ἐπουράνιος

John 3:12 ἐπουράνια heavenly

If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

Here: Realities that belong to God's own realm: what is decided and known 'above'. Only someone who has been there can report them. Verse 13 at once names that someone, the Son of Man who came down from heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:40 ἐπουράνια ἐπουρανίων heavenly

There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the splendor of the heavenly bodies is of one degree, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is of another.

1 Corinthians 15:48 ἐπουράνιος, ἐπουράνιοι· heavenly [one],, of heaven;

As was the earthly man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:49 ἐπουρανίου.¶ heavenly.

And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.

Here: 'The heavenly one'. It describes where Christ's risen life comes from and what kind of life it is: glorious, imperishable and empowered by the Spirit (v. 44, 'spiritual body'). It does not mean a body-less existence somewhere above.

Ephesians 1:3 ἐπουρανίοις heavenly realms

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

Here: 'The heavenlies': the unseen upper realm where Christ now reigns (1:20), where believers are already seated with him (2:6), and where hostile powers still operate (3:10; 6:12). This is not the afterlife.

Ephesians 1:20 ἐπουρανίοις heavenly realms

which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,

Here: 'The heavenly realms.' This phrase is used only in Ephesians. It means the unseen upper world where God's throne stands and where spiritual powers, including hostile ones (6:12), are active. It is not simply 'the place the saved go'.

Ephesians 2:6 ἐπουρανίοις heavenly realms

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Here: "The heavenlies": the upper, unseen realm. In Ephesians it is where Christ is enthroned (1:20), but also where the hostile "rulers and authorities" operate (3:10; 6:12). Believers are placed there with Christ, above those powers.

Ephesians 3:10 ἐπουρανίοις heavenly realms

His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,

Here: 'The heavenlies' is a phrase Ephesians uses five times (1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12) for the unseen upper realm. Christ is enthroned there, believers are seated there with him, and hostile powers still operate there.

Ephesians 6:12 ἐπουρανίοις. heavenly realms.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Here: 'The heavenly places': the unseen realm above the earth. In Ephesians it is where believers' blessings are (1:3), where Christ is enthroned over all powers (1:20–21), and where hostile powers are still active.

Philippians 2:10 ἐπουρανίων in the heavens

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

Here: "Of the heavenly ones". These are beings whose sphere is the heavens: angels and other heavenly powers. Because the word is attached to "knee", it most naturally refers to personal beings, not objects.

2 Timothy 4:18 ἐπουράνιον· heavenly;

And the Lord will rescue me from every evil action and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Here: The kingdom whose source and seat are in heaven, unlike Rome's earthly empire whose court is about to judge Paul.

Hebrews 3:1 ἐπουρανίου heavenly

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

Here: The calling comes from God's realm and leads toward it: the heavenly sanctuary, homeland and city that Hebrews keeps pointing to (8:5; 11:16; 12:22). It stands against the earthly Sinai and wilderness story about to be retold.

Hebrews 6:4 ἐπουρανίου heavenly

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,

Here: It comes from God's realm. In Hebrews "heavenly" means the real, final order of things: heavenly calling (3:1), sanctuary (8:5), country (11:16), Jerusalem (12:22). The earthly copies are shadows of it.

Hebrews 8:5 ἐπουρανίων, heavenly,

The place where they serve is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

Here: The heavenly realities, above all the true sanctuary where God is present and where Christ ministers (8:2; 9:23–24). The copy and shadow belong to these things.

Hebrews 9:23 ἐπουράνια heavenly things

So it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Here: Neuter plural used as a noun, "the heavenly things." In context these are the heavenly sanctuary and its holy places (8:2, 5; 9:11, 24), of which the tabernacle was a copy.

Hebrews 11:16 ἐπουρανίου· to a heavenly [one];

Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

Here: 'Belonging to heaven', meaning God's own realm. In Hebrews this is the true, lasting reality that earthly things only foreshadow, and it is also what is still to come (13:14).

Hebrews 12:22 ἐπουρανίῳ [the] heavenly

Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels

Here: Belonging to the realm where God actually is. In Hebrews this is the real and lasting original, and earthly things are its copies and shadows (8:5; 9:23). It does not mean 'unreal' or only 'after death'.