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Temple: hieron and naos

Greek ἱερόν · ναός. Also called Temple courts, Sanctuary, Hieron, Naos, hieron · naos.

The New Testament’s two words for the temple: hieron, the whole precinct with its courts (71 times), and naos, the sanctuary at its centre that only priests entered (45 times).

In Jesus’ day the temple was a walled complex of courts, porches and gates around a single building. The Greek keeps them apart. The hieron is the complex, where Jesus taught as a boy and as a man, where the sellers set up, and where the first believers met each day. The naos is the sanctuary, the holy place and the most holy place behind the veil: Zechariah enters it to burn incense, and its veil tears when Jesus dies. In John 2 Jesus clears the hieron and then says “Destroy this naos”, meaning his body. When Paul says “you are God’s temple” and Revelation sees no temple in the new city, the word is naos. Most English Bibles say “temple” for both; the BSB writes “temple courts” for the precinct.

The New Testament’s two words for the temple, and where each is used

Two words, one building inside the other

  • ἱερόν hieron, the temple precinct 71 uses

    The whole walled complex: its courts, porches and gates, open to every Israelite. Here Jesus taught, the sellers set up, and the first believers met every day.

    • “they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers” Luke 2:46
    • “going up to the temple at the hour of prayer” Acts 3:1
    • “those who work in the temple eat of its food” 1 Corinthians 9:13

  • ναός naos, the sanctuary 45 uses

    The building at the centre, the holy place and the most holy place behind the veil. Only priests went in. When Paul and Revelation call believers God’s temple, this is the word.

    • “he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord” Luke 1:9
    • “the veil of the temple was torn in two” Matthew 27:51
    • “you yourselves are God’s temple” 1 Corinthians 3:16
    • “I saw no temple in the city” Revelation 21:22

Both in one scene: John 2:14–21

  1. 2:14 “In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves” hieron
  2. 2:15 “drove all from the temple courts” hieron
  3. 2:19 “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again” naos
  4. 2:20 “This temple took forty-six years to build” naos
  5. 2:21 “Jesus was speaking about the temple of His body” naos

Jesus drives the sellers out of the courts, the hieron, and then speaks of the sanctuary, the naos, which is the word John uses for his body.

Translation 2:14, hieron 2:19, naos
BSB In the temple courts Destroy this temple
OEB In the Temple Courts Destroy this temple
T4T in the Temple [courtyard] destroy this temple
YLT in the temple Destroy this sanctuary
WEB in the temple Destroy this temple
LSV in the temple Destroy this temple
KJV in the temple Destroy this temple
ASV in the temple Destroy this temple
DBY in the temple Destroy this temple
FBV In the Temple Destroy this Temple

Four of the ten translations tell the two apart in English (marked); the rest say “temple” for both. The BSB writes “temple courts” for the hieron 31 times.

Where each is used

  1. Matthew 11 hieron, · 9 naos
  2. Mark 9 hieron, · 3 naos
  3. Luke 14 hieron, · 4 naos
  4. John 11 hieron, · 3 naos
  5. Acts 25 hieron, · 2 naos
  6. 1 Corinthians 1 hieron, · 4 naos
  7. 2 Corinthians 0 hieron, · 2 naos
  8. Ephesians 0 hieron, · 1 naos
  9. 2 Thessalonians 0 hieron, · 1 naos
  10. Revelation 0 hieron, · 16 naos

After Acts the precinct all but disappears: hieron appears once more, in 1 Corinthians 9:13. Counted in the site’s Greek by Strong’s number, G2411 and G3485; two uses of naos in Acts are pagan shrines (17:24, 19:24).

Where it appears

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