Greek word · G3558

νότος

notos

south

(1) The south wind. (2) By extension, the south as a direction or region (e.g. 'the queen of the south', Luke 11:31; 'from north and south', Luke 13:29). In weather contexts it is a named wind with a known character, not just a compass bearing.

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

νότος, -ου, ὁ

[in LXX chiefly for נֶגֶב, also for דָּרוֹם, תֵּימָן and קָדִים ;]

1. prop., the south wind: Luke 12:55, Acts 27:13 28:13

2. South: Luke 13:29, Revelation 21:13

3. the South, as a region (cf. נֶגֶב): Matthew 12:42, Luke 11:31.†

(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 Luke 12:55

Range of meaning

(1) The south wind. (2) By extension, the south as a direction or region (e.g. 'the queen of the south', Luke 11:31; 'from north and south', Luke 13:29). In weather contexts it is a named wind with a known character, not just a compass bearing.

Against the English

English 'south wind' is accurate. A reader in northern Europe or North America may hear 'a mild, warm breeze from the south'. In Palestine it meant air coming straight off the desert: dry, dusty, oppressive.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) νότος translates Hebrew words for 'south' (darom, teman, negev). Job 37:17 links warm clothes and a still, heavy earth with the south wind. Song of Songs 4:16 calls on north and south winds to blow. Acts 27:13 uses νότος for a gentler southerly at sea, a reminder that its character depended on where you were. Greek writers generally treated Notos as a hot or moist wind, depending on the region.

From the study of 1 Maccabees 5:65

Range of meaning

In classical Greek it is the south wind, and then the south as a direction. In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) it regularly translates Hebrew negeb, the Negev, which is both 'south' and the name of the dry region south of the Judean hills (e.g. Gen 12:9; Josh 15:21).

Against the English

'The land toward the south' (KJV, WEB) is correct. What English loses is that Hebrew readers heard a named region, the Negev, the southern district of the old tribe of Judah, not just a compass point.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint Gen 13:1, 'Abram went up from Egypt … into the Negev' (εἰς τὴν ἔρημον / πρὸς λίβα varies by passage); Josh 15:21 lists Judah's cities 'toward the Negev'. 1 Macc probably had Hebrew ba'arets hannegeb, 'in the land of the Negev'.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 12:42 νότου of [the] south

    The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.

    Here: 'Of the south.' Jesus names her by the direction she came from, not by her kingdom. To a Judean, Sheba (in southern Arabia) was about as far south as the known world went.

Luke · 3

  1. Luke 11:31 νότου of [the] South

    The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.

  2. Luke 12:55 νότον a south wind

    And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It will be hot,’ and it is.

    Here: The wind from the south, which in Palestine blows in off the Negev and the Arabian and Sinai deserts. Everyone listening knew it brought dry, burning heat. It is in the accusative case (the form for a direct object) because the verb 'you see' from v. 54 is understood here and not repeated.

  3. Luke 13:29 νότου south

    People will come from east and west and north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.

    Here: The south wind, and so 'the south'. With the four points named, the picture is of the whole inhabited world. Luke has all four where Matthew's parallel (8:11) has only east and west.

Acts · 2

  1. Acts 27:13 νότου a south wind

    When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had their opportunity. So they weighed anchor and sailed along, hugging the coast of Crete.

    Here: Here the south wind specifically. For a ship sitting on Crete's south coast and wanting to go west, a light southerly was ideal: it would push them along the shore and around the headland without driving them onto it.

  2. Acts 28:13 νότου a south wind

    From there we weighed anchor and came to Rhegium. After one day, a south wind came up, and on the second day we arrived at Puteoli.

Revelation · 1

  1. Revelation 21:13 νότου [the] south

    There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west.

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