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GREEK WORD DEFINITIONS παράδεισος, 'paradeisos' Strong's 3857

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Introduction 2.1

This study defines the meaning of the Greek word παράδεισος, 'paradeisos' Strong's 3857 in the New Testament and in the Septuagint. We have examined every verse where the 'paradeisos' appears to obtain a true understanding of this word, and these scriptures need to be meditated on and notes made of their meaning in different contexts. We have used extracts from some others who have defined this word. In quotations from scripture the translation of the Greek word paradeisos is highlighted with bold and yellow. If any words are in italics then there is no equivalent word for it in the Greek. Every blessing be to those who seek the truth of God's word.

#2.11 New Testament definition of παράδεισος, 'paradeisos' Strong's 3857

Expository Dictionary of Bible Words W.E. Vine P158
PARADEISOS (παράδεισος) is an Oriental word, first used by the historian Xenophon, denoting the parks of Persian kings and nobles." It is of Persian origin (Old Pers. pairidaeza, akin to Gk. peri, "around," and teichos, "a wall") whence it passed into Greek. See the Sept., e.g., in Nehemiah 2:8; Ecclesiastes 2:5; Song of Songs 4:13. The Sept. translators used it of the garden of Eden, Genesis 2:8, and in other respects, e.g., Numbers 24:6; Isaiah 1:30; Jeremiah 29:5; Ezekiel 31:8-Ezekiel 31:9.
In Luke 23:43, the promise of the Lord to the repentant robber was fulfilled the same day; Christ, at His death, having committed His spirit to the Father, went in spirit immediately into Heaven itself, the dwelling place of God (the Lord's mention of the place as "paradise" must have been a great comfort to the malefactor; to the oriental mind it expressed the sum total of blessedness). Thither the Apostle Paul was caught up, 2 Corinthians 12:4, spoken of as "the third heaven" (2 Corinthians 12:3 does not introduce a different vision), beyond the heavens of the natural creation (See Hebrews 4:14, RV, with reference to the Ascension). The same region is mentioned in Revelation 2:7, where the "tree of life," the figurative antitype of that in Eden, held out to the overcomer, is spoken of as being in "the Paradise of God" (RV), marg., "garden," as in Genesis 2:8.

There are only 3 New Testament scriptures where paradeisos appears.

In 3 scriptures it translated 'paradise'.

Luke 23:43 And Jesus said to him, Amen I say to you, Today shall you be with me in paradise.
2 Corinthians 12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; To him who overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

In New Testament 'paradeisos' refers to the place where saved spirits or souls go at death (Luke 23:43), the same place where the apostle Paul was caught up into the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). It also refers to the place where those who overcome are promised that they can eat of the tree of life, 'which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.' (Revelation 2:7). In each of these three places the Greek has the definite article, 'the paradise', which could indicate that in some sense they all refer to the same paradise.

#2.12 Septuagint definition of παράδεισος, 'paradeisos' Strong's 3857

All references to the Septuagint are chapter and verse as in the bible, not the original Septuagint references. We have renumbered them.
In the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament, 'paradeisos' occurs more often than in the New Testament. We have traced 26 occurrences translated from Hebrew, so we have excluded the Apocrypha, and one place where it was not translated from the Hebrew, 2 Chronicles 33:20.

#2.121Translating the Hebrew גַּן 'gan' Strong's 1588

In 18 scripture verses (20 occurrences) 'paradeisos' refers to a 'garden' mostly the garden of Eden.

Genesis 2:8 And Yahweh God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
2:9 And Yahweh God made to grow out of the ground every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became into four heads.
2:15 And Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
2:16 And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat:
3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, Yes, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.
3:8 And they heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God amongst the trees of the garden.
3:10 And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
3:23 Therefore Yahweh God sent him out of the garden of Eden, to till the ground from where he was taken.
3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
13:10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you come to Zoar.
Isaiah 51:3 For Yahweh shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh; joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
Ezekiel 28:13 You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of your timbrels and of your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created.
31:8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like to him in his beauty.
31:9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
Joel 2:3 A fire devours before them; and behind them a flame burns: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yes, and nothing shall escape them.

Every one of these references refers literally or figuratively to the Garden of Eden, which was a paradise on earth in the beginning, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

#2.122Translating the Hebrew גַנָּה 'gannah' Strong's 1593

In 3 scriptures 'paradeisos' refers gardens.

Numbers 24:6 They are spread forth as the valleys, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which Yahweh has planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.
Isaiah 1:30 For you shall be as an oak whose leaf fades, and as a garden that has no water.
Jeremiah 29:5 Build houses, and dwell in them: and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;

The Hebrew word 'gannah' is the feminine form of 'gan', and is always translated 'garden(s)' (12x) in the KJV. It can obviously refer to other than the Garden of Eden.

#2.123Translating the Hebrew פַּרְדֵּס 'pardes' Strong's 6508

In 3 scriptures 'paradeisos' is translated 'forest' or 'orchard'.

Nehemiah 2:8 And a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which are for the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Ecclesiastes 2:5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them:
Song of Solomon 4:13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,

Pardes is a masculine noun which only occurs 3 times in the Old Testament. The translations show similarity to the garden of Eden as there are many fruit trees there, so it is not surprising that 'paradeisos' is used to translate them in the Septuagint.

#2.13 Conclusion of the meaning of παράδεισος 'paradeisos' Strong's 3857

Paradeisos is a masculine noun, Strong's 3857, which is said to come from an old Persian word 'paridaeza' which refers a park or garden. In the Septuagint the contexts show that it is a place where trees grow, in particular fruit trees, and is somewhere pleasant and peaceful. It is almost everywhere there translated 'garden', and 13 times in Genesis chapters 1 to 3 alone it refers to the Garden of Eden. It is also used to refer to 'the garden of God' (Ezekiel 28:13, 31:8 twice, and 31:9), and 'the garden of Yahweh' (Genesis 13:10 and Isaiah 51:3). Out of 26 occurrences in the Septuagint it is used 20 times to translate the Hebrew word גַּן 'gan', Strong's 1588, which itself occurs 42 times in the Hebrew and is always translated 'garden' in the KJV.
Like so many words in the bible, there is a tendency to refer to the natural or worldly in the Old Testament, but the spiritual in the New Testament, and such is the case here. In New Testament 'paradeisos' refers to the place where saved spirits or souls go at death (Luke 23:43), the same place where the apostle Paul was caught up into the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). It also refers to the place where overcomers are promised that they can eat of the tree of life, 'which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.' (Revelation 2:7). In each of these three places the Greek has the definite article, 'the paradise', which could indicate that they all refer to the same paradise. This tree of life is also in the presence of God as it is by the side of the river of life which flows out of his throne (Revelation 22:1-2). In the Old Testament the garden of Eden is the 'type', and in the New Testament paradise is the 'anti-type'. There are some definite similarities between them.

(1) There are perfect conditions with no curse in both.
(2) The tree of life is in both.
(3) There are only righteous people in both.
(4) God's presence is in both.

There are also some differences.

(1) In the garden of Eden temptation and sin was possible, but not in paradise.
(2) The Devil had access to the garden of Eden, but not to paradise.
(3) There was a tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden, but not in paradise.
(4) In the garden of Eden man was neither mortal nor immortal but had the potential to become either one, depending on which tree he ate of. In paradise he will be immortal (1 Corinthians 15:53).

The above list is not exhaustive, but let us summarize and give a definition. Paradise is the place where the souls or spirits of true believers in Jesus go when they die; the place where God dwells and fellowships with them. It is the presence of God. It is where mankind began his existence in the beginning in the Garden of Eden, and it is where man will finish up when the perfect will of God is completed in his life.

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