Unveiled (343) anakalupto by Greek Word Studies

Unveiled (343) (anakalupto from ana = back again + kalúpto = hide, conceal, cover, veil) to to uncover by drawing back the veil. The root verb kalupto meaning to conceal or hide has several fascinating uses in the Septuagint (LXX) - of cloud covered Sinai = Ex 24:15; of darkness covering the earth Is 60:2; of iniquity David did not hide = Ps 32:5, cp Ps 31:5; of God covering or concealing the iniquity of His people Israel. In context anakalupto is clearly a reference to description of New Covenant believers (Jew and Gentile) who... are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted (anakalupto - the only other NT use - see Isa 29:10, Ro 11:8), because it is removed in Christ. 15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. (2 Co 3:13, 14, 15, 16) Comment: Paul is referring to the events in Ex 34:33, 34, 35 where it is recorded that Moses put a veil over his face, because the Israelites feared the divine radiance which came from it (Ex 34:30; cp Nu 4:15, 20). Paul uses this OT example of Moses putting the veil on so that the Israelites might not see the end of the temporary radiance, to illustrate the passing glory (doxa) of the Old Covenant in contrast to the eternal glory of the new (2Co 3:11). In 2Co 3:14 Paul explains that a "spiritual veil" lies over the minds of the Jews who cannot comprehend the true meaning of the Old Covenant which as he explains in Gal 3 was to have been a tutor to lead them to their Messiah. The "spiritual veil" hinders seeing, and in the present context figuratively describes the understanding that the temporary Old Covenant is now obsolete. And just as Moses removed the veil when he went into the presence of God (Ex 34:34), so too would the veil be (spiritually) removed from any person in Israel who received Messiah as Savior. Whereas Moses only reflected the glory of God, the transformed believer radiates the glory of God! How blessed are we to live on this side of Calvary! May God enable us to live in the light (and as lights) of our incredible privilege and potential in Christ. Amen Anakalupto is in the perfect tense which pictures a past completed action (our day of salvation = past tense salvation [see Three Tenses of Salvation] = justification [see justified] - which Paul describes in 2Co 3:16 as "whenever a person turns to the Lord".) with ongoing effect or result. In other words the veil was taken off the day that the Spirit indwelt our body, His temple, and opened the eyes of our heart to see Jesus as our Lord and Savior (Acts 26:18 16:14). In verse 16 Paul explains the "unveiling" declaring that... whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. (2Cor 3:16) Then in 2Co 4:6 Paul what the unveiled face is enabled to see writing that it was... God Who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” (and) is the One Who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. (2 Co 4:6-note) Theological Lexicon of the NT records these ancient Greek uses of anakalupto... It was agreed that once seated, “the conspirators (disguised as women) would strike immediately, throwing off their veils”; “unveil the sacred robe” (anakalypson ton hieron peplon, Pap.Graec.Mag. 57, 17). TDNT says that anakalupto means... To unveil...to undo a package...(healing vision of a woman at Epidauros)...to reveal something to someone...to disclose the character of someone, Philochorus Fragmenta, 20...with inner object: to remove (a veil). While there is only one other use of anakalupto in the NT, there are 19 uses in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX) - Job 12:22; 20:27; 28:11; 33:16; Ps 18:15; Isa 20:4; 22:8f, 14; 24:1; 26:21; 47:2f; 49:9; Jer 13:22; 49:10; Dan 2:22, 28, 29. Read over a selection of the OT Lxx uses to help illustrate the meaning of the verb anakalupto...(What is revealed? Who reveals or opens?, etc) Job 12:22 "He reveals (Lxx = anakalupto) mysteries from the darkness And brings the deep darkness into light. Job 20:27 "The heavens will reveal (Lxx = anakalupto) his iniquity, And the earth will rise up against him. Job 33:16 Then He opens (Lxx = anakalupto) the ears of men, and seals their instruction, Psalm 18:15 Then the channels of water appeared, And the foundations of the world were laid bare (Lxx = anakalupto) At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. Isaiah 22:14 But the LORD of hosts revealed (Lxx = anakalupto) Himself to me, "Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you Until you die," says the Lord GOD of hosts. Daniel 2:22 "It is He who reveals (Lxx = anakalupto) the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him. 28 "However, there is a God in heaven who reveals (Lxx = anakalupto) mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. 29 "As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals (Lxx = anakalupto) mysteries has made known to you what will take place. Face (4383)(prosopon from prós = toward + ops = the eye or face) is literally the eye toward, the front part of one's head, the countenance (Latin ~ con = with + teneo = to hold, literally the contents of a body and then the outline which constitutes the whole figure, the face as expressing a person's character or mood). One of the most notable uses of prosopon is found in the Septuagint translation of Numbers 6 in the famous Aaronic blessing... The Lord make His face (Lxx = prosopon) shine on you, and be gracious to you (Nu 6:25). Dwight L Moody commenting on the Aaronic Blessing said: Here is a benediction that can go all the world over, and can give all the time without being impoverished. Every heart may utter it: it is the speech of God: every letter may conclude with it; every day may begin with it; every night may be sanctified by it. Here is blessing—keeping—shining—the uplifting upon our poor life of all heaven’s glad morning. It is the Lord Himself Who brings this bar of music from heaven’s infinite anthems Comment: Indeed when Jehovah-Jesus makes His face to shine upon us as we mediate on His glory and beauty in His living and active Word, we are benefactors of His grace and experience a change in our face...from one degree of glory to another! NIDNTT has this note on prosopon... Originally it probably meant that which struck the eye (pros = towards, and ops = eye), that which one looks at. In secular Greek it meant face, death-mask, actor’s mask, then (figuratively) the part played by the actor. When used of things it meant surface, either the top one, or the one facing the observer. It is occasionally used for the face of the gods. When used as a part representing the whole, it meant the figure. The meaning person (not found before Polybius) is a borrowing from Latin usage. (Brown, Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan or Computer version) MacDonald has a thought worth pondering that although our faces are unveiled positionally because of our entrance into the New Covenant (at the time of our new birth), we need to daily keep them unveiled as we conduct ourselves worthy of the Gospel (Php 1:27-note) (practicing our position so to speak). He writes that.... We can keep our face unveiled by confessing and forsaking sin, by being completely honest with God and ourselves (1Jn 1:7, 9). As a veteran missionary to India once said, we must “drop the veils of sin, of make-believe, all play-acting, all putting up of unreal fronts, all attempts at compromises, all halfway measures, all Yes and No.” (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos) Clarke writes that... The Jews were not able to look on the face of Moses, the mediator of the old covenant, and therefore he was obliged to veil it; but all we Christians, with face uncovered, behold, as clearly as we can see our own natural face in a mirror, the glorious promises and privileges of the Gospel of Christ; and while we contemplate, we anticipate them by desire and hope, and apprehend them by faith, and are changed from the glory there represented to the enjoyment of the thing which is represented, even the glorious image-righteousness and true holiness-of the God of glory. Beholding - This verb has been translated with two different meanings, one to behold God's glory and the other to reflect God's glory. Consider the immediate context where Paul describes Moses' face becoming radiant after his "up close and personal" encounters with Jehovah and then reflecting that glory to the children of Israel. This would seem to justify both translations, for as was true with Moses, how can a New Covenant believer reflect God's glory if he has not been in the presence of God's glory? The English translations reflect both renderings, either beholding or reflecting God's glory. Below are representative translations of each view... And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord... (Amplified Version, cp also ESV, NAS) Now, as for us, we all, with uncovered face, reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord (Wuest's Translation, cp also NIV) The New Living Translation seeks to avoid any argument by incorporating both interpretations... So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. The reader needs to be aware of this subtle difference for it will be reflected in the commentaries (including the one you are reading) and devotionals. For example here is Oswald Chambers' devotional interpretation... The outstanding characteristic of a Christian is this unveiled frankness before God so that the life becomes a mirror for other lives. (Ed: Notice how he incorporates both meanings - to behold and to reflect!) By being filled with the Spirit we are transformed, and by beholding we become mirrors. You always know when a man has been beholding the glory of the Lord, you feel in your inner spirit that he is the mirror of the Lord's own character. Beware of anything which would sully that mirror in you; it is nearly always a good thing, the good that is not the best. The golden rule for your life and mine is this concentrated keeping of the life open towards God. Let everything else - work, clothes, food, everything on earth - go by the board, saving that one thing. The rush of other things always tends to obscure this concentration on God. We have to maintain ourselves in the place of beholding, keeping the life absolutely spiritual all through. Let other things come and go as they may, let other people criticize as they will, but never allow anything to obscure the life that is hid with Christ in God (Col 3:3). Never be hurried out of the relationship of abiding in Him. It is the one thing that is apt to fluctuate but it ought not to. The severest discipline of a Christian's life is to learn how to keep "beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord." (My Utmost for His Highest) (Bolding added) "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/2corinthians_318_commentary.htm#u

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Unveiled (343) anakalupto

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