Senses
1. voice, sound — The primary sense of φωνή: the sound produced by a living being's vocal apparatus, or more broadly any audible sound or noise. This is the overwhelmingly dominant NT usage, covering human voices, divine voices, angelic voices, and sounds of nature or instruments. Arabic صَوْت (sound/voice), German Stimme (voice), Hebrew קוֹל (voice/sound -- the fundamental OT auditory term), Hindi आवाज़ (voice/sound), Korean 소리/음성 (sound/voice), Spanish voz (voice). The three auto-clustered senses (78838 nominative/accusative singular, 78839 dative 'with a voice,' 78840 plural 'voices') represent purely inflectional and syntactic variants: whether the voice is the subject, the object, or an instrumental/accompanying circumstance does not change the lexical meaning. Covers the voice from heaven at baptism and transfiguration (Matt 3:17, 17:5), the voice crying in the wilderness (Matt 3:3, Mark 1:3), cries of demons and the afflicted, heavenly voices in Revelation, and the voice of God and of Christ throughout the NT. 137×
AR["صَوت","صَوتًا","صَوتٍ","صَوتَهُ","صَوْتاً","صَوْتًا","صَوْتٌ","صَوْتَ","صَوْتُ","صَوْتِ"]·ben["কণ্ঠস্বর","কণ্ঠস্বরের","রব","রবের","স্বর","স্বরের"]·DE["Stimme"]·EN["a-cry","a-voice","sound","voice"]·FR["voix"]·heb["קוֹל","קוֹלוֹ"]·HI["अअवअज़","आवाज","आवाज़","वाणी"]·ID["suara"]·IT["voce"]·jav["swanten","swanten,","swara"]·KO["소리-가","소리-를","소리가","소리다","소리로","소리를","음성","음성-을","음성-이","음성을","음성이"]·PT["uma-voz","voz"]·RU["глас","голос","голоса","голосом","голосу"]·ES["la-voz","sonido","voz"]·SW["sauti"]·TR["ses","sesi","sesin,","sesinden","sesini"]·urd["آواز","اُس-کی"]
Matt 3:17, Matt 12:19, Matt 17:5, Mark 1:11, Mark 9:7, Mark 15:37, Luke 1:44, Luke 3:22, Luke 9:35, Luke 9:36, Luke 11:27, Luke 17:13 (+38 more)
2. sound, noise (non-vocal) — A specialized usage referring to sounds or noises that are not voices per se but rather auditory phenomena produced by instruments, natural forces, or supernatural events. The plural φωναί in this sense denotes a category of sounds rather than individual vocal utterances. Arabic أَصْوَات (sounds), Hebrew קוֹלוֹת (sounds/thunderclaps), Hindi आवाज़ों (sounds), Korean 소리들 (sounds), Spanish sonidos (sounds). Found in 1 Cor 14:10 discussing the variety of 'kinds of sounds' (γένη φωνῶν) in the world -- a discourse on linguistic diversity and intelligibility -- and in Rev 8:13 of the 'sounds' of the remaining trumpet blasts. This usage is distinct from 'voice' because the referent is abstract sonic phenomena or instrumental noise rather than articulate vocal expression. 2×
AR["أصواتٍ","أَصْوَاتِ"]·ben["ধ্বনিগুলির","ধ্বনির"]·DE["Stimme"]·EN["of-sounds","sounds"]·FR["voix"]·heb["קוֹלוֹת"]·HI["आवाज़ों-के","आवाजों"]·ID["suara-suara"]·IT["voce"]·jav["-ing-swanten-swanten","swanten"]·KO["소리들","소리들-의"]·PT["de-vozes","sons"]·RU["голосов","звуков"]·ES["de-voces","sonidos"]·SW["sauti","za-sauti"]·TR["kalan","oluyorsa"]·urd["آوازوں","آوازوں-کی"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
φων-ή, ἡ, sound, tone, properly, the sound of the voice, whether of men or animals with lungs and throat (ἡ φωνὴ ψόφος τίς ἐστιν ἐμψύχου Refs 4th c.BC+; opposed to φθόγγος (see. φθόγγος Refs __I mostly of human beings, speech, voice, utterance, φ. ἄρρηκτος Refs 8th c.BC+; φ. δέ οἱ αἰθέρ᾽ ἵκανεν, of Ajax' battle-cry, Refs; of the battle-cry of an army, Τρώων καὶ Ἀχαιῶν.. φ. δεινὸν ἀϋσάντων Refs:…