νᾱός G3485
Temple, sanctuary; the inner shrine of God's dwelling, or a pagan model shrine
The Greek word for the inner sanctuary or temple proper, as distinct from hieron which denotes the broader temple complex including courts and porticos. In the New Testament, naos refers overwhelmingly to the sacred dwelling place of God -- whether the physical temple in Jerusalem, Christ's body as temple (John 2:19-21), or believers as God's temple (1 Corinthians 3:16). In Revelation, the heavenly naos opens to reveal God's presence. A single occurrence in Acts 19:24 applies the term to the miniature silver shrines of Artemis crafted by Demetrius, a commercial and pagan usage that every major translation language renders identically to the sacred sense, making context the only disambiguator.
Senses
1. temple, sanctuary (inner shrine) — The inner sanctuary or temple proper as the dwelling place of deity, covering 44 of 45 occurrences. Used for the Jerusalem temple's holy place (Matthew 23:16-17, where Jesus distinguishes swearing by the naos from swearing by its gold), for Christ's body (John 2:19-21), for believers corporately (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 2 Corinthians 6:16), and for the heavenly temple in Revelation (11:19, 15:5-8). Spanish santuario sometimes distinguishes this from the broader templo, but most languages -- French temple, German Tempel, Korean seonggeon -- use a single form, relying on the hieron/naos distinction that Greek itself provides. 44×
AR["الهَيكَلُ","الهَيكَلِ","الْهَيْكَلِ","هَيْكَلَ","هَيْكَلُ","هَيْكَلِ"]·ben["ναοῦ-মন্দিরের","মন্দির","মন্দিরকে","মন্দিরে","মন্দিরের"]·DE["Tempel"]·EN["temple"]·FR["temple"]·heb["הֵיכַל","הֵיכָל","הַ-הֵיכַל","הַהֵיכָל"]·HI["मंदिर","मन्दिर","मन्दिर-का","मन्दिर-के","मन्दिर-को"]·ID["Bait-Allah","Bait-Suci","bait","itu"]·IT["santuario","tempio"]·jav["Padaleman-Suci","Padaleman-Suci,","Padaleman-Suci.","padalem-suci","padaleman-suci"]·KO["성전","성전-에","성전-을","성전-의","성전과","성전을","성전의","성전이","성전이냐"]·PT["santuário","santuário,","templo"]·RU["храм","храма","храме","храмом"]·ES["santuario","templo"]·SW["anaapa","hekalu","lililoitakasa","na","si-kitu","wapumbavu"]·TR["tapınak","tapınakla","tapınakta","tapınağa","tapınağı","tapınağın","tapınağını"]·urd["ہیکل","ہیکل-میں","ہیکل-کا","ہیکل-کو","ہیکل-کے"]
Matt 23:16, Matt 23:16, Matt 23:17, Matt 23:21, Matt 23:35, Matt 26:61, Matt 27:5, Matt 27:40, Matt 27:51, Mark 14:58, Mark 15:29, Mark 15:38 (+32 more)
2. shrine (pagan or handmade) — A miniature shrine or model temple, specifically the silver replicas of Artemis's temple made by Demetrius the silversmith at Ephesus (Acts 19:24). This is the sole pagan and commercial usage of naos in the New Testament. While French, German, and Spanish render it with the same word as the sacred temple, the diminutive and plural context (naous argurous, 'silver shrines') together with the pagan deity mark this as functionally distinct -- a manufactured religious commodity rather than a place of divine indwelling. 1×
AR["هَيَاكِلَ"]·ben["মন্দির"]·DE["Tempel"]·EN["shrines"]·FR["temple"]·heb["מִקְדָּשִׁים"]·HI["मन्दिर"]·ID["kuil-kuil"]·IT["tempio"]·jav["kuil"]·KO["성전들을"]·PT["templos"]·RU["храмы"]·ES["templos"]·SW["mahekalu"]·TR["tapınaklar"]·urd["مندر"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
νᾱός, ὁ, Doric dialect, Thess., etc. form, Refs 5th c.BC+, rare in Attic dialect Prose and Comedy texts, LXX+5th c.BC+ only in 2 Ma.), Refs 2nd c.BC+; Ionic dialectνηός, always in Refs 8th c.BC+; dative νειῴ Refs 4th c.BC+; Attic dialect νεώς (Attic Inscrr. of see-3rd c.BC (see. below), once in Trag. (see. above), frequently in Prose authors and found in Comedy texts (see. below)); declension,…