greek divine apparition. Visible and corporeal manifestation of a deity or through natural phenomena. There are several cases of apparitions, such as Jacob who said that he had seen God face to face, and his life was saved, Gn 32, 31, when he fought against God one night. The meeting place was called Penuel, which means the face of God, Gn 7, 16. Formerly it was believed that when seeing God the person died. Theophilus, Greek beloved of God, Amadeo. Illustrious person to whom Luke dedicated the gospel and the book of the Acts of the Apostles, Lk 1, 3; Acts 1, 1. Since he dedicates it with the title Most Excellent, it is assumed that he was a man of high position, perhaps a Roman official, who was respected by Luke.
Digital Bible Dictionary, Grupo C Service & Design Ltda., Colombia, 2003
Source: Digital Bible Dictionary
A visible appearance of God, usually in human form.
Before man sinned, he walked and talked with God; but after sin entered, Adam and his wife hid when they heard the voice of the Lord God (Gen 3: 8). God spoke to Cain (ch. 4), Enoch and Noah walked with God (Gen 5:24; Gen 6:9), and God gave Noah detailed instructions regarding the ark and the flood. One of the most beautiful and instructive theophanies is found in Genesis 18. From the time of Abraham onward theophanies generally took place when the vessels were asleep, as in Jacob’s vision at Bethel (Gen 28:10-17), but God spoke with Moses face to face (Exo 33:11). There are good reasons to think that theophanies before the incarnation of Christ were visible manifestations of the preincarnate Son of God. With the incarnation of our Lord the theophanies ceased.
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
(“of God”, and “appear”).
Appearance or sensible manifestation of God: (Gen 3:8, Gen 28:10-17).
Christian Bible Dictionary
Dr. J. Dominguez
http://bible.com/dictionary/
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
Term used in theology to indicate the appearances or visible manifestations of the presence of God. Generally, this word is preferred for those recorded by the OT. In many of them appears a figure identified with the name of
Angel of Jehovah. In several passages of the OT a strange phenomenon occurs in which a spiritual being called by this name appears, who, when speaking or in the narrative, identifies with God himself. For example, Jehovah’s angel appeared to Moses in the bush (Exo 3:2), but then God is said to be calling him “from the midst of the bush” (Exo 3:4). This phenomenon occurs in other cases, such as †¢Hagar (Gen 16:7-14), Abraham and the three visitors (Gen 18:1-33), Abraham on Mount Moriah (Gen 22:1-18) , and so on. This identification of the angel of Jehovah with Jehovah himself leads to the interpretation, accepted by the majority, that it is a manifestation of God in visible or audible form to the human being. Since the role of revealing God is exclusive to the Lord Jesus (Mat 11:27; 1Ti 6:16), it follows that these special cases are appearances, or t., of the Son of God.
also the angel of Jehovah to †¢Balaam, when he went to †¢Barak (Num 22:22); to Joshua, near Jericho (Jos 5:13-14); to the town at †¢Boquim (Judges 2:1-5); to Gideon, under the oak in Ophra (Judges 6:11); a †¢Manoah, announcing the birth of Samson (Jdg 12:20); to David, when the pestilence for the census (2Sa 24:15-16); and so on. In Jewish tradition he is called Metatron.
many other t. in the OT, as, for example, the “pillar of cloud” and the “pillar of fire” with which God guided the Israelites in their pilgrimage through the desert (Exo 13:21); the manifestation of God on Mount Sinai, which took place with “thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud…and a very loud sound of a horn…in fire; and the smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked† (Exo 19:16-19); the one that took place on the day of the inauguration of the temple, when “the glory of the Lord filled the house” (2Ch 7:1-3), and so on.
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
type, DOC
see, í ANGEL OF JEHOVAH
vet, Apparitions of the Deity receive this name. God the Father is invisible (Jn. 1:18; 1 Tim. 6:16). He manifested Himself to men in the person of the angel of Jehovah (Gen. 16:7; Ex. 32:34; 33:14), the angel of the Covenant (Mal. 3:1), and Christ. One distinguishes: (a) The OT theophanies, which prepared the coming of Christ. (b) The incarnation of Christ, God manifest in the flesh. (c) The return of Christ. In the OT, God manifested himself intermittently to the patriarchs (see JEHOVAH’S INGEL). Since the exodus, these passing manifestations have been replaced mainly by the permanent presence of God, the “Shekinah” who resided between the cherubim, first in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple. When the exodus from Egypt took place, Jehovah went before the Israelites in a pillar of cloud; at night, that column took on the appearance of fire (Ex. 13:21, 22). On Sinai a thick cloud could be seen, and then smoke, because the Lord descended in the midst of fire (Ex. 19:16, 18). Later, the cloud of the glory of the Lord rested on Sinai for six days, and on the seventh day the Lord called Moses. The aspect of this glory was as of a devouring fire (Ex. 24:16, 17). When Moses entered the first Tabernacle of the Testimony, the cloud descended and stopped at the entrance of the tent, where Jehovah spoke with him (Ex. 33:9-11; cf. Deut. 5:4). When the Tabernacle was erected, Jehovah took possession of it. His glory filled him, and the cloud rested on him day and night (Ex. 40:34, 35; Num. 9:15, 16). Moses heard the voice of the Lord addressing him from the top of the mercy seat (Num. 7:89; cf. Ex. 25:22; Lev. 16:2; Ex. 16:7, 10; Lev. 9:6, 23 ; Num. 14:10; 16:19, 42; 20:6). During the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, the glory of the Lord likewise filled the building (1 Kings 8:10, 11); it was definitely removed during the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem (Ez. 9:3, 6; 10:4, 18-19; 11:22-23). The passing appearances to the patriarchs had given way to the constant presence of God in the sanctuary; the next step was the incarnation of the Lord, who came to dwell among men. And men saw His glory, glory much greater than that of the Lord’s first dwelling (Hag. 2:9), because the physical body of the Lord Jesus Christ was a true temple (Jn. 2:21), destined to manifest much better still the divine presence among men. In the last stage we will be brought before the very throne of the fully revealed God. Then there will be no more need for theophanies: the Lord will be all in all, we will see each other face to face, and we will know as we are known (1 Cor. 13:12; Rev. 22:3).
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Manifestation of God (teos, fainomai) to man. The divine manifestation appears frequently in the Bible in various forms, figures and models. These manifestations or appearances range from the legendary ways of speaking with Adam, Cain and Noah (Gen chapters 1 to 6), to the appearances to the Patriarchs Abraham (Gen. 12.7; 15.18 and 17.1), Isaac (Gen 26.2) and Jacob (Gn 32. 25-31), which still move in the context of the anthropomorphic legend.
The same does not happen in the prophetic writings in which the divine presence is already configured with a doctrinal or moral message, which goes from the Mosaic theophany (Burning Bush, Sinai, diverse in the desert: Ex. 33. 20-23; Ex 19.10; Ex. 20. 19 Ex. 24.9-11;), to the beautiful prophetic descriptions of Samuel (1 Sam. 1.3-19), Solomon (1 King. 8.10), Elijah (1. King 19.9-12), Isaiah (Is. 6. 1-13), Jeremiah (Jer. 1. 3-19), Daniel (Dan. 2. 17-24), Ezekiel (Ez. 1.4 and 2.9) Properly, the theophanic languages of the Bible are not apparitions in the modern style, but references to divine contact with men. They are enclosed in referential stories that are beyond simple anthropomorphic description.
The theophanies in the New Testament are something else, from the vision of Jesus on Tabor (Mk 9. 2-13; Mt. 17.1-10; Lk. 9. 28-36), to the vision of Stephen (Acts 7 56-57) or the references of Saint Paul (Acts 9. 3-6 and 2 Cor. 12. 2-6).
The divine theophanies are presented in the education of faith to beautiful presentations of divine action in the lives of men and to point out the path of approaching God, who is always where his children walk, wait, pray and fight.
Pedro Chico González, Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy, Editorial Bruño, Lima, Peru 2006
Source: Dictionary of Catechesis and Religious Pedagogy
A theophany is an appearance or manifestation of God, either through an angel (Gen 16,7; 22,11; Ex 3,2; Jue 13,3-23), of a human figure (Gen 18,1-2 ; 32.25; 26.2) or of an overwhelming cosmic phenomenon, such as the storm; this last way is the typical framework of the Sinai theophanies (Ex 3,2; 13,21; 19,16-18), where the wind is the trumpet that announces God, the cloud indicates his presence, the thunder is his voice, the lightning is the brightness of his glory. In the NT theophanies are very rare (Mt 28:3-4). But the coming of the Son of man is announced, in the style of the famous theophanies, wrapped in a great cosmic apparatus (Mt 24:29-30).
MNE
FERNANDEZ RAMOS, Felipe (Dir.), Dictionary of Jesus of Nazareth, Editorial Monte Carmelo, Burbos, 2001
Source: Dictionary of Jesus of Nazareth
(-> apparitions, ecstatic, charismatic prophets). It is often said that the theophany is the manifestation of the divine through nature, in line with Greek philosophy, while biblical prophecy would be more linked to the history of men. Others speak of ecstatic or charismatic theophanies, linked to inner visions and/or ascents of the soul to the region of the divine, as various types of shamans and experts in occult revelations seem to have done and do. In principle, the Bible is not in favor of a “shamanic religion”, linked to rites and gestures aimed at man’s ascent towards the heavenly heights and the contemplation of the divine. In any case, 1 Enoch and other apocalyptic texts of the Old and New Testaments contain elements of the ascent of the soul to the divine (as in Ap 4 and in Paul himself: 2 Cor 12,2). Strictly speaking, the basic Christian theophany is identified with Easter, that is, with the discovery of the risen Jesus in the lives of men and in the Church. But the “appearance” of the risen Jesus breaks the dynamics of a theophany by ascent and places the encounter of man with the divinity on the plane of the interhuman encounter.
PIKAZA, Javier, Dictionary of the Bible. History and Word, Divine Word, Navarra 2007
Source: Dictionary of Bible History and Word
A theophany can be defined as a visible manifestation of God. Usage restricts the term primarily to theophanic manifestations of the OT period. In general such manifestations can be classified as (1) a direct message (Ex. 19:9-25), (2) a…