Evident (5318) phanerós by Greek Word Studies

Evident (5318) (phanerós = manifest, visible, conspicuous, from phaino = give light; to make to shine, to cause to become visible from phos = light; Study verb phaneroo) means made visible as an external manifestation to senses. Phaneros stresses what is visible to sight. Conspicuous, apparent, (openly) manifest, obvious, visible, evident, plain, clear, easily seen, open to sight. What is open and public (Mk 4:22). The related adverb phanerōs (5320) means plainly, clearly, in sharp visual focus, distinctly (Acts 10:3), openly, publicly (Mk 1:45, Jn 7:10). Webster on evident - Clear to the vision or understanding, readily perceived or apprehended. Evident implies presence of visible signs that lead one to a definite conclusion. Plain. Open to be seen; clear to the mental eye; apparent; manifest. Louw-Nida - 1. widely known, well known (6.14" class="scriptRef">Mk 6:14; Mt 6:4, 6, 18.); 2. evident, clearly known (Ro 1:19); 3. clearly seen, visible, plain to the senses (Ro 2:28) The very nature of phaneros (originating from phos = light) suggests a visibility that gives the observer an ability to define immediately what is seen. Here in Romans 1:19 the truth about God is clearly seen and cannot be missed. With the definite article (to phanero) phaneros means "in the open" or "publicly." With the verb ginomai it means "to become manifest.") The cognate noun phanos refers to portable lights—lamps and lanterns. Phaneros is that which has been made visible which previously had been hidden (implicit is that men would not know about the "Hidden God" unless He had chosen to shine the light on Himself as Creator). Compare “phantom,” “phenomenon,” “phantasm,” “fantasy.” Phanerocrystalline is an adjective that refers to igneous and metamorphic rocks that have a crystalline structure in which the crystals are large enough to be seen with the naked eye, which reflects the word's origin from phaneros. The primary emphasis of phaneros refers to what is visible to sensory perception. In short, phaneros describes that which is knowable about the invisible God as readily known, visible, clear, plain to the eyes. God is not subtle nor is He "stuttering" in His Self Revelation! God's revelation in nature is exposed to the general view of ALL men (justifying Paul's declaration that NO MAN can use the excuse "I never had a chance to know God." His general revelation God has (as it were) given public notice that "I Am God and there is no other" (Is 46:5, 9, 43:12, 45:5, 6, 18, 21, 22, Ho 11:9, Deut 33:26 where Jeshurun = "Upright one", a term of endearment for Israel, His beloved.) Here are the 18 uses of phaneros in the NT and is translated (NAS) as apparent(1), disclosed(2), evident(6), known(2), light(2), obvious(1), outward(1),outwardly (1), well known(2). Matthew 12:16 and warned them not to tell who He was. (not to make him known.) Mark 3:12 And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was. (not to make him known.) Mark 4:22 "For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. Mark 6:14 And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, "John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him." Luke 8:17 "For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. (brought into the open) Acts 4:16 saying, "What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. Acts 7:13 "On the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph's family was disclosed to Pharaoh. Romans 1:19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. Comment: Here phaneros refers to that which one can observe on the outside. In direct contrast to kruptos/kryptos which hidden, secret or concealed and speaks of the inner man, his soul life. Externally visible versus internally invisible is the contrast. 1 Corinthians 3:13 each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. 1 Corinthians 11:19 For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. 1 Corinthians 14:25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you. Galatians 5:19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, Comment': You don't have to guess whether you are filled with (controlled by) and walking by the Spirit. Paul says it is obvious by the deeds of the fallen flesh. Philippians 1:13 so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, 1 Timothy 4:15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 1 John 3:10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. Comment: conduct is the clue to paternity) Within them (en autois) is literally "in them" in their heart, their mind, and their conscience. Denney says, “God’s power, and the totality of the divine attributes constituting the divine nature, are inevitably impressed on the mind by nature, (or, to use the Scripture word, by creation). There is that within man which so catches the meaning of all that is without as to issue in an instinctive knowledge of God.…This knowledge involves duties, and men are without excuse because, when in possession of it, they did not perform these duties; that is, did not glorify as God the God whom they thus knew.” In other words all men have been provided visible evidence of God, and what their physical senses can perceive of Him their inner senses can understand to some extent. In short, all men know something and understand something of the reality and the truth of God and are responsible for a proper response to that revelation. Any wrong response is without excuse. In Romans 2 Paul adds that men also... "show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them." (Ro 2:15-note). God sovereignly plants evidence of His existence in the very nature of man by reason and moral law, independent of exposure to "special revelation" of the Scriptures. No person, therefore, can plead ignorance of God, because, entirely apart from Scripture, God has always revealed Himself and continues to reveal Himself to man. The naive, false notion that those who have never explicitly heard the gospel are not under God's condemnation is corrected by this passage. (See Romans 1:18-20 What About Those Who Never Hear Gospel?) That which may be intuitively known about God has been placed in the minds (heart, conscience) of all men by God and thus no man can claim ignorance of God, and no person can claim that God’s wrath against him is unjust. Every person is accountable for the revelation of God that may lead one to salvation. The cosmos itself is a witness, David testifying that The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. (Psalm 19:1-2). Similarly Luke records that... in the generations gone by (God) permitted all the nations to go their own ways and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness." Acts 14:16-17 In Isaiah God tells men to... Lift up your eyes on high and see Who has created these stars. The One Who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power not one of them is missing. (Isaiah 40:26) Jeremiah records some "evidences" of God writing that... Jehovah is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation. Thus you shall say to them, "The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens." It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; and by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens. When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and brings out the wind from His storehouses." (Jeremiah 10:10-13) God is neither "dead" nor silent! God gives an external manifestation of Himself, and has provided men with the faculty to receive it. Hence the Scripture regards ignorance of God as a willful sin. A famous 17th century philosopher, John Locke, set forth the fanciful proposition that man is at birth a "tabula rasa," a blank tablet or "white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas." All human ideas and beliefs, then, come from experience, culture, and environment. A logical deduction from Locke's proposition would be that a pagan who grew up in a society without Christian concepts or ideals would never be able to come to a knowledge of God on his own. Paul corrects Locke's foolish speculation teaching that when man is born his tablet is already written on--or, if you please, his computer is already programmed with a belief in the true God. What is there within all humans that testifies to the existence of the God of the Bible? Paul doesn't say here, but he does in later explaining... For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. (Ro 2:14-16 - note). Humans have an incurable sense of morality. Conscience is not a perfect moral guide, but it does testify to the reality of a moral standard to which we are personally accountable because it "stabs" us when we violate it. This in turn is testimony for the existence of a moral Creator, in whose image we have been made. In Ro 1:32, Paul also says we all know instinctively that we will give an account to God for our sins. So without any Bible at all, human beings know that there is a God who is personal, moral, intelligent, eternal and powerful. And therefore even people who have never seen a Bible should bow to God and worship him and thank him. But this is not the normal response (Ro 1:21, 22, 23). The memory of this God can be found in virtually every culture ever researched as documented in Don Richardson's great book Eternity in Their Hearts. Nevertheless, they choose to reject the true God and replace him with a corruption of some variety ("idol"). This means that our primary spiritual problem is not intellectual (or lack of sufficient evidence), but moral (we want to rebel and be autonomous). Even the death of infidels gives vivid testimony to the fact that men know God exists. William Pope was a well known infidel, who died in 1797, is said to have been the leader of a company of infidels who ridiculed everything religious. One of their exercises was to kick the Bible about the floor or tear it up. Friends who were present in his death-chamber spoke of it as a scene of terror as he died crying: "I have no contrition. I cannot repent. God will damn me. I know the day of grace is past . . . You see one who is damned forever . . . Oh, Eternity! Eternity! . . . Nothing for me but hell. Come, eternal torments . . . I hate everything God has made, only I have no hatred for the devil — I wish to be with him. I long to be in hell. Do you not see? Do you not see him? He is coming for me." FOR GOD MADE IT EVIDENT TO THEM: o theos gar autos ephanerosen (3SAAI): William Newell writes that... Noah’s father, Lamech, was for over fifty years a contemporary of Adam. Knowledge of God was held and imparted by tradition from the beginning. The fact that the “world that then was” became so corrupt as to necessitate destruction (Hebrew, “blotting out,” Ge 6:7, margin), only supports the awful account. Not only was the world bad unto judgment at the time of the Flood; but the world after Noah became such that God called out His own (from Abraham on) to a separate, pilgrim life (Ge 12:1, Acts 7:2, 3, 4, Heb 11:8, 9, 10). Sodom, and later the Canaanites, again filled up iniquity’s measure (Ge 15:16, Mt 23:32, 33) and were “sent away from off the face of the earth” (Jer 28:16). Utter uncompromising, abandonment of hope in man is the first preliminary to understanding or preaching the gospel. Man says, “I am not so bad; I can make amends”; “There are many people worse than I am”; “I might be better, but I might be worse.” But God’s indictment is sweeping: it reaches all. “None righteous (Ro 3:9, 10, 23); all have sinned; there is no distinction.” And the first step of wisdom is to listen to the worst God says about us, for He (wonderful to say!) is the Lover of man, sinner though man be. You and I were born in this lost race, with all these evil things innate in, and, apart from the grace of God, possible to us. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and is desperately wicked.” (Jer 17:9,10) Only redemption by the blood of Christ (Ps 34:22, 44:26, 49:7, 49:15, 55:18, 69:18, 103:4, 107:2, 119:154, Is 41:14, 47:4, 62:12, Jer 50:34, Ga 3:13, Titus 2:14, 1Pe 1:18, 19), and regeneration by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5, John 3:3), can afford hope (1Ti 1:1, Titus 2:13). (Romans 1:18-23 Commentary - well done with a devotional flavor)

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Evident (5318) phanerós

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