To shine/appear
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
Φαίνω (phaínō) means to shine, appear, become visible, or be seen. The verb may describe an angel appearing in a dream, an event never before seen in Israel, a rumored prophet's appearance, the brief visibility of human life, or celestial light shining on a city.
Reader summary
Full entry for φαίνω (G5316) · Open the biblical lexicon
Φαίνω (phaínō) means to shine, appear, become visible, or be seen. The verb may describe an angel appearing in a dream, an event never before seen in Israel, a rumored prophet's appearance, the brief visibility of human life, or celestial light shining on a city.
The BSB source-word alignment has 31 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include appeared (4), shining (3), had appeared (2), will appear (2), appear to be (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 1:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (13), Revelation (4), John (2), Luke (2).
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Φαίνω (phaínō) means to shine, appear, become visible, or be seen. The verb may describe an angel appearing in a dream, an event never before seen in Israel, a rumored prophet's appearance, the brief visibility of human life, or celestial light shining on a city. Appearance can be revelation, observation, mistaken report, transience, or illumination. The word does not guarantee that what appears is permanent, correctly interpreted, or divine.
Matthew identifies the angel and supplies God's message; Luke reports competing explanations; James compares life to a mist whose appearance quickly ends; Revelation denies the new Jerusalem any need for created luminaries because God's glory illumines it and the Lamb is its lamp. The subject, manner of appearing, witnesses, duration, and narrative judgment control the sense.
Φαίνω gathers several kinds of visibility: an angel appears in a dream, an unprecedented healing is seen, Elijah is rumored to have appeared, human life appears briefly, and created lights need not shine where God's glory and the Lamb give light.
But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
The angel appears to Joseph in a dream with a message that interprets Mary's pregnancy and directs obedient action; the revelation is identified by its divine source and content.
And when the demon had been driven out, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”
After the mute man speaks, the crowds say such a thing has never appeared in Israel, responding to a visible deliverance without exhausting its meaning.
Others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that a prophet of old had arisen.
Some explain Jesus by saying Elijah has appeared, but Luke reports this as public speculation rather than endorsing the identification.
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
James compares human life to mist that appears briefly and then vanishes, using short-lived visibility to humble confident plans about tomorrow.
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.
The holy city needs no sun or moon to shine because God's glory illumines it and the Lamb is its lamp, making divine glory the city's sufficient light.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. To manifest or reveal something, making it visible or known; often used of divine revelation appearing to people.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 31 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
Read verseI shine, appear, seem
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.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
How this verb appears across 27 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 31 lexical occurrence verses.
φαίνω is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Scripture treats seeing as important but never self-interpreting. Joseph receives an angelic appearance whose message accords with God's redemptive purpose and calls him to costly obedience. The healed man's speech becomes visible evidence that amazes the crowds, yet the wider Gospel still asks who Jesus is. Luke's report that some thought Elijah had appeared exposes how readily people fit new works into inadequate explanations.
James then turns appearance toward mortality: human life is visible only for a little while, so planning must bow before the Lord's will. Revelation reaches beyond fragile creaturely light. The holy city does not depend on sun or moon because God's glory illumines it and the Lamb is its lamp. Φαίνω therefore helps teachers distinguish faithful disclosure from rumor, and temporary prominence from enduring glory.
What is seen must be interpreted by God's word.
Matt.1.20
Φαίνω may be active, to shine or make visible, or in forms that describe appearing and becoming observable. Syntax identifies whether the emphasis falls on emitted light, entry into view, public perception, or seeming.
God creates lights, reveals His glory, sends messengers, and exposes the brevity of creatures. Prophetic promises of divine light culminate in a city illuminated by God's glory and the Lamb.
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