Greek word · G5324
φαντάζω
phantazō
to make visible
Active: to make visible, to show. Passive: to appear, to become visible, to show oneself. It belongs to the same word family as phainō ('shine, appear') and phantasma ('apparition'), but it does not in itself suggest anything unreal.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament.
What it means
φαντάζω
(φαίνω) [in LXX: Wisdom of Solomon 6:16, Sirach 31:5 (34:5)* ;]
to make visible. In cl. used in pass. only, = φαίνομαι, to become visible, appear: ptcp., Hebrews 12:21.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Hebrews 12:21
- Range of meaning
Active: to make visible, to show. Passive: to appear, to become visible, to show oneself. It belongs to the same word family as phainō ('shine, appear') and phantasma ('apparition'), but it does not in itself suggest anything unreal.
- Against the English
Translations give 'the sight' (KJV, BSB, ESV, YLT) or 'the appearance' (WEB). Both are accurate. Neither shows that the participle is ongoing ('what was being displayed'), but that loses little.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Rare in biblical Greek: in the Greek Old Testament, Wisdom 6:16 (Wisdom 'appears' to those who seek her) and Sirach 34:5 (the mind 'imagines' things, as in dreams). In ordinary Greek it is used of things that appear or show themselves, including appearances of gods.
Similar words
Where it appears
Hebrews · 1
-
Hebrews 12:21 φανταζόμενον, appearing [that]
The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
Here: 'What was being made visible.' It means the whole visible display at Sinai: fire, darkness, gloom, storm, the trumpet blast. It appears only here in the New Testament. It does not mean something imaginary.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.