A taxonomic word list — words arranged not alphabetically but by meaning, each in its semantic neighborhood. Where the concordance shows where each word appears in Scripture, this lexicon shows what each word means and who its conceptual cousins are. Source: the United Bible Societies open-license Greek NT dictionary, derived from the Louw & Nida semantic domain framework (1989).
Lemma — the base dictionary form of the Greek word (what you look up in a lexicon), shown in large type.
L-N code — the Louw-Nida reference number, e.g. 1.11 means Domain 1 (Geographical Objects), sub-entry 11. A word appearing in multiple domains (such as πνεῦμα, which spans six entries) is listed once per domain sense.
Gloss — the short English equivalent in small capitals.
Definition — the UBS contextual definition, which describes how the word functions in its semantic neighborhood, not merely what it means in isolation. Parenthetical notes in the UBS data (such as “a figurative extension of…”) are retained as they reveal the word’s semantic history.
Duplicate senses removed: where the UBS data listed the same lemma with the same gloss and definition twice (a data artifact), only one instance is shown. Where a lemma appears with different senses in the same domain (e.g. πνεῦμα as Spirit, as demon, as ghost), each distinct sense is retained as a separate entry — that polysemy is theologically significant.
What the L-N numbers mean. The small gold numbers beside each lemma — such as 1.5 or 12.44 — are Louw-Nida entry addresses, the system Louw and Nida built to locate every distinct sense of a word within their 93-domain framework. The format is Domain.SubEntry:
1.5 — Domain 1 (Geographical Objects and Features), sub-entry 5: οὐρανός in its primary sense as sky, the visible physical expanse — birds, clouds, weather signs. 63 NT references.
1.11 — Domain 1, sub-entry 11: οὐρανός as heaven, the supernatural dwelling place of God — the primary theological sense. 145 NT references.
12.16 — Domain 12, sub-entry 16: οὐρανός as a Jewish reverential substitute for God himself — “Kingdom of heaven” in Matthew = “Kingdom of God” in Mark and Luke. 42 NT references.
1.3 — Domain 1, sub-entry 3: the fixed phrase heaven and earth = the totality of creation. 10 NT references.
4.41 — Domain 4 (Animals), sub-entry 41: the idiom birds of the sky (πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ) = wild birds. 9 references — not Heaven Project material.
1.43 — Domain 1, sub-entry 43: the idiom under the sky (ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν) = on earth. 3 references — not Heaven Project material.
12.45 — Domain 12, sub-entry 45: the idiom army of heaven (στρατιὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ) = the stars as symbols of supernatural powers. 1 reference.
The complete οὐρανός sense map — all 273 NT references across 7 senses:
| L-N | Gloss | Refs | Heaven Project? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.11 | heaven — God’s dwelling | 145 | ✓ Core — every reference |
| 12.16 | God (by Jewish metonymy) | 42 | ✓ Core — “Kingdom of heaven” |
| 1.5 | sky — visible expanse | 63 | Selective — signs, ascension, parousia texts |
| 1.3 | heaven and earth — creation | 10 | Selective — new creation / passing away texts |
| 12.45 | stars of heaven — supernatural powers | 1 | Note only |
| 4.41 | birds of the sky | 9 | Not Heaven material |
| 1.43 | under the sky = on earth | 3 | Not Heaven material |
The profound insight Louw and Nida built into this system is that one Greek word can legitimately live at seven different addresses because it carries seven genuinely distinct meanings. When Matthew writes “our Father who is in heaven” he means 1.11. When Paul writes “caught up to the third heaven” he means 1.11. When Matthew writes “Kingdom of heaven” he means 12.16 — God himself, not a place. When Jesus says “heaven and earth will pass away” he means 1.3. When the Pharisees ask for a sign from the sky he means 1.5.
This is exactly why a concordance alone is insufficient for the Heaven Project — finding every occurrence of οὐρανός tells you where it appears, but the L-N code tells you which heaven is meant in each instance. That is the exegetical payload of the whole system. The Heaven Concordance gives you the locations; this lexicon gives you the meanings.
Heaven, Paradise, the Kingdom, the heavenly realms, the underworld, and cosmic features — the vocabulary of place in the heavenly universe. οὐρανός alone spans four senses here; see the sense-map above for reference counts.
The persons of the heavenly realm — God in his titles, the Son, the Ruach HaKodesh, the heavenly host, and the demonic powers that the believer’s heavenly calling overcomes.
The vocabulary of heavenly worship — what the redeemed and the angelic host do in the presence of God. The throne room of Revelation is the fullest NT picture of heavenly religious activity.
The standing of the redeemed in the heavenly realm — glory, honor, inheritance, citizenship, resurrection body, and co-reign with Moshiach. These words answer the question: what does the believer become?