What is…
heaven in the Bible

The word heaven(s) has different meanings in Scripture.

Heaven — Where God and His holy angels dwell, and where the departed souls of His believing children dwell in eternal life

This existed before God’s creation of Earth and our universe. (Order of Biblical Creation—What is the order of events when God created the universe?)

Heaven is the place of the everlasting blessedness of the righteous; the abode of departed souls whose names are written in The Lamb’s Book of Life.

In Heaven, we will be blessed with…

• Life with no more death (Luke 20:36; 1 Corinthians 15:55)

• “Eternal life” (Romans 5:21; Matthew 19:29; 25:46; Daniel 12:2)

  Q & A

  • Has death always existed? Why does it exist?
  • What is eternal life? and what does the Bible say about it?
  • What is eternal death?

• New eternal bodies

  For we know that if our earthly house [our physical body], this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven… —2 Corinthians 5:1-2 NKJV

• Exemption from all sufferings forever (1 Peter 5:10; 2 Corinthians 4:17)
• Deliverance from all wicked people and “from every evil deed” (2 Tim. 4:18)

• Bliss without end, the “fullness of joy” forever

  …In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. —Psalm 16:11 excerpt

• Rest in Heaven

  …a promise remains of entering His rest… For we who have believed enter that His rest… For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. …So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. … —Hebrews 4:1-11 LSB excerpts

• “Glory far beyond all comparison,” forever (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

Heaven is a real place

The believer’s Heaven is not only a state of everlasting blessing, but also a real “place,” a place “prepared” for them. Christ told his disciples,

“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.” —John 14:2

• It is called “Paradise” (2 Corinthians 12:4; Rev. 2:7).

  And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” —Luke 23:43 NKJV

• We will see Christ; “we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2).

• “A better country” (Heb. 11:16 KJV), “a heavenly country” (Heb. 11:14-16 NKJV)

• The Kingdom of God

• “The kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 25:1; James 2:5)

• “The Everlasting Kingdom” (2 Pet. 1:11 KJV)

• Our eternal inheritance (1 Peter 1:4; Hebrews 9:15)

• The blessed are said to “sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” and to be “in Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22; Matthew 8:11)

• Reign with Christ (2 Tim. 2:12)

• “The Heavenly Jerusalem” of Hebrews 12:22 and Galatians 4:26 will come after the Millennium, when God destroys our universe and creates a fresh, new one—a forever paradise.

Heaven and Earth

The phrase “heaven and Earth” is used to indicate the whole universe (Genesis 1:1; Jeremiah 23:24; Acts 17:24).

In Scripture, the Hebrew people refer to 3 heavens.

1st heaven — Earth’s atmosphere

As in “fowl of the heaven” (Gen. 7:23 KJV; Psa. 79:2 KJV; Psa. 104:12 KJV; Gen. 2:19 KJV; Jer. 7:33 KJV; Ezek. 38:20 KJV; Gen. 7:3 KJV; Psalm 8:8 KJV, etc.) and “the eagles of the heaven” (Lam. 4:19 KJV), etc.

2nd heaven — outer space

The starry heavens (Deut. 17:3 KJV; Jer. 8:2)

More information

• About STARS in the Bible
• The Moon in the Bible
• Have scientists discovered the moon’s origin?
• Creationists answer astronomy questions
• Order of Biblical Creation—What is the order of events when God created the universe?
• About astronomy in the Bible
• Astronomy FAQs
• Astronomy—Can it lead a person to God?

3rd heaven — where God and His angels reside

This is the Heaven where God and His angels dwell.

“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.” —2 Corinthians 12:2 ESV

Metaphorical uses of the word “heaven”

• “Yet He had commanded the clouds above,
  And opened the doors of heaven” —Psalm 78:23 NKJV

• “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain…” —1 Kings 8:35 NKJV

• “…the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” —Ezek. 1:1 NKJV

Hebrew and Greek words translated as “heaven(s)”

1. Hebrew: שָׁמַיִם —transliteration: shamayim —meaning: heaven, the sky

   This is the usual Hebrew word for heaven, and it appears 421 times in Scripture.

   In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. —Genesis 1:1; 2:1

   Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. —Genesis 1:9 NKJV

   The Lord your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude. —Deuteronomy 1:10 NKJV

   …bird that flies in the sky… —Deuteronomy 4:17 NASB

   …fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. —2 Kings 1:10 NKJV

2. Greek: οὐρανός —transliteration: ouranos —meaning: heaven

   This was used to refer both to the visible heavens (the atmosphere, the sky, and the starry heavens) and the spiritual heavens.

   “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” —Matthew 3:2

   “…Our Father in heaven…” —Matthew 6:9

   “…until heaven and earth pass away…” —Matthew 5:18

3. Hebrew: מָרוֹם —transliteration: marom —meaning: heights, high places, high, heaven

   Used in Psalm 68:18; 93:4; 102:19, etc.) as equivalent to shamayim, “high places,” “heights”

4. Hebrew: שַׁחַק —transliteration: shachaq or shahak —meaning: clouds, sky or dust

   “…through the skies in His majesty.” —Deuteronomy 33:26

   “Look at the heavens and see;
   And behold the clouds—they are higher than you.” —Job 35:5

   “Can you, with Him, spread out the skies” (Job 37:18 NASB)

   “For who in the heaven can be compared…” (Psalm 89:6 KJV)
   “For who in the skies is comparable…” (Psalm 89:6 NASB)

5. Hebrew: רָקִיעַ —transliteration: raqia or rakia —meaning: expanse, an extended surface, firmament

   Then God said, “Let there be a firmament [or expanse] in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” —Genesis 1:6 NKJV

   There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,
   Who rides the heavens to help you,
   And in His excellency on the clouds. —Deuteronomy 33:26 NKJV

   …like the brightness of the expanse of heaven… —Daniel 12:3 NASB

   …Like the brightness of the firmament… —Daniel 12:3 NKJV