An UNVEILING, an uncovering — apo, 'away', + kalyptō, 'to cover': the drawing-back of a veil from what was hidden. It is the first word of the last book of the Bible (Apokalypsis Iōannou, 'the Revelation of John') and the source of English 'apocalypse', which in ordinary use has drifted from disclosure to catastrophe. ⚠ At 2 Thessalonians 1:7 it names the Lord's coming as an uncovering — set beside parousia, 'arrival, presence', at 2:1 and 2:8: the same event under two images, a curtain drawn back and a monarch arriving. Paul also uses it of the disclosure of a hidden mystery (Romans 16:25) and of the future 'revealing of the sons of God' (Romans 8:19). → first discussed at Rev 1:1