What does καπνός (kapnós) mean in the Bible?
G2586 names smoke. 19, Joel's promised signs include blood, fire, and billows of smoke around the day of the Lord.
Greek · G2586
καπνός
Smoke
Reading a lexicon entry
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καπνόςG2586
Pronunciationkapnós
What does καπνός (kapnós) mean in the Bible?
G2586 names smoke. 19, Joel's promised signs include blood, fire, and billows of smoke around the day of the Lord.
Reader summary
Full entry for καπνός (G2586) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2586?
The BSB source-word alignment has 13 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include smoke (8), smoke [rising] (2), [the] smoke (1), of smoke (1), with smoke (1).
Where does καπνός (kapnós) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 2:19. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (12), Acts (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G2586 names smoke. In Acts. 2. 19, Joel's promised signs include blood, fire, and billows of smoke around the day of the Lord. In Rev. 8. 4, incense smoke rises with the prayers of the saints before God. In Rev. 9. 2, smoke from the opened abyss darkens sun and air before destructive locusts emerge. G2586 opens teaching on prayer received in heaven, judgment that obscures created light, destructive powers released under limits, and the visible collapse of Babylon.
It does not make every smoke event a prophetic sign, treat prayer as a technique for controlling heaven, or invite fascination with suffering. Smoke can signal presence, obscurity, warning, destruction, or remembered prayer according to context.
How the Bible Uses It
G2586 appears in apocalyptic signs, incense joined with prayer, abyssal darkness, destructive plagues, divine glory, torment, and the burning of Babylon. Source, direction, effect, and visionary setting distinguish its meanings.
- Acts.2.19
I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
Peter cites Joel's smoke among cosmic signs framing the Spirit's outpouring and the day of the Lord.
- Rev.8.4
And the smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, rose up before God from the hand of the angel.
Incense smoke rises with the saints' prayers before God as the heavenly liturgy proceeds.
- Rev.9.2
The star opened the pit of the Abyss, and smoke rose out of it like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit.
Smoke from the abyss darkens sun and air and becomes the medium from which destructive locusts emerge.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itsmoke8×Revelation 8:4, Revelation 9:2, Revelation 9:3, Revelation 9:17
smoke [rising]2×Revelation 18:9, Revelation 18:18
[the] smoke1×Revelation 9:2
of smoke1×Acts 2:19
with smoke1×Revelation 15:8
Show sample aligned rows
Acts 2:19καπνοῦtoof smokeNoun - Genitive Masculine SingularRevelation 8:4καπνὸςtosmokeNoun - Nominative Masculine SingularRevelation 9:2καπνὸςtosmokeNoun - Nominative Masculine SingularRevelation 9:2καπνὸςto[the] smokeNoun - Nominative Masculine SingularRevelation 9:2καπνοῦtosmokeNoun - Genitive Masculine SingularRevelation 9:3καπνοῦtosmokeNoun - Genitive Masculine SingularRevelation 9:17καπνὸςtosmokeNoun - Nominative Masculine SingularRevelation 9:18καπνοῦtosmokeNoun - Genitive Masculine SingularRevelation 14:11καπνὸςtosmokeNoun - Nominative Masculine SingularRevelation 15:8καπνοῦtowith smokeNoun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowActs 2:19
Aligned rows13
Books represented2
Acts1Revelation12
Source forms
καπνὸς6xkapnosRevelation 8:4, Revelation 9:2, Revelation 9:17, Revelation 14:11
καπνοῦ5xkapnouActs 2:19, Revelation 9:2, Revelation 9:3, Revelation 9:18
καπνὸν2xkapnonRevelation 18:9, Revelation 18:18
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular6xRevelation 8:4, Revelation 9:2, Revelation 9:17, Revelation 14:11
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular5xActs 2:19, Revelation 9:2, Revelation 9:3, Revelation 9:18
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular2xRevelation 18:9, Revelation 18:18
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not identify wildfires, explosions, pollution, or war footage as a specific fulfillment of Revelation from visual resemblance alone.
- Do not preach eternal smoke with delight, threats against named opponents, or indifference to traumatized hearers.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that G2586 itself identifies the date, nation, technology, or location of an end-times event.
- Do not claim that all smoke symbolizes prayer, evil, glory, or judgment; the source and scene decide.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. smoke
Strong'sG2586
Lexical occurrences13 versesGreek text appearances13 timesWord forms3 forms13 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
smoke
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
13 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 2:19Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
καπνοῦ·kapnou
smoke
Read verseRevelation 8:4Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
καπνὸςkapnov
smoke
Read verseRevelation 9:2Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
καπνὸςkapnov
smoke
Read verseRevelation 9:2Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
καπνὸςkapnov
smoke
Read verseRevelation 9:2Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
καπνοῦkapnou
smoke
Read verseRevelation 9:3Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
καπνοῦkapnou
smoke
Read verseRevelation 9:17Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
καπνὸςkapnov
smoke
Read verseRevelation 9:18Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
καπνοῦkapnou
smoke
Read verseRevelation 14:11Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
καπνὸςkapnov
smoke
Read verseRevelation 15:8Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
καπνοῦkapnou
smoke
Read verseRevelation 18:9Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
καπνὸνkapnon
smoke
Read verseRevelation 18:18Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
καπνὸνkapnon
smoke
Read verseRevelation 19:3Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
καπνὸςkapnov
smoke
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 3 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 patterns3Aligned forms13Case patternNominative (6)Number patternSingular (13)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · MasculineRev 8:4 · Rev 9:2 · Rev 9:17 · Rev 14:11 · Rev 19:36×
Genitive · Singular · MasculineActs 2:19 · Rev 9:2 · Rev 9:3 · Rev 9:18 · Rev 15:85×
Accusative · Singular · MasculineRev 18:9 · Rev 18:182×
Word Origins
καπνός is of uncertain origin - no further derivation.
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
G2586 makes otherwise hidden realities visible while also obscuring sight. In Revelation 8, incense smoke rises with the prayers of saints, assuring suffering communities that their petitions reach God's presence. In the next vision, smoke from the abyss darkens the created lights and releases destructive forces, showing evil as obscuring, invasive, and bounded by permission.
Smoke also fills the sanctuary from divine glory, rises from torment, and marks Babylon's destruction. These images are not interchangeable. One accompanies prayer, another abyssal harm, another holy presence, and another the irreversible fall of an exploitative city. Faithful interpretation follows the vision's own source and effect rather than matching modern smoke plumes to prophecy.
Application can honor persistent prayer, expose systems whose luxury produces ruin, and lament ecological and human devastation without claiming secret chronological knowledge.
Anchor passage
Rev.8.4
Doctrinal connections
- G2586: the saints' prayers rise before God and are not lost beneath earthly suffering.
- G2586: abyssal smoke darkens creation, portraying destructive evil as distortion rather than illumination.
- G2586: divine glory can fill the sanctuary so fully that created access pauses before God's power.
- G2586: judgment smoke testifies that beastly worship and imperial luxury do not endure forever.
- G2586: Revelation distinguishes heavenly worship from counterfeit and destructive powers by narrative source and fruit.
- G2586: apocalyptic hope calls for endurance and allegiance, not headline prediction or delight in pain.
G2586 is a masculine Greek noun for smoke. Revelation repeatedly uses source phrases and accompanying images to distinguish incense smoke, furnace smoke, plague smoke, glory smoke, and the smoke of a judged city.
From Old to New Testament
Smoke accompanies Sinai, temple glory, sacrifice, and prophetic judgment in the Old Testament. Acts cites Joel, while Revelation gathers those backgrounds into visions centered on the Lamb, suffering saints, and God's final justice.