Greek word · G3565

νύμφη

nymphē

bride

A bride or newly married young woman. It can also mean daughter-in-law (Matt 10:35), since a bride entered her husband's household.

Appears 8 times in 7 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

νύμφη, -ης, ἡ

[in LXX chiefly for כַּלָּה ;]

1. cl., a bride, young wife, young woman: Matthew 25:1, WH, mg., John 3:29, Revelation 18:23 21:2, 9 22:17.

2. As frequently in LXX (Genesis 38:11, al., for כַּלָּה;

(a) bride;

(b) daughter-in-law) and in MGr. (νύφφη, νύφη), a daughter-in-law: Matthew 10:35, Luke 12:53.†

(AS)

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

Range of meaning: A bride or newly married young woman. It can also mean daughter-in-law (Matt 10:35), since a bride entered her husband's household.
Against the English: “Bride” is right. It names a corporate figure, the whole people of God, not each individual believer.
Used elsewhere in the period: The prophets picture Israel as God's bride (Isa 61:10; 62:5; Jer 2:2; Hos 2:19–20). In Revelation the marriage of the Lamb has come and the bride has made herself ready in fine linen, “the righteous deeds of the saints” (19:7–8). She is then shown as the holy city, the New Jerusalem, “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (21:2, 9–10). She stands opposite the prostitute Babylon (ch. 17–18), where “the voice of bridegroom and bride” is silenced for good (18:23).

Range of meaning: Bride (a woman about to be married or newly married); also daughter-in-law; in wider Greek, a young woman, or a nymph.
Against the English: English "bride" is accurate. Modern readers may picture a Western white-dress ceremony or take the image as private and individual. Here it is collective: the city, and so the community of God's people, is the bride.
Used elsewhere in the period: LXX Isa 61:10 "as a bride he has adorned me with ornament (hōs numphēn katekosmēsen me kosmō)", almost the same words as Revelation; Isa 49:18 "you shall put them all on like a bride's ornament"; Isa 62:5 "as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you"; Jer 2:32 "Can a bride forget her ornaments?"; Ezek 16:8–13, God himself adorns Jerusalem with jewels. In Revelation: 18:23 the voice of bride and bridegroom falls silent in Babylon; 21:9 "the bride, the wife of the Lamb"; 22:17 "the Spirit and the bride say, Come".

Range of meaning: A woman about to be married, newly married, or being married. More broadly a young woman, and also a daughter-in-law (Matt 10:35; Luke 12:53, from Micah 7:6). The word belongs to the moment of marriage: the wedding, the dressing, the being given.
Against the English: 'Bride' is accurate. Modern English ties it almost entirely to the wedding day itself. The Greek word could also cover the betrothal period and the early stage of a new marriage.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) νύμφη translates Hebrew kallah, 'bride' or 'daughter-in-law'. Key texts: Isa 61:10 ('as a bride adorns herself with her jewels'), Isa 62:5 ('as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so will your God rejoice over you', said to Zion), Jer 2:32. The prophets regularly picture Jerusalem/Zion as God's bride or wife (Isa 54:5–6; Hos 2:19–20; Ezek 16). In John's Gospel the Baptist says 'he who has the bride is the bridegroom' (John 3:29).

Matthew · 1

Matthew 10:35 νύμφην a daughter-in-law

For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

Here: The same word means 'bride'. It is the young wife who has married into the family and moved into her husband's parents' home, where she lives under her mother-in-law's authority.

Luke · 2

Luke 12:53 νύμφην νύμφη daughter-in-law

They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

John · 1

John 3:29 νύμφην bride

The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

Here: A woman at the point of marriage, whether betrothed or newly married. In this context she stands for the people who are now going over to Jesus (v. 26), and behind that for Israel as God's bride in the prophets.

Revelation · 4

Revelation 18:23 νύμφης a bride

The light of a lamp will never shine in you again, and the voices of a bride and bridegroom will never call out in you again. For your merchants were the great ones of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.”

Here: The bride. In Revelation the true bride is the Lamb's (19:7; 21:2, 9), so the silence of brides in Babylon is a pointed contrast.
Revelation 21:2 νύμφην a bride

I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Here: A woman at the point of marriage, on her wedding day. It brings in the long biblical picture of God's people as his betrothed (Isa 54:5; 62:5; Hos 2:19–20).
Revelation 21:9 νύμφην bride

Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

Here: A woman at the point of marriage: betrothed, or a bride at her wedding. What the angel then shows (21:10) is a city: Jerusalem.
Revelation 22:17 νύμφη bride

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.

Here: The people of God, pictured as the New Jerusalem made ready for her husband, the Lamb (21:2, 9). She is a woman on the edge of her wedding, waiting for the bridegroom.

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