νύξ
nux
night
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word νύξ (nux) is a term that conveys a fundamental aspect of the natural world - night. This concept encompasses the period of darkness that occurs between sunset and sunrise, as well as the related ideas of rest, sleep, and the unknown. In its 65 occurrences throughout the Bible, νύξ is used in a variety of contexts to describe both literal and figurative aspects of night. It is often paired with the concept of day (νύμερον) to express contrasting ideas, such as light and darkness, hope and despair. The word νύξ also carries connotations of danger, insecurity, and mystery, as seen in instances where it describes nocturnal predators or threats. The significance of νύξ in the Bible can be understood through its recurring appearances in narratives, prophecies, and poetic passages. Its association with the unknown, darkness, and rest highlights the human experience of navigating uncertainty and finding comfort in times of solitude.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
65 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
He arose and took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt,
Matthew 4:2When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward.
Matthew 12:40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matthew 12:40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Matthew 14:25In the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.
Matthew 25:6But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’
Matthew 26:31Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
Matthew 26:34Jesus said to him, “Most certainly I tell you that tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”
Matthew 27:64Command therefore that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest perhaps his disciples come at night and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He is risen from the dead;’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Matthew 28:13saying, “Say that his disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
Mark 4:27and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, though he doesn’t know how.
Mark 5:5Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.
Mark 6:48Seeing them distressed in rowing, for the wind was contrary to them, about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea, and he would have passed by them,
Mark 14:27Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’
Mark 14:30Jesus said to him, “Most certainly I tell you, that you today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
Luke 2:8There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.
Luke 2:37and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day.
Luke 5:5Simon answered him, “Master, we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.”
Luke 12:20“But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared—whose will they be?’
Luke 17:34I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed. One will be taken and the other will be left.
Luke 18:7Won’t God avenge his chosen ones who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them?
Luke 21:37Every day Jesus was teaching in the temple, and every night he would go out and spend the night on the mountain that is called Olivet.
John 3:2The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”
John 7:50Nicodemus (he who came to him by night, being one of them) said to them,
John 9:4I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.
John 11:10But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn’t in him.”
John 13:30Therefore having received that morsel, he went out immediately. It was night.
John 19:39Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred Roman pounds.
John 21:3Simon Peter said to them, “I’m going fishing.” They told him, “We are also coming with you.” They immediately went out, and entered into the boat. That night, they caught nothing.
Acts 5:19But an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors by night, and brought them out and said,
Acts 9:24but their plot became known to Saul. They watched the gates both day and night that they might kill him,
Acts 9:25but his disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket.
Acts 12:6The same night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Guards in front of the door kept the prison.
Acts 16:9A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, begging him, and saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”
Acts 16:33He took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household.
Acts 17:10The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
Acts 18:9The Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Don’t be afraid, but speak and don’t be silent;
Acts 20:31Therefore watch, remembering that for a period of three years I didn’t cease to admonish everyone night and day with tears.
Acts 23:11The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Cheer up, Paul, for as you have testified about me at Jerusalem, so you must testify also at Rome.”
Acts 23:23He called to himself two of the centurions, and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers to go as far as Caesarea, with seventy horsemen, and two hundred men armed with spears, at the third hour of the night.”
Acts 23:31So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.
Acts 26:7which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa!
Acts 27:23For there stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the God whose I am and whom I serve,
Acts 27:27But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some land.
Acts 27:27But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some land.
Romans 13:12The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.
1 Corinthians 11:23For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
1 Thessalonians 2:9For you remember, brothers, our labor and travail; for working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached to you the Good News of God.
1 Thessalonians 3:10night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face, and may perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
1 Thessalonians 5:2For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.