Greek word · G4582

σελήνη

selēnē

moon

Selēnē is the moon. Holē means 'whole, entire'. Haima means blood, and stands for life poured out in violent death. The simile word hōs ('as, like') shows that John is describing how the moon looked, not what it was made of.

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

What it means

σελήνη, -ης, ἡ

[in LXX chiefly for יָרֵחַ (Genesis 37:9, al.), also for לְבָנָה; (Song of Songs 6:9(10), ?Isaiah 24:23 30:26) ;]

the moon: Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:24, Luke 21:25, Acts 2:20" (LXX), 1 Corinthians 15:41, Revelation 6:12 8:12 12:1 21:23.†

(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 6:12

Range of meaning

Selēnē is the moon. Holē means 'whole, entire'. Haima means blood, and stands for life poured out in violent death. The simile word hōs ('as, like') shows that John is describing how the moon looked, not what it was made of.

Against the English

The KJV and YLT ('the moon became as blood') follow a later text without 'whole'. The BSB and NIV turn the comparison into a color ('blood red'). That is fair, but it narrows the image from blood (slaughter and death) to a hue. The ESV's 'full moon' can be misheard as the lunar phase, while the Greek says the entire moon.

How it drifted

Popular astronomy now uses 'blood moon' for the reddish moon seen during a total lunar eclipse, and that term gets read back into the verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

This draws directly on Joel 2:31 (3:4 in the Hebrew and Greek): 'The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.' Peter quotes it in Acts 2:20. Similar darkening of sun and moon appears in Isaiah 13:10, Ezekiel 32:7–8 and Amos 8:9, and Jesus uses it in Mark 13:24. The Jewish Testament of Moses (1st century AD, surviving in Latin), 10:5, has a very close parallel: the moon 'will not give her light, and will be turned wholly into blood'. This shows that 'wholly blood' was standard language for the end in John's time. In the wider ancient world, darkened or reddened heavenly bodies were widely read as omens of disaster.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 24:29 σελήνη moon

    Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’

    Here: The moon was the night light and also the clock for Israel's months and feasts, so its failure meant the calendar of life itself breaking down.

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 13:24 σελήνη moon

    But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;

    Here: The ruler of the night (Gen 1:16). It is grammatically feminine in Greek, which is why KJV and YLT say 'her light'.

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 21:25 σελήνῃ moon

    There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.

    Here: The lesser light, which set Israel's calendar and festivals. When it fails, the ordered marking of time is shaken.

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 2:20 σελήνη moon

    The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord.

    Here: The moon. Israel's calendar of months and festivals was set by it, Pentecost included.

1 Corinthians · 1

  1. 1 Corinthians 15:41 σελήνης, of [the] moon,

    The sun has one degree of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

Revelation · 4

  1. Revelation 6:12 σελήνη moon

    And I watched as the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the whole moon turned blood red,

    Here: The light that ruled the night and set the calendar of months and festivals. It is now disfigured as well.

  2. Revelation 8:12 σελήνης moon

    Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun and moon and stars were struck. A third of the stars were darkened, a third of the day was without light, and a third of the night as well.

    Here: The 'lesser light' that rules the night (Gen 1:16), which also governed Israel's calendar of months and festivals.

  3. Revelation 12:1 σελήνη moon

    And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.

    Here: The second light of Gen 37:9. The moon also set Israel's calendar of months and festivals, and in pagan religion it was linked with goddesses such as Artemis and Isis.

  4. Revelation 21:23 σελήνης moon

    And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.

    Here: The moon, which ruled the night and set the calendar of months and festivals. In Greek religion it was the goddess Selene.

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