TR: heykal → naos (Temple/Sanctuary)

The Chain

Hebrew OT            LXX (Greek OT)         Greek NT
───────────          ───────────────         ────────
הֵיכָל (heykal)  →  ναός (naos)          →  ναός (naos)
H1964, 80x           50x as translation      45x in NT
"palace, temple"     of heykal               "temple, sanctuary"

OT Usage (Hebrew)

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H1964	הֵיכָל (heykal)	80 (BLB); 92 in KJV DB	palace, temple — the main hall/sanctuary building

Key OT passages: - 1 Kings 6:17 — "the house, that is, the temple (heykal) before it, was forty cubits long" — the physical main hall of Solomon's temple - Psalm 11:4 — "The LORD is in his holy temple (heykal), the LORD'S throne is in heaven" — God's heavenly dwelling - Isaiah 6:1 — "I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple (heykal)" — theophany in the sanctuary - Habakkuk 2:20 — "the LORD is in his holy temple (heykal): let all the earth keep silence before him" - Malachi 3:1 — "the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple (heykal)"

Heykal designates the main hall of the temple building (as opposed to the debir/Holy of Holies or the courts), but extends to God's heavenly palace-temple and to pagan palaces.

See: G3485-naos.md (NT word study)

LXX Bridge

Hebrew	Greek Translation	Count	Notes
הֵיכָל (heykal) H1964	ναός (naos) G3485	50x	Primary equivalent (PMI 7.86)
הֵיכָל (heykal) H1964	οἶκος (oikos) G3624	28x	When context emphasizes "house"
הֵיכָל (heykal) H1964	ἅγιος (hagios) G40	17x	When rendered as "sanctuary/holy place"

Semantic alignment in translation: The LXX consistently chose naos (not hieron) for heykal, preserving the distinction between the sanctuary building itself and the broader precinct. This is a tight semantic match — both words specifically denote the inner dwelling of deity, not the surrounding complex.

NT Usage (Greek)

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G3485	ναός (naos)	45	temple, sanctuary, shrine — the inner dwelling

Key NT passages: - Matthew 27:51 — "the veil of the temple (naos) was rent in twain" — the inner sanctuary veil - John 2:19-21 — "Destroy this temple (naos)... he spake of the temple of his body" - 1 Corinthians 3:16 — "ye are the temple (naos) of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you" - Revelation 11:19 — "the temple (naos) of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament"

See: G3485-naos.md (canonical word study)

Direct OT→NT Quotations

NT Verse	Quotes/Echoes OT	Shared Word	Significance
2 Corinthians 6:16	Leviticus 26:12 / Ezekiel 37:27	heykal → naos	"I will dwell in them" — God's temple = God's people
Revelation 11:19	1 Kings 8:1-6	heykal → naos	Ark of the testament in the heavenly naos echoes the ark in Solomon's heykal
Malachi 3:1 → multiple NT	Malachi 3:1	heykal (temple)	"The Lord shall come to his temple" — messianic expectation fulfilled

Continuity and Shifts

What stays the same across testaments: - Both heykal and naos designate the dwelling place of deity (not the surrounding courts/precinct) - Both carry the sense of sacred interiority — where God's presence resides - The heavenly temple concept spans both testaments (Psalm 11:4; Isaiah 6:1 → Revelation 11:19; 15:5)

What shifts: - NT extends naos metaphorically to believers' bodies and the church (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; Eph 2:21) — a usage not found for heykal in the OT - The "no temple" vision (Rev 21:22) represents a theological terminus: God and the Lamb replace the naos entirely - Heykal could mean "palace" (secular royal building); NT naos never has this secular sense

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Generated from: search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup, --lexicon) Last updated: 2026-03-31