What does σπήλαιον (spḗlaion) mean in the Bible?
σπήλαιον (spḗlaion): Cave as refuge or hideout: literal shelter or metaphorical place of concealment and protection.
Greek · G4693
σπήλαιον
A cavern; by implication, a hiding-place or resort
Reading a lexicon entry
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σπήλαιονG4693
Pronunciationspḗlaion
What does σπήλαιον (spḗlaion) mean in the Bible?
σπήλαιον (spḗlaion): Cave as refuge or hideout: literal shelter or metaphorical place of concealment and protection.
Full entry for σπήλαιον (G4693) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4693?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include a den (3), caves (2), a cave (1).
Where does σπήλαιον (spḗlaion) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 21:13. Its strongest book concentrations include Hebrews (1), John (1), Luke (1), Mark (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 Ita den3×Matthew 21:13, Mark 11:17, Luke 19:46
caves2×Hebrews 11:38, Revelation 6:15
a cave1×John 11:38
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 21:13Σπήλαιονtoa denNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularMark 11:17Σπήλαιονtoa denNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularLuke 19:46Σπήλαιονtoa denNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularJohn 11:38σπήλαιονtoa caveNoun - Nominative Neuter SingularHebrews 11:38σπηλαίοιςtocavesNoun - Dative Neuter PluralRevelation 6:15σπήλαιαtocavesNoun - Accusative Neuter Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 21:13
Aligned rows6
Books represented6
Matthew1Mark1Luke1John1Hebrews1Revelation1
Source forms
Σπήλαιον3xSpēlaionMatthew 21:13, Mark 11:17, Luke 19:46
σπήλαια1xspēlaiaRevelation 6:15
σπηλαίοις1xspēlaioisHebrews 11:38
σπήλαιον1xspēlaionJohn 11:38
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular3xMatthew 21:13, Mark 11:17, Luke 19:46
Noun - Accusative Neuter Plural1xRevelation 6:15
Noun - Dative Neuter Plural1xHebrews 11:38
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular1xJohn 11:38
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Cave as refuge or hideout: literal shelter or metaphorical place of concealment and protection.
Strong'sG4693
Lexical occurrences6 versesGreek text appearances6 timesWord forms4 forms6 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
a cavern; by implication, a hiding-place or resort
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 21:13Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
σπήλαιονsphlaion
a cave, den
Read verseMark 11:17Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
σπήλαιονsphlaion
a cave, den
Read verseLuke 19:46Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
σπήλαιονsphlaion
a cave, den
Read verseJohn 11:38Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
σπήλαιον,sphlaion
a cave, den
Read verseHebrews 11:38Noun Dative Plural Neuter
σπηλαίοιςsphlaioiv
a cave, den
Read verseRevelation 6:15Noun Accusative Plural Neuter
σπήλαιαsphlaia
a cave, den
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 forms6Case patternAccusative (4)Number patternSingular (4)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · NeuterJohn 11:381×
Dative · Plural · NeuterHeb 11:381×
Accusative · Singular · NeuterMatt 21:13 · Mark 11:17 · Luke 19:463×
Accusative · Plural · NeuterRev 6:151×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
Luke 19:45–48σπήλαιονspḗlaion
Den, cave
Showing 1 selected witness from 6 lexical occurrence verses.
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.