1. the whole belly, the entire cavity; hence ἡ ἄνω and ἡ κάτω κοιλία, the upper (i. e. the stomach) and the lower belly are distinguished; very often so in Greek writings from Herodotus down.

2. the lower belly, the alvine region, the receptacle of the excrement (Plutarch, symp. 7, 1, 3 under the end εἴπερ εἰς κοιλίαν ἐχώρει διά στομαχου πᾶν τό πινόμενον): Matthew 15:17; Mark 7:19.

3. the gullet (Latinstomachus): Matthew 12:40; Luke 15:16 (WH Tr marginal reading χορτασθῆναι ἐκ etc.); 1 Corinthians 6:13; Revelation 10:9f; δουλεύειν τῇ κοιλία, to be given up to the pleasures of the palate, to gluttony (see δουλεύω, 2 b.), Romans 16:18; also for ὧν ὁ Θεός ἡ κοιλία, Philippians 3:19; κοιλίας ὄρεξις, Sir. 23:6.

4. the womb, the place where the foetus is conceived and nourished till birth: Luke 1:41f, 44; Luke 2:21; Luke 11:27; Luke 23:29; John 3:4 (very often so in the Sept.; very rarely in secular authors; Epictetus diss. 3, 22, 74; of the uterus of animals, ibid. 2, 16, 43); ἐκ (beginning from (see ἐκ, IV. 1)) κοιλίας μητρός, Matthew 19:12; Luke 1:15; Acts 3:2; Acts 14:8; Galatians 1:15, (for אֵם מִבֶּטֶן, Psalm 21:11 (); (); Job 1:21; Isaiah 49:1; Judges 16:17 (the Vaticanus manuscript, ἀπό κοιλίας μητρός; cf. Winer's Grammar, 33 (32))).

5. in imitation of the Hebrew בֶּטֶן, tropically, the innermost part of a man, the soul, heart, as the seat of thought, feeling, choice (Job 15:35; Job 32:18 (the Sept. γαστήρ); Proverbs 18:8 (the Sept. ψυχή); (the Sept. σπλάγχνα); Habakkuk 3:16; Sir. 19:12 Sir. 51:21): John 7:38.