◄ 1307. diaphanés ►
Lexical Summary
diaphanés: Transparent, clear, evident

Original Word: διαφανής
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: diaphanés
Pronunciation: dee-af-an-ACE
Phonetic Spelling: (dee-af-an-ace')
KJV: transparent
Word Origin: [from G1223 (διά - through) and G5316 (φαίνω - appeared)]

1. appearing through, i.e. "diaphanous"

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
transparent.

From dia and phaino; appearing through, i.e. "diaphanous" -- transparent.

see GREEK dia

see GREEK phaino

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
variant reading for diaugés, q.v.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 1307: διαφανής

διαφανής, διαφανες (διαφαίνω, to show through), transparent, translucent: Revelation 21:21 Rec.; see διαυγής. (Herodotus, Aristophanes, Plato, others.)

Topical Lexicon
Background and conceptual range

διαφανής conveys the idea of something so pure that light can pass through it unhindered. In Scripture this perceptible clarity becomes a vivid emblem of the unveiled glory of God and of the unalloyed righteousness that characterises His dwelling and His people. Because the adjective appears only in certain textual traditions of Revelation 21, its theological weight is drawn primarily from that setting and from the wider biblical motif of “seeing through” to God’s splendour.

The New Jerusalem: splendour that can be seen through

In the climactic vision of Revelation 21, the heavenly city is portrayed with material that is “pure gold, as clear as glass” (Revelation 21:18) and streets that are “pure gold, like transparent glass” (Revelation 21:21). Even where some manuscripts read a cognate such as διαυγής or διαλάμπης, the sense of perfect translucence remains. The image serves at least three theological purposes:

1. Manifested glory – nothing in the eternal state obscures the radiance that proceeds from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Revelation 22:1-5).
2. Moral purity – the city’s construction mirrors the holiness of its inhabitants, whose robes have been washed in the blood of Christ (Revelation 7:14; Revelation 19:8).
3. Unbroken fellowship – there is no temple “because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Revelation 21:22); transparency symbolises the removal of every barrier between God and His redeemed people.

Old Testament foreshadowings of transparent splendour

• Exodus 24:10 records that under the elders’ feet was “something like a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself,” prefiguring a realm where nothing clouds the manifestation of divine presence.
• Ezekiel 1:22 describes the expanse above the cherubim as “sparkling like crystal,” again emphasising unhindered visibility.
• Daniel 12:3 promises that the righteous “will shine like the brightness of the expanse of heaven,” linking sanctification with clarity and light.

Spiritual transparency: an ethical parallel

While διαφανής functions literally in Revelation, its imagery reinforces the New Testament’s moral call:
• Matthew 5:8 – “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:2 – Paul renounces “secret and shameful ways,” choosing an open life where the light of the gospel is unobscured.
• 1 John 1:7 – “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”

Such passages show that believers are already being shaped into transparent vessels through which God’s light can be discerned (compare Philippians 2:15).

Christ, the perfectly transparent revelation of God

John 1:18 states, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made Him known.” Hebrews 1:3 adds that the Son is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature.” Christ embodies διαφανής in the fullest sense: no opacity resides in Him; He perfectly transmits the Father’s glory to humanity.

Ecclesial implications

Ephesians 5:25-27 envisions the church “in splendor, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish.” The transparency of the New Jerusalem is therefore not merely eschatological architecture; it is the culmination of Christ’s sanctifying work in His bride. The apostolic charge to “keep yourselves unstained by the world” (James 1:27) is the present outworking of that future reality.

Pastoral and ministerial application

1. Integrity in leadership – overseers must be “above reproach” (1 Timothy 3:2), cultivating lives that allow congregations to see Christ unobstructed.
2. Worship and witness – gatherings should reflect the city to come, marked by clarity of doctrine and purity of conduct so that “outsiders…will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming that God is truly among you” (1 Corinthians 14:25).
3. Discipleship – growth in holiness is described as beholding “with unveiled faces the glory of the Lord” and being “transformed into His image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18), an anticipation of the ultimate διαφανής existence.

Historical and theological reflections

Early Christian writers employed imagery of transparency when speaking of the redeemed creation. For example, Irenaeus pictured the resurrection body as “glorified, spiritual, and translucent.” Though extra-biblical, such testimony shows how the church has long associated the word group behind διαφανής with resurrected materiality suffused by divine light.

Eschatological assurance

The promise that believers will one day inhabit a realm where everything is transparent invites present comfort. “Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). The glass becomes clear, and nothing remains hidden. Until that consummation, the church lives in hope, pursuing the moral and spiritual clarity that previews the age to come.

Forms and Transliterations
διαφανείς διαφανή διαφαύση διέφαυσε διέφαυσεν
Links
Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts
1306b
Top of Page
Top of Page