Extended Strong's Greek Lexicon (Abbott-Smith based)
cave
Usage: σπήλαιον, -ου, τό [in LXX chiefly for מְעָרָה ;] a cave, cavern: Jhn.11:38, Heb.11:38, Heb.6:15; σ. (EV, den) λῃστῶν (Jhn.7:11), Mat.21:13, Mrk.11:17, Luk.19:46.† (AS)
Spelaion means “cave” — full meaning, definition, and every linked Bible usage across the indexed canon.
Same number, other testament: Strong's H4693 — matsor (“besieged places”) in the Hebrew Bible.
Strong's G4693 σπήλαιον (spelaion) is a Greek Strong's word-study entry. spelaion (spay'-lai-on) n. 1. a cavern 2. (by implication) a hiding-place or resort It has 52 linked Bible usages across 20 books. Visible English usage signals include den, dens, and cave. Indexed coverage on this page includes New Testament, Septuagint / Greek Old Testament, and Deuterocanonical / Apocrypha.
spelaion (spay'-lai-on) n. 1. a cavern 2. (by implication) a hiding-place or resort [neuter of a presumed derivative of speos (a grotto)] KJV: cave, den
How independent scholarly lexicons define Strong's G4693. Each definition is shown with its source so you can compare and cite the original reference works.
cave
Usage: σπήλαιον, -ου, τό [in LXX chiefly for מְעָרָה ;] a cave, cavern: Jhn.11:38, Heb.11:38, Heb.6:15; σ. (EV, den) λῃστῶν (Jhn.7:11), Mat.21:13, Mrk.11:17, Luk.19:46.† (AS)
The English word each shown verse actually uses to render spelaion, taken from the interlinear word alignment (the same word underlined in the excerpts below). Where a rendering is used more than once, the count is shown.
Indexed coverage includes Septuagint / Greek Old Testament, New Testament, and Deuterocanonical / Apocrypha. Each section below keeps corpus counts and sample passages visible so readers can compare the word across contexts instead of reading one flat concordance list.
Strong's G4693 (σπήλαιον) appears 53 times in the Greek Septuagint — the Old Testament the New Testament authors quoted.
Sample Septuagint occurrences:
Indexed usage grouped by testament and extended corpus so readers can compare this word across the Bible, Septuagint, deuterocanonical books, and 1 Enoch where present.
6 indexed usages in New Testament.
And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
43 indexed usages in Septuagint / Greek Old Testament.
And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, he and his two daughters with him, for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.
And let him give me the double cave which he has, which is in a part of his field, let him give it me for the money it is worth for possession of a burying place among you.
Attend to me, my lord, and hear me, I give to thee the field and the cave which is in it; I have given it thee before all my countrymen; bury thy dead.
3 indexed usages in Deuterocanonical / Apocrypha.
But she increased more and more in honor, and waxed old in her husband’s house, being a hundred and five years old, and made her maid free; so she died in Bethulia: and they buried her in the cave of her husband Manasseh.
And others, that had run together into caves near by, to keep the Sabbath day secretly, being discovered to Philip, were all burned together, because they made a conscience to help themselves for the honor of the most sacred day.
And they kept eight days with gladness, as in the feast of the tabernacles, remembering that not long afore they had held the feast of the tabernacles, when as they wandered in the mountains and dens like beasts.
First 52 linked usage excerpts for Strong's G4693.
And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, he and his two daughters with him, for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.
And let him give me the double cave which he has, which is in a part of his field, let him give it me for the money it is worth for possession of a burying place among you.
Attend to me, my lord, and hear me, I give to thee the field and the cave which is in it; I have given it thee before all my countrymen; bury thy dead.
And the field of Ephron, which was in Double Cave, which is opposite Mamre, the field and the cave, which was in it, and every tree which was in the field, and whatever is in its borders round about, were made sure
After this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the Double Cave of the field, which is opposite Mamre, this is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
So the field and the cave which was in it were made sure to Abraham for possession of a burying place, by the sons of Heth.
And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the double cave, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is over against Mamre:
even the field and the cave which Abraham bought of the sons of Heth; there they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife.
And he said to them, I am added to my people; ye shall bury me with my fathers in the cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
in the double cave which is opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the cave which Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite, for a possession of a sepulcher.
in the portion of the field, and of the cave that was in it, purchased of the sons of Heth.
So his sons carried him up into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the double cave, which cave Abraham bought for possession of a burying place, of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
And these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave that is in Makkedah.
And it was told Joshua, saying, The five kings have been found hidden in the cave that is in Makkedah.
And Joshua said, Roll stones to the mouth of the cave, and set men to watch over them.
And Joshua said, Open the cave, and bring out these five kings out of the cave.
And they brought out the five kings out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, and the king of Hebron, and the king of Jarmuth, and the king of Lachish, and the king of Adullam.
And it came to pass toward the setting of the sun, Joshua commanded, and they took them down from the trees, and cast them into the cave into which they had fled for refuge, and rolled stones to the cave, which remain till this day.
And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and the children of Israel made for themselves because of Midian the caves in the mountains, and the dens, and the holes in the rocks.
And the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait so that they could not draw nigh, and the people hid themselves in caves, and sheepfolds, and rocks, and ditches, and pits.
And David departed thence, and escaped; and he comes to the cave of Adullam, and his brethren hear, and the house of his father, and they go down to him there.
And he came to the flocks of sheep that were by the way, and there was a cave there; and Saul went in to make preparation, and David and his men were sitting in the inner part of the cave.
And David rose up and went after him out of the cave: and David cried after Saul, saying, My lord, O king! and Saul looked behind him, and David bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance to him.
Behold, thine eyes have seen this day how that the Lord has delivered thee this day into my hands in the cave; and I would not slay thee, but spared thee, and said, I will not lift up my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.
And three out of the thirty went down, and came to Cason to David, to the cave of Adullam; and there was an army of the Philistines, and they encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.
And it came to pass when Jezebel smote the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.
Has it not been told to thee my lord, what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, that I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
And he entered there into a cave, and rested there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
And it came to pass when Elijah heard, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went forth and stood in the cave: and, behold, a voice came to him and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
And three of the thirty chiefs went down to the rock to David, to the cave of Adullam, and the camp of the Philistines was in the giants’ valley.
For the end. Destroy not: by David, for a memorial, when he fled from the presence of Saul to the cave.
A Psalm of instruction for David, when he was in the cave—a Prayer.
having carried them into the caves, and into the clefts of the rocks, and into the caverns of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and by reason of the glory of his might, when he shall arise to strike terribly the earth.
And they all shall enter into the clefts of the land, and into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves, and into every ravine.
As for the rich city, the houses are deserted; they shall abandon the wealth of the city, and the pleasant houses: and the villages shall be caves forever, the joy of wild asses, shepherds’ pastures;
he shall dwell in a high cave of a strong rock: bread shall be given him, and his water shall be sure.
They lie down to sleep in the tombs and in the caves for the sake of dreams, even they that eat swine’s flesh, and the broth of their sacrifices: all their vessels are defiled:
The whole land has recoiled from the noise of the horseman and the bent bow; they have gone into the caves, and have hidden themselves in the groves, and have gone up upon the rocks: every city was abandoned, no man dwelt in them.
Is my house, whereon my name is called, a den of robbers in your eyes? And, behold, I have seen it, saith the Lord.
Is not my inheritance to me a hyena’s cave, or a cave round about her? Go ye, gather together all the wild beasts of the field, and let them come to devour her.
For her times are come: open ye her storehouses: search her as a cave, and utterly destroy her: let there be no remnant of her.
As I live, surely they that are in the desolate places shall fall by swords, and they that are in the open plain shall be given for food to the wild beasts of the field, and them that are in the fortified cities and them that are in the caves I will slay with pestilence.
Woe to him that gives his neighbor to drink the thick lees of wine, and intoxicates him, that he may look upon their secret parts.
And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
But she increased more and more in honor, and waxed old in her husband’s house, being a hundred and five years old, and made her maid free; so she died in Bethulia: and they buried her in the cave of her husband Manasseh.
And others, that had run together into caves near by, to keep the Sabbath day secretly, being discovered to Philip, were all burned together, because they made a conscience to help themselves for the honor of the most sacred day.
And they kept eight days with gladness, as in the feast of the tabernacles, remembering that not long afore they had held the feast of the tabernacles, when as they wandered in the mountains and dens like beasts.
Every indexed verse link for Strong's G4693, grouped by book.
Spelaion (Strong's G4693) is a Greek word most simply glossed "cave". spelaion (spay'-lai-on) n. 1. a cavern 2. (by implication) a hiding-place or resort
This page currently indexes 52 linked usages for Strong's G4693 across 20 books.
Use the linked verse references on this page to study Strong's G4693 in context. The indexed coverage includes New Testament, Septuagint / Greek Old Testament, and Deuterocanonical / Apocrypha.
The visible usage excerpts most often surface English words such as den, dens, and cave. These are scanning signals from the displayed verses, not replacements for the original-language definition.
Yes. The current local index includes 43 in Septuagint / Greek Old Testament and 3 in Deuterocanonical / Apocrypha for Strong's G4693, with linked reader references where each row is available.