naos · sanctuary

What it means

naos (ναός) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “sanctuary”.

The house of God within the temple.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. God's house inside the temple.
2. Jesus' body, or believers as God's house.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

Sanctuary: the very house of God, the sacred building at the center of the temple, which only the priests entered. Paul gives this name to the community and to the believer’s body.

• The curtain of the sanctuary was torn Matthew 27:51Luke 1:9Matthew 27:5
• “Destroy this sanctuary”: his body John 2:19John 2:21
• “You are God’s sanctuary” 1 Corinthians 3:161 Corinthians 6:192 Corinthians 6:16
• God does not dwell in sanctuaries made by hands Acts 17:24Acts 19:24
• The sanctuary in heaven and its absence in the new Jerusalem Revelation 11:19Revelation 21:22

Historical and cultural background

John 2:20 records the fact of the rebuilding: “This sanctuary was built in forty-six years”.

How we translate it

“Sanctuary” 43 times. This edition’s glossary distinguishes naos = ‘sanctuary’ from hieron = ‘temple’, which is the whole precinct with its courts, so that it can be seen which part each passage speaks of. In Acts 19:24, of the silver figures of Artemis, “shrines”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• sanctuary ×43
• sanctuaries ×1
• shrines ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×9
• Mark×3
• Luke×4
• John×3
• Acts×2
• 1 Corinthians×4
• 2 Corinthians×2
• Ephesians×1
• 2 Thessalonians×1
• Revelation×16

• Matthew 23:16

  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound.’

• Matthew 23:17

  Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that sanctified the gold?

• Matthew 23:21

  and the one who swears by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one who dwells in it;

• Matthew 23:35

  so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

• Matthew 26:61

  and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the sanctuary of God and in three days to build it.’”

• Matthew 27:5

  And throwing the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, he left, and he went away and hanged himself.

• Matthew 27:40

  and saying, “You who would destroy the sanctuary and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

• Matthew 27:51

  And look, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth was shaken, and the rocks were split;

• Mark 14:58

  “We heard him saying, ‘I will destroy this sanctuary made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’”

• Mark 15:29

  And those who passed by were insulting him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the sanctuary and build it in three days,

• Mark 15:38

  And the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two, from top to bottom.

• Luke 1:9

  according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to burn incense after entering into the sanctuary of the Lord.

• Luke 1:21

  And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the sanctuary.

• Luke 1:22

  And when he came out, he was not able to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary; and he was making signs to them, and remained mute.

• Luke 23:45

  the sun having failed; and the curtain of the sanctuary was torn down the middle.

• John 2:19

  Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.”

• John 2:20

  So the Jews said, “This sanctuary was built in forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?”

• John 2:21

  But he was speaking about the sanctuary of his body.

• Acts 17:24

  The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by hands,

• Acts 19:24

  For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no small business to the craftsmen.

• 1 Corinthians 3:16

  Do you not know that you are God’s sanctuary and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

• 1 Corinthians 3:17

  If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him; for God’s sanctuary is holy, and that is what you are.

• 1 Corinthians 6:19

  Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

• 2 Corinthians 6:16

  And what agreement has the sanctuary of God with idols? For we are the sanctuary of the living God; just as God said, “I will dwell among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

• Ephesians 2:21

  in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord,

• 2 Thessalonians 2:4

  who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the sanctuary of God, proclaiming that he himself is God.

• Revelation 3:12

  The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, and he will never go out again; and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my new name.

• Revelation 7:15

  For this reason they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his sanctuary; and the one who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.

• Revelation 11:1

  And a measuring reed like a staff was given to me, saying, “Get up and measure the sanctuary of God and the altar and those who worship in it.

• Revelation 11:2

  And the court outside the sanctuary, leave it out, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.

• Revelation 11:19

  And the sanctuary of God that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his sanctuary; and there were lightnings and voices and thunders and an earthquake and great hail.

• Revelation 14:15

  And another angel came out of the sanctuary, crying out with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Send in your sickle and reap, because the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”

• Revelation 14:17

  And another angel came out of the sanctuary that is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

• Revelation 15:5

  And after these things I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of testimony in heaven was opened,

• Revelation 15:6

  and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the sanctuary, clothed in pure bright linen, and wrapped around their chests with golden sashes.

• Revelation 15:8

  And the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter into the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

• Revelation 16:1

  And I heard a loud voice from the sanctuary saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of the fury of God on the earth.”

• Revelation 16:17

  And the seventh poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the sanctuary, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”

• Revelation 21:22

  And I did not see a sanctuary in it, for its sanctuary is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

And 6 more times.