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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ζόφοςG2217
Pronunciationzóphos
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 ItBlackest2×2 Peter 2:17, Jude 1:13
darkness1×Jude 1:6
gloom1×Hebrews 12:18
of darkness1×2 Peter 2:4
Show sample aligned rows
Hebrews 12:18ζόφῳtogloomNoun - Dative Masculine Singular2 Peter 2:4ζόφουtoof darknessNoun - Genitive Masculine Singular2 Peter 2:17ζόφοςtoBlackestNoun - Nominative Masculine SingularJude 1:6ζόφονtodarknessNoun - Accusative Masculine SingularJude 1:13ζόφοςtoblackestNoun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowHebrews 12:18
Aligned rows5
Books represented3
Hebrews12 Peter2Jude2
Source forms
ζόφος2xzophos2 Peter 2:17, Jude 1:13
ζόφον1xzophonJude 1:6
ζόφου1xzophou2 Peter 2:4
ζόφῳ1xzophōHebrews 12:18
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular2x2 Peter 2:17, Jude 1:13
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular1xJude 1:6
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular1xHebrews 12:18
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular1x2 Peter 2:4
Evidence Summary
Greek word. gloom (as shrouding like a cloud)
Strong'sG2217
Lexical occurrences5 versesGreek text appearances4 timesWord forms4 forms5 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
gloom (as shrouding like a cloud)
Extended definitionSource: 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 corpusGreek 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 2:4Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
ζόφουzofou
darkness, murkiness
Read verse2 Peter 2:17Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
ζόφοςzofov
darkness, murkiness
Read verseJude 1:6Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ζόφονzofon
darkness, murkiness
Read verseJude 1:13Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
ζόφοςzofov
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 patterns4Aligned forms5Case patternNominative (2)Number patternSingular (5)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Masculine2 Pet 2:17 · Jude 1:132×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine2 Pet 2:41×
Dative · Singular · MasculineHeb 12:181×
Accusative · Singular · MasculineJude 1:61×
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.