to make apparent: to bring someone into view or make something known, by showing, disclosing, or formally reporting it
TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled
The verb builds on the ordinary word for shining or coming into sight, and it means to cause something to become apparent. Its range runs from a person stepping into view to a fact being brought to light, and the New Testament uses the one verb across all of them:
A person reveals or shows himself, so that he becomes visible: Jesus promising to make himself known to those who love him, and the risen holy ones who appeared in Jerusalem.
Someone makes a fact plain, declaring or disclosing what others could not otherwise see.
Someone lays a matter before an official, the courtroom sense that lies behind the charges brought against Paul.
What holds these together is a single idea: bringing what was unseen into open view, whether to the eye or to the mind. The related verb φανερόω is the broader and more common word for bringing the hidden into the open; this word leans toward making something apparent to a particular person or in a formal, official setting.
Nuances
1ato reveal or show oneself; to appear, become visible
TranslatabilityDirect
Mat 27:53Jhn 14:21Jhn 14:22Heb 9:24
1bto make plain, declare, or disclose; to bring a fact into the open
Act 23:22Heb 11:14
1cto lay a matter before an authority, especially to bring formal charges before a magistrate
the same verb is also used of a person visibly showing himself, which "inform" cannot expressJhn 14:21
Both
both convey making facts known to someone in authorityAct 25:15Act 23:22
Only inform
in English "inform" can carry a whiff of secret tattling or betrayal, but the Greek is a neutral, formal report
“appear”
Comparison data is not available for this English gloss yet.
“declare”
Comparison data is not available for this English gloss yet.
“signify”
Comparison data is not available for this English gloss yet.
How emphanizō differs from similar Greek words
φανερόωthe broad, common word for bringing something hidden out into the open; this word is narrower, stressing that a thing is made apparent to a particular person or in a formal setting
carries a courtroom sense the other word never has: to lay information before officials, to formally report or bring charges against someoneAct 24:1Act 25:2Act 25:15
used for arranging a private disclosure to a specific person, as when someone makes a plan known to an official to set it in motionAct 23:15Act 23:22
Both
both can mean to make oneself plainly visible to others, a person showing himself so he is clearly seenJhn 14:21Jhn 21:1
both describe something becoming evident or coming into view that was not on display beforeHeb 11:14Jhn 2:11
the great revelation word: it names bringing into the open what was once hidden or secret, including God making known what no one could otherwise seeRom 3:21Col 1:261Ti 3:16
used for the future public appearing of Christ and his people, an unveiling still to comeCol 3:41Pe 5:41Jn 3:2
names exposing what was concealed so that its true character is brought to light and judgedMrk 4:221Co 4:5Eph 5:13
ἀποκαλύπτωto unveil what was covered, especially a hidden truth or mystery; this word is about making a person visible or a matter known, not lifting a veil
carries a legal sense with no counterpart in the other word: to lay information or present a formal case before an authority, as the chief priests do against Paul before the governor.Act 24:1Act 25:2Act 25:15
a person presenting himself to be seen face to face, whether Jesus showing himself to the one who loves him or Christ appearing before God on our behalf.Jhn 14:21Heb 9:24
Both
both bring into the open something not previously seen or known, moving it from hidden to disclosed.Mat 10:26Jhn 14:22
uncovers what was hidden or kept secret, especially God disclosing his own truth, his saving righteousness, or the events of the last day; this is the word of divine revelation.Rom 1:171Co 2:10Luk 17:30
names knowledge granted from above rather than worked out from below: what the Father alone can unveil to a person.Mat 16:17Mat 11:27Gal 1:16
δηλόωto make something clear or plain so it is understood; overlaps with the declaring sense, but lacks this word's reach into visible appearing and formal legal reporting
Carries a courtroom sense the Hebrew word never has: to lay a matter formally before an authority, to inform against someone or report a case to an official.Act 24:1Act 25:2Act 23:15
Describes a person himself coming into view or presenting himself before another, rather than a covering being taken off a hidden thing.Mat 27:53Heb 9:24
Both
Both are used for God disclosing himself, making his presence and person known to someone he chooses.1Sa 3:21Jhn 14:21
Both name bringing a hidden thing or intention into the open, making plain what was concealed.Deu 29:29Heb 11:14
Means to physically strip off a covering and expose what it hid, most often the recurring phrase for uncovering nakedness; the Greek word has no such sense of removing a cover.Lev 18:6Gen 9:21
Carries the sense of being carried off into exile, a whole people torn from its land, which the Greek word never expresses.Jdg 18:302Sa 15:19
נָגַדHebrew“to tell”the Hebrew word for telling, declaring, or making something known to someone; close to the disclosing and reporting senses
It can mean to become visible or to show oneself in person, a sense of appearing that plain telling never carries.Mat 27:53Jhn 14:21Heb 9:24
Both
Both convey information to someone so the hearer comes to know it, and each is regularly rendered "tell," "report," or "inform," especially when the news is carried to a superior.Num 11:27Act 25:2
It is the everyday workhorse for telling, covering ordinary people relaying news, messages, and dreams across daily life, far wider than any formal setting.Gen 3:11Gen 29:12Gen 37:5
What scholars say about emphanizō
The lexica treat this as a compound of the base verb for appearing, denoting causing something to become apparent, and they group its New Testament uses into making visible or revealing (of persons, including the passive "to appear"), making known or declaring, and a semi-technical legal use, to make an official report or lay information before a magistrate. This last sense is well attested in the papyri and documentary sources catalogued by Moulton and Milligan, which is why it reads so naturally in the trial scenes of Acts. BDAG, LSJ, and the treatment of the phainein word group in TDNT agree on the range, and there is no live disagreement over the verb's meaning.
Sources
BDAG, s.v. ἐμφανίζωlexicon
LSJ, s.v. ἐμφανίζωlexicon
Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, s.v. ἐμφανίζωlexicon