Greek word · G3520

νῆσος

nēsos

island

Island. In the LXX it often translates Hebrew 'iyyim, 'islands, coastlands', the far shores at the edge of the known world (Isa 41:1, 5; 42:4, 10; 49:1; Ezek 26:15–18).

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

νῆσος, -ου, ὁ

[in LXX for אִי ;]

an island: Acts 13:6 27:26 28:1, 7 28:9, 11 Revelation 1:9 6:14 16:20.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Revelation 16:20

Range of meaning

Island. In the LXX it often translates Hebrew 'iyyim, 'islands, coastlands', the far shores at the edge of the known world (Isa 41:1, 5; 42:4, 10; 49:1; Ezek 26:15–18).

Against the English

All English versions say 'island'. That is accurate. What a modern reader may not hear is how present islands were to John's audience, and the prophetic sense of 'the islands' as the ends of the earth.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezek 26:15–18: the islands tremble at the fall of Tyre, a trading city. Rev 18 draws heavily on that passage for the fall of Babylon. Rev 1:9: John is 'on the island called Patmos'. Rev 6:14: 'every mountain and island was moved out of its place.'

Where it appears

Acts · 6

  1. Acts 13:6 νῆσον island

    They traveled through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,

    Here: Cyprus, Barnabas's home island (Acts 4:36). It was a Roman province with a large Jewish population.

  2. Acts 27:26 νῆσον an island

    However, we must run aground on some island.”

  3. Acts 28:1 νῆσος island

    Once we were safely ashore, we learned that the island was called Malta.

  4. Acts 28:7 νήσου, island,

    Nearby stood an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

  5. Acts 28:9 νήσῳ island

    After this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured as well.

  6. Acts 28:11 νήσῳ, island,

    After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered in the island. It had the Twin Brothers as a figurehead.

Revelation · 3

  1. Revelation 1:9 νήσῳ island

    I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus.

    Here: An island. In Roman life islands were the usual places to which troublesome people were banished, so 'island' alone could suggest removal from public life to an ancient reader.

  2. Revelation 6:14 νῆσος island

    The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

    Here: Islands are fixed land standing in the sea. For John, writing from the island of Patmos (1:9), and for readers in the Aegean world, islands were a familiar part of life. Their moving shows that even the borders of the inhabited world are unstable.

  3. Revelation 16:20 νῆσος island

    Then every island fled, and no mountain could be found.

    Here: Islands, as John's hearers knew them from the Aegean, where John himself was on the island of Patmos (1:9). In the prophets, 'islands/coastlands' also stood for the farthest edges of the inhabited world.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.