Greek word · G3612
οἴκημα
oikēma
cell
A room, living quarters, a building, a storeroom. In Attic Greek it was also a common polite word for a prison or cell.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
οἴκημα, -τος, τό
(οἰκέω), [in LXX: Ezekiel 16:24 (גַב), Tobit 2:4, Wisdom of Solomon 13:15 * ;]
a dwelling. As a euphemism for other definite terms (e.g. brothel. Hdt., ii, 121; cf. Ez, l.with), a prison (Thus., iv, 47 f.); Acts 12:7.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
A room, living quarters, a building, a storeroom. In Attic Greek it was also a common polite word for a prison or cell.
- Against the English
KJV 'prison', BSB/WEB 'cell', YLT 'the buildings'. YLT's plural 'buildings' is odd and misleading: the Greek is singular and means the one room where Peter was held.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Classical writers such as Thucydides (4.47–48) and Demosthenes use οἴκημα for a prison; Plutarch has similar uses. LSJ and BDAG both list the sense 'prison'. Its only use in the New Testament is here.
Where it appears
Acts · 1
-
Acts 12:7 οἰκήματι· cell;
Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists.
Here: Literally 'room' or 'living space'. Since classical Athens it was also a polite word for a prison cell. Here it means the room where Peter was locked up.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.