What does ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia) mean in the Bible?
G2015 names an appearing or manifestation. Its six New Testament uses all concern Jesus Christ.
Greek · G2015
ἐπιφάνεια
Appearing
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ἐπιφάνεια G2015
Pronunciation epipháneia
What does ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia) mean in the Bible?
G2015 names an appearing or manifestation. Its six New Testament uses all concern Jesus Christ.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐπιφάνεια (G2015) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2015?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include appearing (3), appearance (2), majesty (1).
Where does ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 2 Thessalonians 2:8. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Timothy (3), 1 Timothy (1), 2 Thessalonians (1), Titus (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G2015 names an appearing or manifestation. Its six New Testament uses all concern Jesus Christ. Second Timothy 1:10 looks to His saving appearance already revealed, through which death is abolished and life and immortality are brought to light through the gospel. The other five uses look toward His future appearing in relation to the defeat of the lawless one, faithful obedience, judgment and kingdom, the crown of righteousness, and blessed hope.
The noun joins revelation with consequences, but it does not supply a complete end-times timetable. Each passage identifies the event, its setting, and the response it calls for. Christian hope remains centered on Christ Himself.
How the Bible Uses It
The six governed uses distinguish Christ's saving appearance already revealed from His future appearing. The future references serve warning, obedience, judgment, reward, longing, and hope without turning the noun into an independent prophetic system.
- 2Thess.2.8
Annihilate by the majesty of His arrival
The appearing belongs to Christ's arrival and the overthrow of the lawless one. The verse does not assign that authority to another person or ministry.
- 1Tim.6.14
Keep this commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Christ's future appearing sets the horizon for Timothy's faithful obedience.
- 2Tim.1.10
And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel,
This use looks back to the saving manifestation of Christ and the gospel result named in the sentence.
- 2Tim.4.1
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom:
Christ's appearing and kingdom stand with His judgment of the living and the dead in Paul's solemn charge.
- 2Tim.4.8
But to all who crave His appearing
The promised crown is associated with the righteous Judge and with those who love or long for His appearing, not with speculative date setting.
- Titus.2.13
As we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
The glorious appearing of Jesus Christ is the blessed hope awaited by people whom grace is training for godly life.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It appearing 3× 2 Timothy 1:10, 2 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 4:8
appearance 2× 1 Timothy 6:14, Titus 2:13
majesty 1× 2 Thessalonians 2:8
Show sample aligned rows
2 Thessalonians 2:8 ἐπιφανείᾳ to majesty Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 1 Timothy 6:14 ἐπιφανείας to appearance Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 2 Timothy 1:10 ἐπιφανείας to appearing Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 2 Timothy 4:1 ἐπιφάνειαν to appearing Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 2 Timothy 4:8 ἐπιφάνειαν to appearing Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular Titus 2:13 ἐπιφάνειαν to appearance Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row 2 Thessalonians 2:8
Aligned rows 6
Books represented 4
2 Thessalonians 1 1 Timothy 1 2 Timothy 3 Titus 1
Source forms
ἐπιφάνειαν 3x epiphaneian 2 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 4:8, Titus 2:13
ἐπιφανείας 2x epiphaneias 1 Timothy 6:14, 2 Timothy 1:10
ἐπιφανείᾳ 1x epiphaneia 2 Thessalonians 2:8
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 3x 2 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 4:8, Titus 2:13
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 2x 1 Timothy 6:14, 2 Timothy 1:10
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular 1x 2 Thessalonians 2:8
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Read each appearing passage for its own time horizon, agent, outcome, and requested response.
- Let future hope strengthen present faithfulness without claiming knowledge the text does not give.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim G2015 alone proves a complete chronology of Christ's return.
- Do not collapse Christ's saving appearance already revealed into the future-facing references.
- Do not use longing for Christ's appearing to excuse withdrawal from present responsibilities.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. A visible, glorious manifestation or appearing, especially of Christ's divine presence and power at the end of time.
Strong's G2015
Lexical occurrences 6 verses Greek text appearances 6 times Word forms 3 forms 6 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 Timothy 6:11-16 Source Gloss
appearing
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
A visible, glorious manifestation or appearing, especially of Christ's divine presence and power at the end of time.
(ἐπιφανής), [in LXX: 2Ki.7:23 (יָרֵא), Est.5:1, Amo.5:22, 2Ma.2:21 2Mac 3:24 2Mac 5:4 2Mac 12:22 2Mac 14:16 2Mac 15:27, 3Ma.2:9 3Mac 5:8 3Mac 5:51,* ;] (in late Gk. and Inscr., frequently of deities, see MM, Exp., xiv) a manifestation, appearance: 2Th.2:8, 1Ti.6:14, 2Ti.1:10 4:1 4:8, Tit.2:13 (cf. M, Th., 148 f.).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
2 Thessalonians 2:8 Noun Dative Singular Feminine
ἐπιφανείᾳ epifaneia
appearing, manifestation
Read verse 1 Timothy 6:14 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἐπιφανείας epifaneiav
appearing, manifestation
Read verse 2 Timothy 1:10 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ἐπιφανείας epifaneiav
appearing, manifestation
Read verse 2 Timothy 4:1 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐπιφάνειαν epifaneian
appearing, manifestation
Read verse 2 Timothy 4:8 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐπιφάνειαν epifaneian
appearing, manifestation
Read verse Titus 2:13 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ἐπιφάνειαν epifaneian
appearing, manifestation
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 3 Aligned forms 6 Case pattern Accusative (3) Number pattern Singular (6)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Genitive · Singular · Feminine 1 Tim 6:14 · 2 Tim 1:10 2×
Dative · Singular · Feminine 2 Thess 2:8 1×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine 2 Tim 4:1 · 2 Tim 4:8 · Titus 2:13 3×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
Visible revelation, especially of Christ’s return.
manifestation or visible appearing
manifestation or visible appearing
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 6 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐπιφάνεια is built from this root:
ἐπιφανής G2016
Why This Word Matters
Paul emphasizes the historical manifestation of Christ through which salvation and life are revealed. 1 Timothy 6:11-16
Believers live in anticipation of Christ’s return, which motivates faithful endurance. 2 Timothy 1:8-12
Eschatological hope motivates present obedience. 2 Timothy 4:6-8
Canonical Themes
For the Preacher and Teacher
Teach G2015 by preserving its past and future horizons. Second Timothy 1:10 speaks of Christ's saving appearance already revealed. The remaining occurrences point ahead, but each places that future within a concrete argument: evil is defeated, a servant keeps the command, the Judge evaluates, the faithful long for Him, and grace forms a people who wait with hope.
This distribution corrects both a future-only reading and an eschatology detached from present faithfulness. It also prevents one noun from becoming a complete chronology. Preaching should name the passage's agent and outcome, then call hearers to the response the passage itself gives.
Anchor passage
2Tim.1.10
Doctrinal connections
- 2Thess.2.8 - Christ's appearing accompanies His decisive defeat of the lawless one.
- 1Tim.6.14 - future appearing gives faithful obedience an accountable horizon.
- 2Tim.1.10 - grace now disclosed in the Savior's manifestation joins death's defeat to the gospel's illumination.
- 2Tim.4.1 - appearing, kingdom, and judgment frame the minister's solemn charge.
- 2Tim.4.8 - longing for Christ's appearing is joined to the righteous Judge's reward.
- Titus.2.13 - blessed hope remains connected to grace-trained life in the present age.
The noun describes an appearing or manifestation. All six uses concern Christ, but grammatical case and neighboring words do not by themselves decide a full doctrine of the event.
From Old to New Testament
Wider biblical teaching about divine manifestation, judgment, kingdom, and hope may clarify these passages, but G2015 must not be used as a shortcut around their own literary and canonical contexts.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain