ouranos · heaven, sky

What it means

ouranos (οὐρανός) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “heaven, sky”.

Heaven: the sky and, above all, the place of God. "The heavens" is sometimes a respectful way of saying "God".

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. The vault we see above the earth, where birds fly and the stars are.
2. God's dwelling, above all that is created.

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

Word study

Heaven: the sky and, above all, the place of God.

• What is above: “the birds of the sky” Matthew 6:26
• The heavens that open Matthew 3:16
• The place of God: “Our Father in heaven” Matthew 6:9
• “The kingdom of heaven” Matthew 3:2
• “Against heaven”: against God Luke 15:18
• “Heaven and earth will pass away”; going into heaven Matthew 24:35Acts 1:11

How we translate it

“Heaven” 228 times, “heavens” 30, “sky” 15. English says “heaven” in the singular in the usual expressions, even where the Greek has the plural (“Our Father in heaven”, Matthew 6:9; “the kingdom of heaven”, Matthew 3:2); it keeps “the heavens” where the sky itself is seen opening (Matthew 3:16), and “sky” for the birds.

How it is translated

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

• heaven ×228
• heavens ×30
• sky ×15

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Matthew×82
• Mark×18
• Luke×35
• John×18
• Acts×26
• Romans×2
• 1 Corinthians×2
• 2 Corinthians×3
• Galatians×1
• Ephesians×4
• Philippians×1
• Colossians×5
• 1 Thessalonians×2
• 2 Thessalonians×1
• Hebrews×10
• James×2
• 1 Peter×3
• 2 Peter×6
• Revelation×52

• Matthew 3:2

  and saying, “Change your minds, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

• Matthew 3:16

  And after being immersed, Jesus at once went up from the water; and look, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and coming upon him.

• Matthew 3:17

  And look, a voice from the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

• Matthew 4:17

  From then on Jesus began to proclaim and to say, “Change your minds, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

• Matthew 5:3

  “Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

• Matthew 5:10

  Happy are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

• Matthew 5:12

  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

• Matthew 5:16

  In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

• Matthew 5:18

  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota or one stroke will ever pass from the law until all things take place.

• Matthew 5:19

  So whoever breaks one of these least commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, this one will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

• Matthew 5:20

  For I tell you that unless your righteousness far exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven.

• Matthew 5:34

  But I tell you not to swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

• Matthew 5:45

  so that you may become sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

• Matthew 6:1

  “Be careful not to practice your righteousness before people in order to be seen by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

• Matthew 6:9

  So you pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be sanctified;

• Matthew 6:10

  may your kingdom come; may your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.

• Matthew 6:20

  but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys, and where thieves do not dig through or steal;

• Matthew 6:26

  Look at the birds of the sky: they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

• Matthew 7:11

  If then you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

• Matthew 7:21

  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

• Matthew 8:11

  And I tell you that many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,

• Matthew 8:20

  And Jesus says to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

• Matthew 10:7

  And as you go, proclaim, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’

• Matthew 10:32

  So everyone who acknowledges me before people, I too will acknowledge him before my Father who is in heaven;

• Matthew 10:33

  but whoever denies me before people, I too will deny him before my Father who is in heaven.

• Matthew 11:11

  Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Immerser; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

• Matthew 11:12

  And from the days of John the Immerser until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent people seize it.

• Matthew 11:23

  And you, Capernaum, you will not be exalted to heaven, will you? To Hades you will go down; for if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

• Matthew 11:25

  At that time Jesus responded and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you hid these things from the wise and the intelligent and revealed them to little children.

• Matthew 12:50

  For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

• Matthew 13:11

  But he answered and said to them, “Because to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

• Matthew 13:24

  He put before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven has become like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

• Matthew 13:31

  He put before them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard, which a man took and sowed in his field;

• Matthew 13:32

  it is smaller than all the seeds, but when it has grown, it is greater than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”

• Matthew 13:33

  He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

• Matthew 13:44

  The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

• Matthew 13:45

  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls;

• Matthew 13:47

  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet thrown into the sea and gathering fish of every kind;

• Matthew 13:52

  And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple for the kingdom of heaven is like a man, a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure new things and old.”

• Matthew 14:19

  And ordering the crowds to sit down on the grass, taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed; and breaking them, he gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

And 233 more times.