What does νότος (nótos) mean in the Bible?
Notos can name a wind coming from the south or the southern direction or region itself. The New Testament uses both senses.
Greek · G3558
νότος
The south(-west) wind; by extension, the southern quarter itself
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νότοςG3558
Pronunciationnótos
What does νότος (nótos) mean in the Bible?
Notos can name a wind coming from the south or the southern direction or region itself. The New Testament uses both senses.
Reader summary
Full entry for νότος (G3558) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3558?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include of [the] South (2), [the] south (1), [the] south wind (1), a {gentle} south wind (1), a south wind (1).
Where does νότος (nótos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 12:42. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (3), Acts (2), Matthew (1), Revelation (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Notos can name a wind coming from the south or the southern direction or region itself. The New Testament uses both senses. A south wind appears in accounts of sailing and in Jesus' illustration of reading the weather. Elsewhere people come from the south to the kingdom banquet, the Queen of the South is named, and the new Jerusalem has gates on its southern side. These are related uses of direction, not a code assigning one spiritual character to every southern place or wind.
The voyage in Acts shows why the distinction matters. A gentle south wind seems favorable to the travelers in Acts 27:13, but a violent storm follows. In Acts 28:13, a south wind assists a later stage of travel. The same wind term does not announce either divine approval or impending disaster. In Luke 12:55-56, Jesus challenges people who can interpret weather yet fail to discern the present time. His rebuke concerns their response to what confronts them, not a request to extract secret moral messages from changing winds.
source_lexiconPassage contextPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
The direct witnesses move between wind, compass direction, and a regional designation. Sailing scenes and Jesus' teaching show why a favorable breeze, a southern visitor, and a gate's orientation must not be assigned one shared spiritual message.
- Luke.12.55
And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It will be hot,’ and it is.
Jesus acknowledges recognition of the south wind's heat before rebuking failure to interpret the present time. Ordinary observation provides the contrast; weather is not treated as a secret revelation.
- Acts.27.13
When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had their opportunity. So they weighed anchor and sailed along, hugging the coast of Crete.
The gentle south wind encourages the travelers to sail, but the next verse brings a violent storm. Apparently favorable circumstances do not by themselves establish a decision's safety or divine endorsement.
- Acts.28.13
From there we weighed anchor and came to Rhegium. After one day, a south wind came up, and on the second day we arrived at Puteoli.
A south wind helps the ship reach the next destination. This favorable use contrasts with the earlier voyage without changing the wind word into a moral category.
- Matt.12.42
The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.
The Queen of the South came to hear Solomon's wisdom, and Jesus declares that One greater is present. The comparison concerns response to wisdom and revelation, not regional superiority.
- Luke.13.29
People will come from east and west and north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.
People arrive from all four directions for the kingdom banquet. South is part of that gathering picture and does not independently promise salvation to every person in a region.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itof [the] South2×Matthew 12:42, Luke 11:31
[the] south1×Revelation 21:13
[the] south wind1×Luke 12:55
a {gentle} south wind1×Acts 27:13
a south wind1×Acts 28:13
south1×Luke 13:29
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 12:42νότουtoof [the] SouthNoun - Genitive Masculine SingularLuke 11:31νότουtoof [the] SouthNoun - Genitive Masculine SingularLuke 12:55νότονto[the] south windNoun - Accusative Masculine SingularLuke 13:29νότουtosouthNoun - Genitive Masculine SingularActs 27:13νότουtoa {gentle} south windNoun - Genitive Masculine SingularActs 28:13νότουtoa south windNoun - Genitive Masculine SingularRevelation 21:13νότουto[the] southNoun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 12:42
Aligned rows7
Books represented4
Matthew1Luke3Acts2Revelation1
Source forms
νότου6xnotouMatthew 12:42, Luke 11:31, Luke 13:29, Acts 27:13
νότον1xnotonLuke 12:55
Parsing patterns
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular6xMatthew 12:42, Luke 11:31, Luke 13:29, Acts 27:13
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular1xLuke 12:55
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Receive helpful circumstances gratefully while continuing to evaluate a plan's truthfulness, obligations, and foreseeable effects.
- Geographical origin neither confers spiritual superiority nor supplies a reliable judgment of an individual's faithfulness.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that the south wind always signifies divine favor, comfort, judgment, or a particular work of the Spirit.
- Do not claim that a favorable opening guarantees the wisdom or safety of the course a person already wishes to take.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. South wind or south region, directionally located between east and west winds in Mediterranean maritime contexts.
Strong'sG3558
Lexical occurrences7 versesGreek text appearances7 timesWord forms2 forms7 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkLuke 11:29-32Source Gloss
the south(-west) wind; by extension, the southern quarter itself
Extended definition
South wind or south region, directionally located between east and west winds in Mediterranean maritime contexts.
Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 12:42Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
νότουnotou
the south wind, the South
Read verseLuke 11:31Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
νότουnotou
the south wind, the South
Read verseLuke 12:55Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
νότονnoton
the south wind, the South
Read verseLuke 13:29Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
νότου,notou
the south wind, the South
Read verseActs 27:13Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
νότου,notou
the south wind, the South
Read verseActs 28:13Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
νότου,notou
the south wind, the South
Read verseRevelation 21:13Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
νότου,notou
the south wind, the South
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 2 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 patterns2Aligned forms7Case patternGenitive (6)Number patternSingular (7)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Genitive · Singular · MasculineMatt 12:42 · Luke 11:31 · Luke 13:29 · Acts 27:13 · Acts 28:13 · Rev 21:136×
Accusative · Singular · MasculineLuke 12:551×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Geographical region, Queen of the South coming from distant lands
Meteorological wind direction, observable weather phenomenon
Cardinal direction, eschatological gathering of people from all directions
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
νότος 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
The sailors in Acts 27:13 think their opportunity has arrived when the south wind begins gently. Their inference is understandable, but the next movement of the story overturns the expectation of an easy passage. Later, a south wind helps another stage of the journey. Luke can report both events without making the wind a stable sign of approval or warning.
This contrast offers a restrained application to discernment. An open door, convenient timing, or favorable condition may be relevant evidence, but it cannot replace attention to truth, responsibility, and available counsel. We need not deny God's providence in order to admit the limits of our interpretation. The source describes what the travelers observed and what followed; it does not provide a system for reading God's secret intentions from the weather. Gratitude for help can coexist with caution about the conclusions we draw from it.
Anchor passage
Acts.27.13
Doctrinal connections
- Luke 12:54-56 uses successful weather interpretation to expose a failure to respond rightly to the present time.
- Acts 27:13-14 distinguishes the travelers' hopeful inference from the storm that actually follows it.
- Acts 28:13 reports a helpful south wind without making every breeze a promise of uncomplicated travel.
- Matthew 12:42 identifies Jesus as greater than Solomon and makes the queen's responsive journey a rebuke to His hearers.
- Luke 13:28-30 describes a kingdom gathering from all directions alongside a warning against presumption about belonging.
- G417, wind, is a broader related term; directional naming still needs the immediate narrative to establish its significance.
The comparator distinguishes the south wind from the southern direction or region. A sailing clause calls for the wind sense, while a list of directions or a regional title does not. Neither use establishes an inherent theological quality of the south.
From Old to New Testament
Matthew 12:42 recalls the queen's journey to hear Solomon, narrated in 1 Kings 10:1-3, and uses it to announce the greater claim of Jesus. The link is an explicit narrative comparison; it does not depend on assigning symbolic virtue to a southern location.
Passage contextPastoral application