adjective
epouranos
Strong’sG2032
heavenly, celestial
stem epouran-19 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 books10 of 26 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Heavenly or celestial — belonging to or existing in heaven, as opposed to what is earthly 1234. It describes heavenly beings in contrast to those on earth and under the earth, and is used as a substantive, "the heavenly ones," as a class opposed to "the earthly ones" 13. It further qualifies bodies, a kingdom, a homeland, a city, a calling, and a gift, and stands for "the heavenly things" themselves, again set against their earthly counterparts, as well as describing regions in the heavens 1.
In the Greek Old Testament the word is also used to render Hebrew terms for "heaven" and as a divine title 1.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ἐπουράνιος, -ον
(< οὐρανός), [in LXX: Ps 68:14 (שַׁדַּי), Da TH 4:23 A (שָׁמַיִם) II Mac 3:39, III Mac 6:28 7:6, IV Mac 4:11 AR, IV Mac 11:3 א*;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2032 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Epic dialect η, ον Refs 4th c.BC+:— heavenly, in NT+8th c.BC+; ἡ ἐ. πορεία falsa lectio in Refs 5th c.BC+
2 plural, as substantive, οἱ ἐ., ={θεοί}, Refs 3rd c.BC+; opposed to ἐπίγειοι, NT+2nd c.AD+; τὰ ἐ., ={τὰ μετέωρα}, variant in NT+5th c.BC+
3 up to heaven, ἔπτατ᾽ ἐπουρανίη variant in Refs 4th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | epouranos1×ἐπουράνιος | epouranas | epouranem | epouranois1×ἐπουράνιοι | epouranais | epouraneim3×ἐπουράνια |
| object accusative | epouranon | epouranan1×ἐπουράνιον | epouranoin | epouranain | ||
| direct address vocative | epouranor | epouranar | epouranoir | epouranair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | epouranou1×ἐπουρανίου | epouranau3×ἐπουρανίου | epouraneu | epouranoiu1×ἐπουρανίων | epouranaiu | epouraneiu2×ἐπουρανίων |
| to, for dative | epourano | epourana1×ἐπουρανίῳ | epourane | epouranoi | epouranai | epouranei5×ἐπουρανίοις |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
epouran is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
19 occurrences, every one of them listed
epouranos“of heaven”subjectnominative singular1×
1 Corinthians 15:48“of heaven”… kai tois choikois, kai hoios tos epouranos, toioutois kai tois epouranois;… man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.
epouranou“of heaven”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
1 Corinthians 15:49“of heaven”… choikou, forani kai tan eikonan tou epouranou.… man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.
epouranan“heavenly”objectaccusative singular1×
2 Timothy 4:18… sōzati eis tan basileian autou tan epouranan; ho tas doxas eis toin aiōnoin …… and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory …
epouranau“heavenly”of, belonging togenitive singular3×
Hebrews 3:1Hothen, adelfoir hagioir, klēsiau epouranau metochoir, katanoavar ton apostolon kai archierevon …… holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus …
Hebrews 6:4… fōtizirantoin geuerantoin tē tau dōreau tau epouranau kai metochoin genirantoin pneumeu hagieu… been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the …
Hebrews 11:16nun de kreittonau oregolō, houtem atō epouranau. dio ouk epaischunotō autoin tos theos …… longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed …
epourana“heavenly”to, fordative singular1×
Hebrews 12:22… ore kai pola theou zōarōntou, Ierousalēm epourana, kai muriadai angeloiu, panēguria… city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads …
epouranois“of heaven”subjectnominative plural1×
1 Corinthians 15:48… hoios tos epouranos, toioutois kai tois epouranois;… so also are those who are of heaven.
epouranoiu“in heaven”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
Philippians 2:10… te onome Iēsu pantem gonuem kamptateia epouranoiu kai epigeioiu kai katachthonioiu,… of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the …
epouraneim“heavenly”subject or objectdirect plural3×
John 3:12… pisteuavō, pōs ean legameia vi teim epouraneim pisteuavi?… believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
Hebrews 9:23… ouranoi houtei katharizorō, auteim de teim epouraneim kreittonai thusiai para houtain.… purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than …
1 Corinthians 15:40kai sōmeim epouraneim, kai sōmeim epigeieim; alla heteras men …There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the …
epouraneiu“heavenly”of, belonging togenitive plural2×
1 Corinthians 15:40… epigeieim; alla heteras men tas teiu epouraneiu doxas, heteras de tas teiu epigeieiu.… bodies. But the splendor of the heavenly bodies is of one degree, and …
Hebrews 8:5“heavenly”hotinois hupodeigme kai skia latreualō teiu epouraneiu, kathōs chrēmatizotē Mōusos mellarōntos epitelarō tan …The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See …
epouranei“heavenly”to, fordative plural5×
Ephesians 1:3… en panta eulogia pneumatika en tei epouranei en Christo,… with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 1:20… kathizarantos en dexa autou en tei epouranei… at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
Ephesians 2:6kai sunegerata kai sunkathizata en tei epouranei en Christo Iēso,… seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Ephesians 3:10… archai kai tai exousiai en tei epouranei dia tau ekklēsau tas polupoikilas sofias …… the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,
Ephesians 6:12… teim pneumatikeim tau ponēriau en tei epouranei.… spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.