Cave
σπήλαιονStrong’s G4693spēlaion
Appears in 6 verses of the New Testament
In short
Spēlaion is the Greek word usually translated “den”, “cave” and “caves”. It appears in 6 verses of the New Testament.
“And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”
Meaning
Usually translated “den”, “cave” and “caves”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.
How it's translated
- a den 3
- a cave 1
- in caves 1
- caves 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Matthew 1
- Mark 1
- Luke 1
- John 1
- Hebrews 1
- Revelation 1
6 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
- Mark 11:17And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
- Luke 19:46Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
- John 11:38Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
- Hebrews 11:38(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
- Revelation 6:15And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Greek dictionary
σπήλαιον spēlaion · cave
σπήλαιον, -ου, τό [in LXX chiefly for מְעָרָה ;] a cave, cavern: Jhn.11:38, Heb.11:38, Heb.6:15; σ. (EV, den) λῃστῶν (Jhn.7:11), Mat.21:13, Mrk.11:17, Luk.19:46.† (AS)
From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “cave” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
CAVE, noun
A hollow place in the earth; a subterraneous cavern; a den. This may be natural or artificial. The primitive inhabitants of the earth, in many countries, lived in caves; and the present inhabitants of some parts of the earth, especially in the high northern latitudes, occupy caves, particularly in winter.
- “Lot dwelt in a cave he and his daughters” Genesis 19:30“Abraham buried Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelab” Genesis 23:19
All definitions and other forms of “cave”
CAVE, verb transitive
To make hollow.
CAVE, verb intransitive
To dwell in a cave
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.