Belly/womb/stomach
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
koilia can refer to the belly, womb, stomach, or inward parts. It appears in ordinary bodily references, such as Jonah in the belly of the fish, the child leaping in Elizabeth's womb, and Nicodemus asking about entering a mother's womb again.
Reader summary
Full entry for κοιλία (G2836) · Open the biblical lexicon
koilia can refer to the belly, womb, stomach, or inward parts. It appears in ordinary bodily references, such as Jonah in the belly of the fish, the child leaping in Elizabeth's womb, and Nicodemus asking about entering a mother's womb again.
The BSB source-word alignment has 23 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include womb (7), stomach (5), belly (3), birth (2), . . . (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 12:40. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (8), Matthew (3), 1 Corinthians (2), Acts (2).
Koilia can refer to the belly, womb, stomach, or inward parts. It appears in ordinary bodily references, such as Jonah in the belly of the fish, the child leaping in Elizabeth's womb, and Nicodemus asking about entering a mother's womb again. It can also be used figuratively or morally, as when living water flows from within the believer, when the stomach is distinguished from the body in Paul's sexual holiness argument, or when false teachers are marked by appetite as their god.
Pastorally, the word requires careful handling because it touches embodied life, birth, appetite, desire, and inward flow. The teacher should neither despise the body nor excuse bodily appetite as lord. Scripture treats the body as created for the Lord and the inner life as needing God's life-giving work.
Koilia ranges across bodily and inward language: belly, womb, stomach, and inner person. These anchors show literal belly and womb references, Nicodemus's question about birth, living water from within, Paul's correction of appetite slogans, and appetite idolatry in Philippians.
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jesus compares the Son of Man in the heart of the earth with Jonah in the belly of the fish. koilia serves the sign analogy rather than a biology lesson.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
The baby leaps in Elizabeth's womb when Mary greets her. The word supports Luke's embodied witness to joy before birth.
“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?”
Nicodemus asks whether a man can enter his mother's womb again. The literal sense exposes his misunderstanding of new birth.
Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”
Jesus speaks of living water flowing from within the believer. koilia points to inward life as the Spirit-given overflow promised in context.
“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
Paul distinguishes food and stomach from the body, which is for the Lord. The word helps correct slogans that reduce the body to appetite.
Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
Paul warns of those whose god is their belly. The word exposes appetite elevated into ruling allegiance.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Body cavity hosting life's origin and deepest desires; womb, stomach, or metaphorically the heart's core.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 23 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
belly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
Read versebelly, womb, the inner man
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.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 5 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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 23 lexical occurrence verses.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Koilia teaches best when the preacher refuses both embarrassment about embodiment and surrender to appetite. Luke can speak reverently of life in the womb, John can use womb language to expose Nicodemus's misunderstanding of new birth, and Jesus can promise living water flowing from within. Paul can also confront slogans that make the stomach the measure of freedom and warn against a life ruled by appetite.
The word therefore helps the congregation see that Scripture speaks honestly about bodies, birth, desire, and inward life under God's lordship. The body is not disposable, and appetite is not sovereign. The Lord claims the whole person.
John.7.38
Koilia can name a literal belly, womb, stomach, or inward region. Figurative uses depend heavily on context and should not be detached from the passage's argument about birth, appetite, body, or inward life.
Scripture often connects inward life and bodily existence: the womb is known by God, appetite must be governed, and life from God reaches the whole person. koilia participates in that embodied biblical realism.
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