What does ζόφος (zóphos) mean in the Bible?
ζόφος (zóphos) is a Greek word meaning "gloom (as shrouding like a cloud)".
Greek · G2217
ζόφος
Gloom (as shrouding like a cloud)
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ζόφος G2217
Pronunciation zóphos
What does ζόφος (zóphos) mean in the Bible?
ζόφος (zóphos) is a Greek word meaning "gloom (as shrouding like a cloud)".
Full entry for ζόφος (G2217) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2217?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Blackest (2), darkness (1), gloom (1), of darkness (1).
Where does ζόφος (zóphos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Hebrews 12:18. Its strongest book concentrations include 2 Peter (2), Jude (2), Hebrews (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It Blackest 2× 2 Peter 2:17, Jude 1:13
darkness 1× Jude 1:6
gloom 1× Hebrews 12:18
of darkness 1× 2 Peter 2:4
Show sample aligned rows
Hebrews 12:18 ζόφῳ to gloom Noun - Dative Masculine Singular 2 Peter 2:4 ζόφου to of darkness Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular 2 Peter 2:17 ζόφος to Blackest Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Jude 1:6 ζόφον to darkness Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Jude 1:13 ζόφος to blackest Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Hebrews 12:18
Aligned rows 5
Books represented 3
Hebrews 1 2 Peter 2 Jude 2
Source forms
ζόφος 2x zophos 2 Peter 2:17, Jude 1:13
ζόφον 1x zophon Jude 1:6
ζόφου 1x zophou 2 Peter 2:4
ζόφῳ 1x zophō Hebrews 12:18
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 2x 2 Peter 2:17, Jude 1:13
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 1x Jude 1:6
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular 1x Hebrews 12:18
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular 1x 2 Peter 2:4
Evidence Summary
Greek word. gloom (as shrouding like a cloud)
Strong's G2217
Lexical occurrences 5 verses Greek text appearances 4 times Word forms 4 forms 5 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
gloom (as shrouding like a cloud)
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
(akin to γνόφος, which see), [in Sm.: Exo.10:22, Job.28:3, Psa.11:2 91:6, Isa.59:9 * ;] in Hom, the gloom of the under-world; hence, darkness, deep gloom (poët. and late prose writers): Heb.12:18, 2Pe.2:4 2:17, Ju 6 13. ὁμίχλη, -ης, ἡ, [in LXX for עֲרָפֶל, etc. ;] a mist: 2Pe.2:17
Synonymsνέφος, νεφέλη, both thicker than ὁ
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
2 Peter 2:4 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
ζόφου zofou
darkness, murkiness
Read verse 2 Peter 2:17 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
ζόφος zofov
darkness, murkiness
Read verse Jude 1:6 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ζόφον zofon
darkness, murkiness
Read verse Jude 1:13 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
ζόφος zofov
darkness, murkiness
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 4 Aligned forms 5 Case pattern Nominative (2) Number pattern Singular (5)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine 2 Pet 2:17 · Jude 1:13 2×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine 2 Pet 2:4 1×
Dative · Singular · Masculine Heb 12:18 1×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Jude 1:6 1×
Word Origins
ζόφος is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain