Greek · G3624 · unreviewed

οἶκος

House: home

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οἶκος G3624

Pronunciation oîkos

What does οἶκος (oîkos) mean in the Bible?

οἶκος (oîkos) is a Greek word meaning "house: home". οἶκος, -οῦ, ὁ, [in LXX chiefly for בַּיִת, also for אֹהֶל ,הֵכָל, etc. Refers to covenant community, not a physical building. This term runs through the canonical themes of Covenant.

Full entry for οἶκος (G3624) · Browse the biblical lexicon

Meaning

house: home

Extended definition

Physical dwelling expands metonymically to household, family, lineage, and the Church as God's spiritual household.

1prop., a house, dwelling: Act.2:2 19:16; with genitive poss., Mat.9:6, 7 Mrk.2:11, Luk.1:23, al.; with genitive attrib., ἐμπορίου, Jhn.2:16; προσευχῆς, Mat.21:13, al.; of a sanctuary (Hdt., Eur.): οἶ. τ. θεοῦ, of the tabernacle, Mat.12:4, al.; the temple, Mat.21:13, al.; metaphorically of a city: Mat.23:38, Luk.13:35; of the body, Mat.12:44, Luk.11:24; of Christians, 1Pe.2:5; ἐν οἴ (M, Pr., 81f.), at home, Mrk.2:1, 1Co.11:34 14:35; so κατ ̓ οἶκον, Act.2:46 5:42; οἱ εἰς (= οἱ ἐν; see: εἰς) τ. οἶ., Luk.7:10 15:6; κατ ̓οἴκους, from house to house, Act.8:3 20:20; εἰς (κατ ̓) οἶκον, with genitive (Bl., §46, 9), Mrk.8:3, Luk.14:1, Rom.16:5, al.

2By meton., a house, household, family: Luk.10:5, Act.7:10, 1Co.1:16, 1Ti.3:4, 5 al.; of the Church, ὁ οἶ. τ. θεοῦ, 1Ti.3:15, Heb.3:2, 1Pe.4:17; of descendants, οἶ Ἰσραήλ (Δαυείδ, Ἰακώβ; Bl, §47, 9), Mat.10:6, Luk.1:27, 33 al. (cf. Exo.6:14, 1Ki.2:30, al.).

Synonymssee: οἰκία.

Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith

Why This Word Matters

Refers to covenant community, not a physical building. 1 Timothy 3:14-16

The early church often gathered within households, highlighting the relational structure of Christian fellowship. 2 Timothy 4:19-22

The church is portrayed as God’s family, emphasizing relational identity and ordered responsibility. Hebrews 3:1-6

Grammatical Forms

How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.

Nominative · Singular · Masculine Matt 21:13 · Matt 23:38 · Mark 11:17 · Luke 11:17 · Luke 13:35 · Luke 14:23 · Luke 19:46 · Acts 2:36 · Acts 11:14 · Acts 16:15 · Acts 16:31 · Heb 3:4 · Heb 3:6 · 1 Pet 2:5 17×

Genitive · Singular · Masculine Matt 10:6 · Matt 15:24 · Luke 1:27 · Luke 2:4 · Luke 11:51 · John 2:17 · Acts 19:16 · 1 Tim 3:4 · 1 Tim 3:5 · Heb 3:3 · Heb 11:7 · 1 Pet 4:17 12×

Genitive · Plural · Masculine 1 Tim 3:12 1×

Dative · Singular · Masculine Mark 2:1 · Luke 1:69 · Luke 10:5 · Luke 12:52 · Luke 19:5 · Luke 19:9 · John 11:20 · Acts 7:20 · Acts 10:2 · Acts 10:30 · Acts 11:13 · Acts 18:8 · 1 Cor 11:34 · 1 Cor 14:35 · 1 Tim 3:15 · 2 Tim 1:16 19×

Dative · Plural · Masculine Matt 11:8 1×

Accusative · Singular · Masculine Matt 9:6 · Matt 9:7 · Matt 12:4 · Matt 12:44 · Mark 2:11 · Mark 2:26 · Mark 3:20 · Mark 5:19 · Mark 5:38 · Mark 7:17 · Mark 7:30 · Mark 8:3 · Mark 8:26 · Mark 9:28 · Luke 1:23 · Luke 1:33 57×

Accusative · Plural · Masculine Luke 16:4 · Acts 8:3 · Acts 20:20 · Titus 1:11 4×

Vocative · Singular · Masculine Acts 7:42 1×

Canonical Themes

Covenant

Biblical Occurrences

Each occurrence shows the passage reference, the original language term as it appears in that context, its transliteration, and the contextual sense.

New Testament Witnesses

1 Timothy 3:14-16 household oîkos Dative · Singular · Masculine

A family dwelling or relational community under one head.

2 Timothy 4:19-22 Household oîkos

household, family, or extended home community

Hebrews 3:1-6 οἶκος oîkos Nominative · Singular · Masculine

household

Additional Occurrences

Luke 19:45–48 οἶκος oîkos

House

Appears In

Compound and idiomatic lexemes in which this word is a constituent. Follow a link to study the phrase and its other participating words.

Word Pictures (Robertson)

A.T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) discusses this term in the following chapters. Open any chapter and go to the Word Pictures tab to read his verse-by-verse commentary.

Acts 16 — The Gospel Enters Macedonia: Opened Hearts, Broken Chains, and Household Faith Acts 20 — Paul’s Farewell Charge to Shepherd the Church of God Luke 19 — The Son of Man Seeks the Lost, Receives the Kingly Kingdom, and Weeps over Jerusalem Mark 11 — The King Comes to Jerusalem: Fig Tree, Temple Judgment, Faith, Forgiveness, and Authority Matthew 11 — The Messiah Question, the Rejected Generation, and Rest for the Weary Matthew 21 — The King Enters Jerusalem, Judges Fruitless Religion, and Exposes Rejected-Son Leadership Matthew 23 — Woes upon Hypocritical Leadership and the Lament over Jerusalem

A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain

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

STEPBible Data — CC BY 4.0

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