Exploring the Meaning of Gnorizo in Greek

Gnorizo means “to make known.” In the passages where it appears here, it marks moments when something previously hidden, uncertain, or inaccessible is disclosed—by the Lord to shepherds, by Jesus to his disciples, by God in his saving purpose, and by apostolic proclamation to churches and nations.

Occurrences

Luke 2:15 — “When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.””

Here the verb frames the shepherds’ situation as one of received disclosure. The impulse to “go… and see” is grounded in what “the Lord has made known,” so their movement toward Bethlehem is presented as a response to information granted to them rather than a conclusion they reached on their own.

Luke 2:17 — “When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child.”

Although the wording here speaks of “publicized widely,” the scene continues the same dynamic: what was “spoken to them” becomes something broadcast outward. The making-known aspect is enacted socially—news that came to the shepherds is now carried beyond them, extending the circle of those who know “the saying… about this child.”

John 15:15 — “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.”

Jesus contrasts two relational states: the servant defined by not knowing, and the friends defined by being told. “I have made known to you” is the hinge that turns ignorance into informed relationship; the content disclosed is “everything that I heard from my Father,” so the verb marks a transfer of knowledge from the Father through the Son to the disciples as friends.

John 17:26 — “I made known to them your name, and will make it known; that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.””

The verb describes both a completed action (“I made known”) and an ongoing commitment (“will make it known”). The disclosure has a stated purpose: it is oriented toward an outcome in which divine love is “in them,” along with Jesus himself. The making known is therefore not mere reporting; in this prayer it is tied to the relational and indwelling result the sentence names.

Acts 2:28 — “You made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’”

The speaker addresses God directly, and the object of disclosure is “the ways of life.” The making known is linked to experience: knowing these “ways” stands alongside being “full of gladness with your presence,” so the verb sits in a context where divine disclosure and divine presence are presented together.

Romans 9:22 — “What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,”

In this rhetorical question, the verb is placed within God’s intention: “to make his power known.” The line pairs the making known of power with God’s patient endurance toward “vessels of wrath,” so disclosure here is not described as a bare announcement but as something displayed in the course of sustained action and restraint.

Romans 9:23 — “and that he might make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory,”

The parallel statement carries the same verb into a different object and audience: “the riches of his glory” are made known “on vessels of mercy.” The making known is presented as something that rests upon people—“on” them—so the disclosure is depicted as a manifesting of glory in connection with those “prepared beforehand for glory.”

Romans 14:25 — “but now is revealed, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known for obedience of faith to all the nations;”

This occurrence places “is made known” in a chain: “now is revealed” and “by the Scriptures of the prophets” and “according to the commandment of the eternal God.” The effect is missional and practical: the disclosure is “for obedience of faith to all the nations,” so the verb points to communicated revelation aimed at eliciting a lived response among a broad audience.

1 Corinthians 12:3 — “Therefore I make known to you that no man speaking by God’s Spirit says, “Jesus is accursed.” No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” but by the Holy Spirit.”

Paul uses the verb for a direct act of instruction: “I make known to you” introduces a criterion for discernment about speech and the Spirit. The disclosure is propositional and clarifying, distinguishing what cannot arise “by God’s Spirit” from what confession (“Jesus is Lord”) requires the Holy Spirit to enable.

1 Corinthians 15:1 — “Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,”

With “Now I declare to you,” the making-known action is linked to gospel proclamation already delivered (“which I preached to you”) and already received. The verb’s force here gathers past preaching and present reminder into a reaffirmation: what they “received” and “stand” in is brought again into explicit awareness for the community.

2 Corinthians 8:1 — “Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia,”

Here the subject is plural (“we”), and the object made known is “the grace of God” evidenced in a particular setting: “in the assemblies of Macedonia.” The verb functions as reporting that is meant to inform and shape the hearers by pointing them to God’s gracious work as it has appeared among other congregations.

Galatians 1:11 — “But I make known to you, brothers, concerning the Good News which was preached by me, that it is not according to man.”

Again Paul uses the verb to introduce a weighty clarification “concerning the Good News.” The disclosure addresses the gospel’s source: “it is not according to man.” In this setting, making known is not just sharing information but establishing how the message should be understood in relation to human origin and authority.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, “to make known” consistently marks an act of disclosure that crosses a boundary between those who know and those who do not. In Luke, the boundary is crossed first by divine initiative—“which the Lord has made known to us”—and then by human witness as the shepherds spread what was “spoken to them.” The verb’s sense fits a movement from revelation received to report disseminated, with the same core action viewed from different sides of the communication.

In John, making known is tied to relationship and ongoing communion. Jesus sets “servants” against “friends” on the axis of knowledge: friends are those to whom the Son discloses what he has heard from the Father. In the prayer of John 17, the making known is both completed and continuing, and it is explicitly purposive—aimed at an outcome described as love “in them” and “I in them.” The verb thus functions in contexts where disclosure is not merely factual but relationally consequential within the sentences themselves.

Acts and Romans place the making known in the speech addressed to God and in theological reflection about God’s aims. “You made known to me the ways of life” portrays divine disclosure as guidance into “ways,” and it is placed beside gladness in God’s presence. In Romans 9, making known is attached to what God intends to show—his “power” and “the riches of his glory”—and the disclosure is described in connection with how God deals with “vessels of wrath” and “vessels of mercy.” Romans 14:25 broadens the horizon to “all the nations,” describing the making known as aligned with revelation, prophetic Scriptures, and divine command, and oriented toward “obedience of faith.” In these occurrences, the verb regularly operates at the level of God’s self-disclosure in history and among peoples, even when the sentences remain compact.

In the Corinthian and Galatian letters, the verb is a tool of apostolic address. “I make known to you” and “I declare to you” introduce teaching meant to shape the community’s understanding and practice: discerning Spirit-inspired confession (1 Corinthians 12:3), renewing attention to the gospel already received and stood in (1 Corinthians 15:1), learning about God’s grace at work in other churches (2 Corinthians 8:1), and grasping the gospel’s character as “not according to man” (Galatians 1:11). Here making known functions as public, verbal clarification and reminder, often with “brothers” as the direct audience, emphasizing communal reception rather than private insight.

Imagery

The passages give the verb concrete settings for disclosure: angels depart “into the sky” as shepherds act on what has been made known; Jesus speaks as one who shares what he has heard “from my Father”; God makes known “the ways of life” and fills with gladness “with your presence”; and the message is made known “to all the nations” with a view to “obedience of faith.” Even when the object is abstract (power, glory, grace), the verb anchors it in communicative acts—spoken words, declared instruction, revealed message—so that “making known” is pictured as something that happens in time, through speech, and toward identifiable hearers.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).