to break out into view in a blaze of light: to shine forth, to appear brilliantly
This is a rare word, used only eight times in the Hebrew Bible and almost always in poetry. It holds together two ideas that English usually keeps apart: giving off light, and coming into view. When God is the one doing it, both are happening at once. He steps out from the place where he dwells and is suddenly, dazzlingly there.
Because of that double sense, every translator has to choose. The ancient Greek translators nearly always picked a word meaning "appear" (ἐπιφαίνω), the same word later used for a god showing himself to people. The old Latin version chose "he shone" instead. English Bibles usually land on "shine forth", which catches the light but can make a verse sound like a description of brightness rather than an arrival.
Where it is used is as telling as what it means. Every time God is the one who shines forth, something decisive is about to happen.
- At Sinai and Paran he comes from the south, and the word sits in a chain of verbs for coming and for dawning (זָרַח).
- From Zion he shines out to put his own people on trial, with fire and storm following.
- In two prayers worshippers beg him to shine forth: once to rescue his people, once to repay the arrogant.
The rest of the uses, all in Job, are quieter. Ordinary daylight breaks on a day Job wishes had never existed, a strange half light shines in the land of deep shadow where the dead go, and God makes the lightning of his storm cloud flash. One line, Job 10:3, uses it for shining on someone in approval, which is why most modern versions there read "smile on" or "favor".
Nuances
What the verb means in Job 10:3, where God is said to shine upon the counsel of the wicked.
- majorityShining here is an image of favor, so the line asks whether God looks with approval on the schemes of the wicked. It works like the blessing that asks God to make his face shine on someone (Numbers 6:25), and no change to the text is needed.; Modern English versions at Job 10:3 (NIV, NET, NASB, ESV/RSV)
- minorityThe verb keeps its ordinary sense of shining out, so the line says God shines upon the counsel of the wicked and leaves the reader to draw the inference of favor.; BDB, s.v. יפע (which lists Job 10:3 under "shine out, forth, display beams"); KJV and Darby at Job 10:3
Disputed
Whether the core sense of the verb is the emission of light ("shine forth") or becoming visibly present ("appear, come forth"), with the blaze of light as its natural accompaniment.
- majorityThe verb means to shine out or forth, to send out beams; the light itself is the heart of the word, and the theophany texts describe God radiating brilliance.; BDB, s.v. יפע ("shine out or forth, send out beams, cause to shine"); Vulgate, splenduit at Psalm 50:2
- minorityThe core is becoming visibly present, with dazzling light as the natural accompaniment rather than the definition; the ancient Greek translators consistently chose verbs of appearing, and the Akkadian cognate (w)apû means to become visible.; Septuagint, ἐπέφανεν at Deuteronomy 33:2 and ἐπιφάνηθι at Greek Psalm 79:2; Aquila, ἐπεφάνη at Greek Psalm 49:2
- minorityThe oldest sense of the root is to be high or to rise up, from which coming forth, becoming visible, and finally shining forth developed; the evidence is the Arabic and South Arabian material for height and elevation.; BDB, s.v. יפע (etymology, citing Arabic yafaʿa "be high, grow up" and Sabaic יפע "raise, heighten")