οὐρανός, -οῦ, ὁ,
[in LXX chiefly for שָׁמַיִם (hence, often pl., οἱ οὐ., v. infr.);]
heaven;
1. of the vault or firmament of heaven, the sky and the aerial regions above the earth: opp. to ἡ γῆ, He 1:10, II Pe 3:5, 10; ὁ οὐ. καὶ ἡ γῆ, i.e. the world, the universe, Mt 5:18, Mk 13:31, Lk 10:21, Ac 4:24, Re 10:6, al.; ἀπ’ ἄκρων οὐ. ἕως ἄ. αὐτῶν (on the absence of art. aft. prep., v. Bl., § 46, 5), Mt 24:31; ὑπὸ τὸν οὐ., Ac 2:5, Col 1:23; ὑψωθῆναι ἕως τοῦ οὐ., fig., Mt 11:23, Lk 10:15; σημεῖον ἐκ τοῦ οὐ., Mt 16:1, Mk 8:11, al.; αἱ νεφέλαι, Mt 24:30, al.; τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐ., Mt 6:26, Mk 4:32, al.; οἱ ἀστέρες τοῦ οὐ., Re 6:13, al.; pl. (οἱ) οὐ. (Bl., § 32, 5), Mt 3:16, Mk 1:10, Jo 1:32, II Pe 3:7, 13 al.
2. Of the abode of God and other blessed beings: of angels, Mt 24:36, Mk 12:25, Ga 1:8, Re 10:1, al.; of Christ glorified, Mk 16:[19], Lk 24:51, Ac 3:21, Ro 10:6, al.; of God, Mt 5:34, Ro 1:18, al.; ὁ Πατὴρ ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐ. (Dalman, Words, 184 ff.), Mt 5:166:1, al.; θησαυρὸς ἐν οὐ., Mt 6:20, Mk 10:21, al.
3. By meton.,
(a) of the inhabitants of heaven: Re 18:20 (cf. Re 12:12, Jb 15:15, Is 44:23);
(b) as an evasive reference to God, characteristic of later Judaism (Dalman, Words, 204 ff.): Mt 21:25, Mk 11:30, Lk 15:18, Jo 3:27, al.; ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐ. (= τοῦ Θεοῦ; v.s. βασιλεία).