παράδεισος
parádeisos
G3857 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
An enclosed garden or park, often referring in various contexts to a luxuriant, well-watered, and pleasurable space for recreation. In Hellenistic and late Jewish-Greek literature, also denotes the primeval garden in the Genesis narrative ('Eden'), and by extension, a transcendent place of blessing, rest, and reward after death. The dominant sense is that of a walled or protected garden, but later, especially in apocalyptic or religious texts, it acquires a metaphorical or eschatological connotation, referring to an ideal or ultimate place of happiness.
Semantic Range
enclosed park, pleasure garden, royal garden, Eden (primeval garden), place of postmortem blessing, transcendent or restored garden of divine presence
Root / Etymology
Borrowed into Greek from Old Persian *pairidaēza ('enclosure, walled garden'), from *pairi- ('around') + *-daēza ('wall'). The term entered via Persian administrative and cultural influence, and in Greek became παράδεισος, closely corresponding to Hebrew פַּרְדֵּס (pardēs), meaning 'orchard, park, garden'. Its use in Greek predates the New Testament, found also in classical and Hellenistic sources.
Historical & Contextual Notes
In classical Greek (Xenophon, Herodotus), παράδεισος referred to large, enclosed parks or pleasure gardens typically associated with Persian royalty or nobility. In the Septuagint, παράδεισος is the standard Greek rendering for the Hebrew גַּן־עֵדֶן (garden of Eden), introducing symbolic and theological dimensions. In later Second Temple and Hellenistic Jewish literature, and in the New Testament (e.g., Luke 23:43, 2 Corinthians 12:4, Revelation 2:7), παράδεισος conveys both the idea of Eden restored and a postmortem place of divine presence or reward. The meaning developed from concrete, earthly gardens to metaphorical and eschatological connotations of bliss and communion with God. Standard English Bible translations often use 'paradise' for these contexts, but the term's Persian, Hellenistic, and Jewish background as an enclosed garden should be kept in view. Not to be confused with other terms for fields or rural land (e.g., ἀγρός), nor with later developed concepts of 'heaven' unconnected to the garden motif.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
of Oriental origin (compare פַּרְדֵּס); a park, i.e. (specially), an Eden (place of future happiness, "paradise"):--paradise.
Root Family
παράδεισος (paradeisos) — enclosure, garden, park
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G3857-01 |
Παραδείσῳ | paradeiso | N DAT M SG |
Paradise | to the enclosed garden | enclosed garden | 2 |
G3857-02 |
Παράδεισον | paradeison | N ACC M SG |
Paradise | enclosed garden | enclosed garden | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
3 occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G3857-01 |
Luke 23:43 | Παραδείσῳ | paradeiso | N DAT M SG |
Paradise | to the enclosed garden | Paradise |
G3857-02 |
2 Corinthians 12:4 | Παράδεισον | paradeison | N ACC M SG |
Paradise | enclosed garden | enclosed garden |
G3857-01 |
Revelation 2:7 | Παραδείσῳ | paradeiso | N DAT M SG |
Paradise | to the enclosed garden | enclosed garden |