revealed from heaven
1 Peter 1:7, 13; 4.13, Petrine eschatological-hope
Romans 2:5, day of wrath and revelation
Romans 8:18-19, creation awaiting the revelation of the sons of God

The book itself

Revelation 1:1, "Apokalypsis Iēsou Christou"

Patristic / scholarly note

The patristic tradition uniformly treats apokalypsis as a key NT category. 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, 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) 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 (the Father's revealing), Romans 1:17-18 (the gospel revelation), Galatians 1:12, 16 (Paul's apostolic credential), 1 Corinthians 1:7 (eschatological awaiting), 1 Peter 1:7, Revelation 1:1 (title-case use).