Rainbow
ἶριςStrong’s G2463iris
Appears in 2 verses of the New Testament
In short
Iris is the Greek word usually translated “rainbow”. It appears in 2 verses of the New Testament.
“And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.”
Meaning
Usually translated “rainbow”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.
How it's translated
- a rainbow 1
- rainbow 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Revelation 2
1 book in all.
Greek dictionary
ἶρις iris · rainbow
ἶρις, -ιδος, ἡ [in LXX: Exo.30:24 (קִדָּה)*, (קֶשֶׁת, Gen.9:13, Eze.1:28, is rendered by τόξον) ;] 1. Iris, the messenger of the gods. 2. a rainbow or halo: Rev.4:3 10:1. 3. The plant Iris (cf. Ex., l.with).† (AS)
From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “rainbow” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
RA'INBOW, noun
A bow, or an arch of a circle, consisting of all the colors formed by the refraction and reflection of rays of light from drops of rain or vapor, appearing in the part of the hemisphere opposite to the sun. When the sun is at the horizon, the rainbow is a semicircle. The rainbow is called also iris.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.