Belly

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Κοιλία (Strong'S #2836 — Noun Feminine — koilia — koy-lee'-ah )

from koilos, "hollow" (Lat., coelum, "heaven," is connected), denotes the entire physical cavity, but most frequently was used to denote "the womb." In  John 7:38 it stands metaphorically for the innermost part of man, the soul, the heart. See Womb.

2: Γαστήρ (Strong'S #1064 — Noun Feminine — gaster — gas-tare' )

(cp. Eng., "gastritis"), is used much as No. 1, but in  Titus 1:12 , by synecdoche (a figure of speech in which the part is put for the whole, or vice versa), it is used to denote "gluttons," RV, for AV, "bellies." See Glutton , Womb.

King James Dictionary

BEL'LY, n.

1. That part of the human body which extends from the breast to the thighs, containing the bowels. It is called also the abdomen or lower belly, to distinguish it from the head and breast, which are sometimes called bellies, from their cavity. 2. The part of a beast, corresponding to the human belly. 3. The womb.  Jeremiah 1.5 . 4. The receptacle of food that which requires food, in opposition to the back.

Whose god is their belly.  Philippians 3

5. The part of any thing which resembles the human belly in protuberance or cavity, as of a harp or a bottle. 6. Any hollow inclosed place as the belly of hell, in Jonah. 7. In scripture, belly is used for the heart.  Proverbs 18:8 . 20.30 .  John 20.30.7.38 . Carnal lusts, sensual pleasure.  Romans 16:18 .  Philippians 3:19 . The whole man.  Titus 1:12 .

BEL'LY, To fill to swell out.

BEL'LY, To swell and become protuberant, like the belly as bellying goblets bellying canvas.

1. To strut.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Job 15:2 (b) This figure represents those who live on gossip, tale-bearing and falsehood.

 Psalm 17:14 (b) The word is used to describe the innermost part of the soul which actually does feel a deep satisfaction and gratification for the blessings of life even though one does not acknowledge GOD, nor His claims.

 Daniel 2:32 (a) The word is used here to represent the third great world kingdom mentioned in Daniel's image, Alexander the Great and his Grecian empire.

 John 7:38 (b) The belly is that part of the bowels where the food, having been thoroughly mixed, saturated and changed by the juices of the digestive tract, passes through the bowel walls by the process of osmosis to be taken up by the lacteals to become blood. The Lord is telling us that what we take into our own souls, digest it, mingle and mix it with faith and trust, is ready to go forth to others and to bring the life-giving blessing to them. The ministry that we give out must first have become a very part of our own selves or else it will sound like tinkling cymbals.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (n.) The part of anything which resembles the human belly in protuberance or in cavity; the innermost part; as, the belly of a flask, muscle, sail, ship.

(2): (n.) The hollow part of a curved or bent timber, the convex part of which is the back.

(3): (n.) The womb.

(4): (v. i.) To swell and become protuberant, like the belly; to bulge.

(5): (v. t.) To cause to swell out; to fill.

(6): (n.) That part of the human body which extends downward from the breast to the thighs, and contains the bowels, or intestines; the abdomen.

(7): (n.) The under part of the body of animals, corresponding to the human belly.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

is used in Scripture for gluttony,  Titus 1:12; Php_3:16;  Romans 16:18 . For the heart, or the secrets of the mind,  Proverbs 20:27;  Proverbs 20:30;  Proverbs 22:18 . The "belly of hell" signifies the grave, or some imminent danger, or deep distress,  Jonah 2:2; Sir_2:5 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Titus 1:12 Philippians 3:19 Romans 16:18 Proverbs 18:8 20:27 22:18 Jonah 2:2

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bel´i  : גּחון , gāḥōn = "the external abdomen" ( Genesis 3:14;  Leviticus 11:42 ). קבה , ḳōbhāh = "the abdominal cavity" ( Numbers 25:8 the American Standard Revised Version "body"). בּטן , beṭen = "the internal abdomen," "the womb" ( 1 Kings 7:20;  Job 15:2 ,  Job 15:35 the King James Version;   Job 20:15 ,  Job 20:23;  Job 40:16;  Psalm 17:1-15 ,  Psalm 14:1-7;  Proverbs 13:25;  Proverbs 18:20;  Jeremiah 1:5;  Ezekiel 3:3 ); also figuratively "the internal regions," "the body of anything" ( Jonah 2:2 ). מעה , mē‛eh = "intestines," "abdomen" ( Daniel 2:32;  Jonah 1:17;  Jonah 2:1 ,  Jonah 2:2 ). In the New Testament κοιλία , koilı́a = "a cavity," espec ially the abdominal ( Matthew 12:40;  Matthew 15:17;  Mark 7:19 ); the seat of appetite and of the carnal affections ( Romans 16:18;  1 Corinthians 6:13;  Philippians 3:19;  Revelation 10:9 ,  Revelation 10:10 ); the innermost of the soul (the American Revised Version, margin  John 7:38 ).

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(usually בֶּטֶן , Be ' Ten, Κοιλία , especially the Womb; also מֵעַים , Meim ' , Γαστήρ , especially the Bowels ) . Among the Hebrews and most ancient nations, the belly was regarded as the seat of the carnal affections, as being, according to their notions, that which first partakes of sensual pleasures ( Titus 1:2;  Philippians 3:9;  Romans 16:18). It is used likewise symbolically for the heart, the innermost recesses of the soul ( Proverbs 18:8;  Proverbs 20:27;  Proverbs 22:18). The expression embittering of the belly signifies all the train of evils which may come upon a man ( Jeremiah 4:19;  Jeremiah 9:15; comp.  Numbers 18:27). The "belly of hell" signifies the grave, or the under world. It is a strong phrase to express Jonah's dreadful condition in the deep ( Jonah 2:2).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Among the Hebrews, and with most ancient nations, the belly was regarded as the seat of the carnal affections, as being, according to the notions of antiquity, that which first partakes of sensual pleasures ( Titus 1:12;  Philippians 3:19;  Romans 16:18). It is used likewise symbolically for the heart, the innermost recesses of the soul ( Proverbs 18:8;  Proverbs 20:27;  Proverbs 22:18). The embittering of the belly signifies all the train of evils which may come upon a man ( Jeremiah 4:19;  Jeremiah 9:15; comp.  Numbers 5:27).