Quick Definition
πόλις, εως, ἡ n.f. a city
Strong's Definition
probably from the same as 4171, or perhaps from 4183; a town (properly, with walls, of greater or less size)
KJV Usage: city
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
noun, f. | -εως | πολιτεύομαι
1.88 · Geographical Objects and Features · Population Centers
city, town a population center, in contrast with a rural area or countryside and without specific reference to size
MAT 2:23 · MAT 8:33 · MAT 9:1 · MAT 10:5 · MAT 10:11 · MAT 10:14 · MAT 10:15 · MAT 10:23 · MAT 10:23 · MAT 11:1 · MAT 11:20 · MAT 14:13 · MRK 1:45 · MRK 6:33 · LUK 1:26 · LUK 1:39 · LUK 2:3 · LUK 2:4 · LUK 2:4 · LUK 2:11 · LUK 2:39 · LUK 4:29 · LUK 4:29 · LUK 4:31 · LUK 5:12 · LUK 8:1 · LUK 8:4 · LUK 8:27 · LUK 8:39 · LUK 9:5 · LUK 9:10 · LUK 10:8 · LUK 10:10 · LUK 10:11 · LUK 10:12 · LUK 13:22 · LUK 14:21 · LUK 18:2 · LUK 18:3 · LUK 19:17 · LUK 19:19 · LUK 23:51 · JHN 1:44 · JHN 4:5 · JHN 4:8 · JHN 4:28 · JHN 4:30 · JHN 4:39 · JHN 11:54 · ACT 5:16 · ACT 8:40 · ACT 10:9 · ACT 20:23 · ACT 27:8 · TIT 1:5 · JAS 4:13
1.89 · Geographical Objects and Features · Population Centers
city a population center of relatively greater importance (in contrast with κώμη[a] ‘village,’ 1.92, and κωμόπολις ‘town,’ 1.91), due to its size, economic significance, or political control over a surrounding area (it is possible that fortification of walls and gates also entered into the system of classification of a πόλις[b], in contrast with other terms for population centers) Most languages spoken by people in urbanized and industrialized societies have a number of terms for different types of population centers, for example, metropolis, city, town, village, hamlet, etc. For so-called tribal languages the primary means for making gradations consists of added attributives, for example, ‘a very large village,’ ‘a large village,’ ‘a village,’ ‘a small village.’ A translator must simply attempt to be as consistent as possible in referring to different types of population centers mentioned in the Scriptures.
MAT 4:5 · MAT 5:14 · MAT 5:35 · MAT 9:35 · MAT 21:17 · MAT 21:18 · MAT 22:7 · MAT 23:34 · MAT 23:34 · MAT 26:18 · MAT 27:53 · MAT 28:11 · MRK 6:56 · MRK 11:19 · MRK 14:13 · MRK 14:16 · LUK 1:39 · LUK 2:3 · LUK 2:4 · LUK 2:4 · LUK 2:11 · LUK 5:12 · LUK 7:11 · LUK 7:12 · LUK 7:12 · LUK 7:37 · LUK 8:1 · LUK 8:4 · LUK 8:27 · LUK 8:39 · LUK 10:1 · LUK 13:22 · LUK 14:21 · LUK 18:2 · LUK 18:3 · LUK 19:17 · LUK 19:19 · LUK 19:41 · LUK 22:10 · LUK 23:19 · LUK 24:49 · JHN 19:20 · ACT 4:27 · ACT 7:58 · ACT 8:5 · ACT 8:8 · ACT 8:9 · ACT 8:40 · ACT 9:6 · ACT 11:5 · ACT 12:10 · ACT 13:50 · ACT 14:6 · ACT 14:13 · ACT 14:19 · ACT 14:20 · ACT 14:21 · ACT 15:21 · ACT 15:36 · ACT 16:4 · ACT 16:12 · ACT 16:12 · ACT 16:14 · ACT 16:20 · ACT 16:39 · ACT 17:16 · ACT 18:10 · ACT 19:29 · ACT 19:35 · ACT 20:23 · ACT 21:5 · ACT 21:29 · ACT 21:39 · ACT 22:3 · ACT 24:12 · ACT 25:23 · ACT 26:11 · ROM 16:23 · 2CO 11:26 · 2CO 11:32 · HEB 11:10 · HEB 11:16 · HEB 12:22 · HEB 13:14 · JAS 4:13 · REV 3:12 · REV 11:2 · REV 11:8 · REV 11:13 · REV 14:20 · REV 16:19 · REV 16:19 · REV 17:18 · REV 18:10 · REV 18:10 · REV 18:16 · REV 18:18 · REV 18:19 · REV 18:21 · REV 20:9 · REV 21:2 · REV 21:10 · REV 21:14 · REV 21:15 · REV 21:16 · REV 21:16 · REV 21:18 · REV 21:19 · REV 21:21 · REV 21:23 · REV 22:14 · REV 22:19
1 In contrast with MAT 11:21 in which Bethsaida is spoken of as a πόλις, in MRK 8:23 and MRK 8:26 Bethsaida is specifically referred to as a κώμη (1.92). This diversity may simply reflect a difference of usage between two authors. A similar distinction, however, exists also in the case of Bethlehem. In JHN 7:42 Bethlehem is called a κώμη, and in LUK 2:4, a πόλις. These differences can probably be attributed to differences in individual usage; that is to say, the distinctions in size between a πόλις and a κώμη were not fixed, or one author used πόλις in the generic sence in contrast with the specific sense. This does not affect the generic meaning of πόλις[a] as a population center in contrast with a rural area. 2 It is possible that in the case of such meanings as τόπος[f] (11.59), πόλις[c] (11.61), κώμη[b] (11.62), and χώρα[e] (11.64) one should count on certain more or less automatic semantic rules by which the meaning of inhabitants could be derived by metonymy from expressions of place. Since, however, such metonymic developments are far from universal, the distinct meanings are listed here as a practical guide to translators. The same type of problem occurs with Ιεροσόλυμα ‘Jerusalem,’ Ἰουδαία ‘Judea,’ and περίχωρος ‘region’ in MAT 3:5.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
πόλις, -ews, 7, (πέλομαι, to dwell [or rather denoting originally ‘fulness,’ ‘ throng’; allied with Lat. pleo, plebs, ete.; ef. Curtius p. 79 and §374; Vanitek p. 499; (otherwise Fick i. 138)]), [fr. Hom. down], Sept. chiefly for ~y, besides for 7 Pp, WH (8 ate), ete., a city; a. univ.: Mt. ii. 23; Mk.i.45; Lk. iv. 29; Jn. xi.54; Acts vy. 16, and very often in the historical bks. of the N. T. ; κατὰ τὴν πόλιν, through the city [A. V. in; see xara, IT. 1 a.], Acts xxiv. 12; κατὰ πόλιν, κατὰ πόλεις, see κατά, IT. 3 a. a. p. 328"; opp. to κῶμαι, Mt. ix. 35; x.11; Lk. viii. 1; xiii. 22; to κῶμαι καὶ aypot, Mk. vi. 56; ἡ ἰδία πόλις, see ἴδιος, 1 Ὁ. p. 297"; πόλις with the gen. of a pers. one’s native city, Lk. ii. 4,11; Jn.i.44 (45); or the city in which one lives, Mt. xxii. 7; Lk. iv. 29; x. 11; Acts xvi. 20; Rev. xvi. 19; Jerusalem is called, on account of the temple erected there, πόλις τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως, i. 6. in which the great King of Israel, Jehovah, has his abode, Mt. v. 35; Ps. xlvii. (xlviii.) 2, ef. Tob. xiii. 15; also ἁγία πόλις (see ἅγιος, 1 a. p. 7°) and ἡ ἠγαπημένη, the beloved of God, Rey. xx.9. with the gen. of a gentile Δαμασκηνῶν, 2 Co. xi. 32; ’Edeciav, Acts xix. 35; τῶν Ἰουδαίων, Lk. xxiii. 51; τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, Mt. x. 23; Σαμαρειτῶν, Mt. x. 5; with the gen. of a region: τῆς Γαλιλαίας, Lk. i. 26; iv. 31; Ἰούδα, of the tribe of Judah, Lk. i. 39; Λυκαονίας, Acts xiv. 6; Κιλικίας, Acts xxi. 39; τῆς Sapapetas, Jn. iv. 5; Acts viii. 5. As in class. Grk. the proper name of the city is added, —either in the nom. case, as πόλις ᾿Ιόππη, Acts xi. 5; or in the gen., as πόλις Σοδόμων, Touoppas, 2 Pet. ii. 6; Θυατείρων, Acts xvi. 14. b. used of the heavenly Jerusalem (see Ἱεροσόλυμα, 2), i. 6. a. the abode of the blessed, in heaven: Heb. xi. 10,16; with θεοῦ ζῶντος added, Heb. xii. 22; ἡ μέλλουσα πόλις, Heb. xiii. 14. B. in the visions of the Apocalypse it is used of the visible capital of the heavenly kingdom, to come down to earth after the renovation of the world: Rey. iii. 12; xxi. 14 sqq.; xxii. 14; 9 πόλις ἡ ἁγία, Rev. xxii. 19; with Ἱερουσαλὴμ noun: καινή added, Rev. xxi. 2. c. πόλις by meton. for the inhabitants: Mt. viii. 34; Acts xiv. 21; πᾶσα ἡ πόλις, Mt. xxi. 10; Acts xiii.44; ἡ πόλις ὅλη, ΜΚ. i. 33; Acta xxi. 30; πόλις μερισθεῖσα καθ᾽ ἑαυτῆς, Mt. xii. 25.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
πόλις polis 162x
a city, an enclosed and walled town, Mt. 10:5, 11; 11:1; meton. the inhabitants of a city, Mt. 8:34; 10:15; with a gen. of person, or a personal pronoun, the city of any one, the city of one’s birth or residence, Mt. 9:1; Lk. 2:4, 11; ἡ πόλις, the city, κατ’ ἐξοχήν, Jerusalem, Mt. 21:18; 28:11; met. a place of permanent residence, abode, home, Heb. 11:10, 16; 13:14. The frequency count does not include its occurrence in the name Νέαν πόλιν in Acts 16:11
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
πόλις, -εως, ἡ,
[in LXX chiefly and very freq. for עִיר;]
a city: Mt 2:23, Mk 1:45, Lk 4:29, Jo 4:8, al. mult.; opp. to κῶμαι (κ. καὶ ἀγροί), Mt 9:35 10:11, Mk 6:56, Lk 8:1 13:22; c. nom. propr. in appos. (cl.), Ac 11:5 16:14; c. id. in gen. appos. (Bl., § 35, 5), Ac 8:5, II Pe 2:6; gen., of the region, Lk 1:26 4:31, Jo 4:5; of the inhabitants, Mt 10:5, 23, Lk 23:51, Ac 19:35, II Co 11:32; c. gen. pers., of one's residence or native place, Mt 22:7, Lk 2:4, 11 4:29 10:11, Jo 1:45, Ac 16:20, Re 16:9; of Jerusalem: ἡ ἁγία π., Mt 4:5 27:53, Re 11:2; ἡ ἠγαπημένη, Re 20:19; π. τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως, Mt 5:35 (cf. Ps 47 (48):2); of the heavenly city in the Apocalyptic visions, Re 3:12 21:2, 10, 14 ff. 22:14, 19. By meton., of the inhabitants of a city: Mt 8:34 12:25 21:10, Mk 1:33, Ac 14:21 21:30.
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
πόλις. In the second Logia fragment, P Oxy IV. 6542, Blass suggested the restoration ὑμεῖς ἐστὲ mrd[Ats (sc. τοῦ θεοῦ), and is followed by White (Sayzzgs, p. 9). It may be worth while to note that this ancient by-form of πόλις occurs in three ostraca of the reign of Caligula as a proper name, Ostr 380! διαγεγρά(φηκεν) Πτόλις Ψενεν(ούφιος), 7. 3811, 3821, and similarly in PSI IV. 317! (a.p. 95) ᾿Ασκληπιάδης Πτόλιδι τῶι φιλτάτωι χαίρειν. This recalls πολιτάρχης 5 the fact that πτόλεμος also survived in the royal name ἹΠτολεμαῖος. The distributive force which πόλις has in several Lucan passages (Ac 154 a/.) and in Tit 1° is to be set against the very different meaning of the phrase in sundry documents of the new collection from Alexandria (reign of Augustus). Schubart, who edits the documents in BGU IV., notes (Archiv v. p. 38) that in a good many papers relating to the hire of a nurse (e.g. 11057) it is stipulated that the child shall be kept ἔξω κατὰ πόλιν, ‘that is, outside the house of the person who gives the child in charge, but ‘in the city’” of Alexandria. The phrase may be added to many others with art. dropped after a preposition, but required by the sense: see Pro/eg. p. 82. For πόλις standing alone with reference to the city of the Gadarenes in Lk 857, cf. the similar usage in connexion with Alexandria in P Magd 224 (B.c. 221) πρὶν τοῦ] καταπλεῦσαί pe eis τὴν πόλιν, and P Tebt I. 594 (8.6. 99) (= Witkowski?, p. 112) καταντήσαντος yap εἰς τὴν πόλιν Σοκονώφεως, much as in MGr πόλι is used specially of Constantinople, or we speak of ‘‘going up to town”’ (London). The word is also frequently used of the chief city cf a district: see Jouguet Vee Municipale, p. 48f. In PSI IV. 341° (B.c. 256-5) certain weavers desire to settle in Philadelphia, ἀκούοντες. . . Td κλέος τῆς πόλεως. The mingled Hebrew and Greek associations, which have gathered round the NT idea of the Heavenly City, are discussed and illustrated by Hicks CR i. p. 5, and reference should also be made to Souter Lex. s.v. For the Stoic conception of man as a member of the great commonwealth of the universe we may recall M. Anton. iii. 11. 2 πολίτην ὄντα πόλεως τῆς ἀνωτάτης, ἧς αἱ λοιπαὶ πόλεις ὥσπερ οἰκίαι εἰσίν.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
πόλις (polis) — city. πόλις, Epic dialect also πτόλις (found sometimes in Trag. etc., see at {πτόλις}), ἡ: Epic dialect forms, accusative singular πόληα [Refs 8th c.BC+]; genitive πόλιος or πτόλιος, [Refs 8th c.BC+] P.(scanned ?~X ?~X ?~X ¯ [Refs 8th c.BC+]: Ionic dialect forms, genitive πόλεως [Refs 6th c.BC+]; dative mostly πόλει, but πόλῑ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; accusative πόλῑς [Refs]: Doric dialect genitive singular πόλιος [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; dative singular πόλι [Refs 4th c.BC+]; dative plural πολίεσι [Refs 5th c.BC+]; πολίεσσι Foed.Lac. cited in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Cretan dialect πόλιθι [Refs]: Aeolic dialect genitive πόλιος [Refs 7th c.BC+] disyllable (as also in Comedy texts, except [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Attic dialect dual πόλη [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—city, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; π. ἄκρη, ἀκροτάτη, ={ἀκρόπολις}, the citadel, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; which at Athens also was in early times called simply π., while the rest of the city was called ἄστυ, καλεῖται.. ἡ ἀκρόπολις μέχρι τοῦδε ἔτι ὑπ᾽ Ἀθηναίων π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐν πόλει in treaties, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so Ἰνάχου π. the citadel of Argos, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of the Cadmea at Thebes, [Refs 1st c.BC+]; of Alexandria, [Refs]; π. ἡ ἁγία, of Jerusalem, [LXX] the city of.., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also in apposition, ἡ Μένδη π. [Refs 5th c.BC+]
2. one's city or country, πόθι τοι π. ἠδὲ τοκῆε; [Refs 8th c.BC+]
3. ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως city governor, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; στρατηγὸς πόλεως [Refs 1st c.BC+]; στρατηγὸς κατὰ πόλιν, = Latin praetor urbanus, [Refs 1st c.BC+]
II. country, as dependent on and called after its city, ἀνθρώπων οἳ τήνδε π. καὶ γαῖαν ἔχουσιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; especially of islands peopled by men, Αῆμνον π. Θόαντος [Refs 8th c.BC+]; π. Αἴαντος, ={Σαλαμίς}, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
III. community or body of citizens (opposed to ἄστυ, their dwellings, [Refs 8th c.BC+] denotes the town), ὧν π. ἀνάριθμος ὄλλυται [Refs 5th c.BC+]
III.2. state or community, ξύμπασα π. κακοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀπηύρα [Refs 8th c.BC+]; especially free state, republic, [Refs 5th c.BC+]state affairs, government, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὴν π. φεύγειν shun one's public duties, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; assembly of citizens, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
III.3. rights of citizenship, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
IV. πόλιν παίζειν, a game resembling backgammon, [Refs 5th c.BC+], perhaps alluded to in [Refs 5th c.BC+]. (Cf. Sanskrit pūr, Lithuanian pilìs 'fortrees'.)