noun · feminine
nefelas
Strong’sG3507
a cloud
stem nefel-25 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books7 of 10 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
νεφέλη means a cloud 124 — a single, specific cloud, as distinct from a larger indefinite mass of vapor 1. It is used of clouds in the sky, including those associated with divine appearances and with Christ's return 1, and also of the pillar of cloud that accompanied Israel in the wilderness 1. Strong's describes the underlying sense as "cloudiness," concretely referring to a cloud 2.
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
νεφέλη, -ης, ἡ
(< νέφος), [in LXX chiefly for עָנָן, also for עָב, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G3507 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidnef-el'-ay
properly, cloudiness, i.e. (concretely) a cloud
Fromfrom G3509;
King Jamescloud.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
(νέφος) cloud, mass of clouds (distinguished from ὁμίχλη, mist or fog, Refs 8th c.BC+; ν. κυανέη, πορφυρέη, Refs 8th c.BC+—Mostly poetry, but found in Refs 5th c.BC+ [same places], and in late Prose, Refs 1st c.AD+
2 metaphorically, νεφέλη δέ μιν ἀμφεκάλυψε κυανέη, of death, Refs 8th c.BC+; τὸν δ᾽ ἄχεος νεφέλη ἐκάλυψε μέλαινα a cloud of sorrow,Refs 5th c.BC+; Κενταύρου φονίᾳ νεφέλᾳ, i.e. with his blood, Refs 5th c.BC+; κελαινῶπις ν., of sleep, Refs 5th c.BC+
II of clouds in urine, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 ={νεφέλιον} 11.2, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 cloud on a mirror, Refs 4th c.BC+
III fine bird-net, in plural, Refs 5th c.BC+
IV Alchem., sublimate, Refs 5th 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 | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | nefelas5×νεφέλη | nefelais1×νεφέλαι |
| object accusative | nefelan5×νεφέλην | nefelain |
| direct address vocative | nefelar | nefelair |
| of, belonging to genitive | nefelau5×νεφέλης | nefelaiu4×νεφελῶν |
| to, for dative | nefela3×νεφέλῃ | nefelai2×νεφέλαις |
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
nefela 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.
25 occurrences, every one of them listed
nefelas“cloud”subjectnominative singular5×
Matthew 17:5ēti autou lalarōntou idou nefelas fōteinas episkiazata autoin, kai idou fōnas …… Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from …
Mark 9:7kai geneta nefelas episkiazarōntas autoi, kai geneta fōnas ek …Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a …
Luke 9:34houteim de autou legarōntou geneta nefelas kai episkiazate autoin; fobila de en …While Peter was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they …
Acts 1:9… houteim legarantos bleparōntoiu autoiu eparita kai nefelas hupolabata auton apo toiu ofthalmoiu autoiu.… He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.
Revelation 14:14Kai horama, kai idou nefelas leukas, kai epi tan nefelan kathorōnton …… I looked and saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was …
nefelan“cloud”objectaccusative singular5×
Luke 9:34… en te eiserchara autoin eis tan nefelan.… were afraid as they entered the cloud.
Luke 12:54… de kai toi ochloi; Hotan horaveia nefelan anatellarōntan epi dusmaiu, eutheōs legavō hoti …… As soon as you see a cloud rising in the west, you say …
1 Corinthians 10:1… tois patrois nu pantois hupo tan nefelan ale kai pantois dia tau thalassau …… our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through …
Revelation 10:1… ischuron katabainarōnton ek tou ouranou, peribalorēnton nefelan, kai tas irias epi tan kefalan …… down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head …
Revelation 14:14… idou nefelas leukas, kai epi tan nefelan kathorōnton homoion huion anthrōpou, echarōntos epi …… white cloud, and seated on the cloud was One like the Son of …
nefelau“cloud”of, belonging togenitive singular5×
Matthew 17:5… autoin, kai idou fōnas ek tau nefelau legarōntas; Houtos atō tos huios mu …… them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son …
Mark 9:7… autoi, kai geneta fōnas ek tau nefelau; Houtos atō tos huios mu tos …… and a voice came from the cloud: “This is My beloved Son. Listen …
Luke 9:35kai fōnas geneta ek tau nefelau legarōntas; Houtos atō tos huios mu …And a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, whom …
Revelation 14:15… fōna mega to kathorōnto epi tau nefelau; Pempasar tem drepanem su kai therizasar, …… to the One seated on the cloud, “Swing Your sickle and reap, because …
Revelation 14:16kai balata tos kathorōntos epi tau nefelau tem drepanem autou epi tan gēan, …So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth …
nefela“cloud”to, fordative singular3×
Luke 21:27… ton huion tou anthrōpou erchorōnton en nefela meta dunamiau kai doxau pollau.… Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
1 Corinthians 10:2… eis ton Mōuson baptizela en ta nefela kai en ta thalassa,… all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
Revelation 11:12… anabainala eis ton ouranon en ta nefela, kai theōrala autoin tois echthrois autoiu.… went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched them.
nefelais“clouds”subjectnominative plural1×
Jude 1:12… vu spiladais suneuōchorōntois, afobōs heautoin poimanarōntois, nefelais anudrais hupo anemoiu paraferorōntais, dendreim fthinopōrineim …… but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the …
nefelaiu“clouds”of, belonging togenitive plural4×
Matthew 24:30… huion tou anthrōpou erchorōnton epi taiu nefelaiu tou ouranou meta dunamiau kai doxau …… Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great …
Matthew 26:64… tau dunamiau kai erchorōnton epi taiu nefelaiu tou ouranou.… of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Mark 14:62… tau dunamiau kai erchorōnton meta taiu nefelaiu tou ouranou.… of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
Revelation 1:7Idou erchotō meta taiu nefelaiu, kai horeti auton pantos ofthalmos kai …Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him …
nefelai“clouds”to, fordative plural2×
Mark 13:26… ton huion tou anthrōpou erchorōnton en nefelai meta dunamiau pollau kai doxau;… Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
1 Thessalonians 4:17… perileiporōntois hama sun autoi harpazini en nefelai eis apantēsian tou kuriou eis aeron; …… up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the …