2217. zophos
Lexical Summary
zophos: Darkness, Gloom

Original Word: ζόφος
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: zophos
Pronunciation: ZO-fos
Phonetic Spelling: (dzof'-os)
KJV: blackness, darkness, mist
NASB: black, darkness, gloom
Word Origin: [akin to the base of G3509 (νέφος - cloud)]

1. gloom (as shrouding like a cloud)
2. clouding gloom

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
blackness, darkness, mist.

Akin to the base of nephos; gloom (as shrouding like a cloud) -- blackness, darkness, mist.

see GREEK nephos

HELPS Word-studies

2217 zóphos – murky, appalling gloom, referring to darkness so dense and foreboding it is "felt"; (figuratively) apocalyptic, gloomy darkness associated with the nether world (BAGD) bringing its indescribable despair (incredible gloom).

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
akin to gnophos
Definition
deep gloom
NASB Translation
black (2), darkness (2), gloom (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 2217: ζόφος

ζόφος, ζόφου, (akin to γνόφος, δνόφος, νέφος, κνέφας, see Alexander Buttmann (1873) Lexil. ii., p. 266 (Fishlake's translation, p. 378); cf. Curtius, p. 706), darkness, blackness: Hebrews 12:18 L T Tr WH; as in Homer Iliad 15, 191; 21, 56, etc., used of the darkness of the nether world (cf. Grimm on Wis. 17:14), 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6; ζόφος τοῦ σκότους (cf. חֹשֶׁך־אֲפֵלָה, Exodus 10:22), the blackness of (i. e. the densest) darkness, 2 Peter 2:17; Jude 1:13. (Cf. Trench, § c.)

Topical Lexicon
Semantic Range and Imagery

The term denotes impenetrable darkness, a palpable gloom that overwhelms the senses. In Scripture it is consistently associated with the felt presence of divine judgment, spiritual blindness, and separation from God’s light. The word does not describe ordinary nightfall but a moral and eschatological obscurity—a darkness that can be “felt” (compare Exodus 10:21).

Old Testament Background

Though the exact Greek term does not appear in the Hebrew canon, its conceptual parallels are found in Hebrew words such as ḥōšeḵ and ʿărāpěl, used to describe Sinai’s terrifying cloud (Deuteronomy 4:11) and the “day of the LORD” (Joel 2:2). These passages prepare the reader for the New Testament’s employment of ζόφος as the atmosphere of decisive divine intervention, whether in saving revelation or condemning judgment.

New Testament Usage

1. Hebrews 12:18 pictures Mount Sinai shrouded in “darkness, gloom, and storm,” contrasting the old covenant’s fear-laden revelation with the joyous access granted at Mount Zion. ζόφος underscores the distance between an unmediated, holy God and sinful humanity.

2. 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6 apply the term to rebellious angels “kept in eternal chains under darkness,” portraying a present, ongoing incarceration that anticipates final judgment. Here ζόφος functions as both prison and portent.

3. 2 Peter 2:17 and Jude 1:13 assign “blackest darkness” to false teachers. The language moves from describing a place to defining a fate. Those who peddle error are destined for the same punitive gloom reserved for fallen angels, revealing the severity with which God guards His truth.

Theological Significance

1. Judgment and Holiness. ζόφος embodies the collision of God’s unapproachable holiness with unrepentant evil. It serves as a narrative cue that divine wrath is active and certain.

2. Moral Consequences. The word exposes sin’s trajectory: what begins as moral dimness ends in absolute darkness. By using the same term for angels and humans, Scripture levels all pretensions; no creature is exempt from accountability.

3. Eschatology. ζόφος has both an already and a not-yet dimension. Fallen angels reside there now; the unfaithful will join them then. This collapses temporal distance, urging present repentance in light of future realities.

Christological Connections

The Gospels describe a preternatural darkness at the crucifixion (Matthew 27:45). Although a different vocabulary is used, the thematic overlap is profound: Jesus entered the realm of utter darkness so that believers “may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). His atoning descent into judgment secures deliverance from ζόφος for all who trust Him.

Practical Application for Ministry

• Preaching: ζόφος supplies vivid imagery for communicating both the gravity of sin and the glory of salvation. It balances warnings about judgment with the hope of rescue.
• Counseling: When believers feel spiritual oppression, reminding them that Christ has already conquered the deepest gloom provides assurance and perspective.
• Apologetics: The reality of eternal darkness counters universalist claims, stressing the necessity of personal faith in Christ.

Exegetical Notes

• The definite articles in 2 Peter and Jude (“the darkness”) suggest a known, fixed sphere, not a vague metaphor.
• The perfect tense (“has kept”) in Jude 1:6 emphasizes the ongoing custody of fallen angels, underscoring God’s sustained control over evil.
• The imagery of “chains” plus ζόφος forms a hendiadys, portraying darkness itself as a restraining agent.

Pastoral Warning and Encouragement

Believers are not destined for ζόφος; nevertheless, false teaching and unrepentant sin court that realm. The church must therefore “walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8) and lovingly confront error. At the same time, the certainty of divine judgment grants hope: evil is not merely restrained; it is destined for irreversible darkness, while the redeemed will forever enjoy “the radiance of God’s glory” (Hebrews 1:3).

Forms and Transliterations
ζοφον ζόφον ζοφος ζόφος ζοφου ζόφου ζοφω ζόφῳ zopho zophō zóphoi zóphōi zophon zóphon zophos zóphos zophou zóphou
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Englishman's Concordance
Hebrews 12:18 N-DMS
GRK: γνόφῳ καὶ ζόφῳ καὶ θυέλλῃ
NAS: and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind,
INT: to obscurity and to darkness and to storm

2 Peter 2:4 N-GMS
GRK: ἀλλὰ σειραῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν
NAS: them to pits of darkness, reserved
KJV: [them] into chains of darkness, to be reserved
INT: but to chains of darkness having cast [them] to the deepest abyss delivered [them]

2 Peter 2:17 N-NMS
GRK: οἷς ὁ ζόφος τοῦ σκότους
NAS: for whom the black darkness
KJV: to whom the mist of darkness
INT: to whom the gloom of darkness

Jude 1:6 N-AMS
GRK: ἀϊδίοις ὑπὸ ζόφον τετήρηκεν
NAS: under darkness for the judgment
KJV: under darkness unto
INT: eternal under darkness he keeps

Jude 1:13 N-NMS
GRK: οἷς ὁ ζόφος τοῦ σκότους
NAS: for whom the black darkness
KJV: is reserved the blackness of darkness
INT: to whom the gloom of darkness

Strong's Greek 2217
5 Occurrences


ζόφῳ — 1 Occ.
ζόφον — 1 Occ.
ζόφος — 2 Occ.
ζόφου — 1 Occ.

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