heaven
ouranos denotes the heavenly sphere, especially as a place or source above the earth, and also the cosmic heavens.
The dominant usage identifies the heavenly sphere as a place above or beyond earth and as the source from which persons, voices, light, and gifts come. Other clauses portray the heavens within the created order—home to birds, giving rain, and subject to renewal or passing away—while two passages use the plural in the phrase rendered “kingdom of the heavens.”
Senses in use
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Heavenly sphere as place or point of origin · dominant
Genitive, dative, and accusative singular and plural forms occur with movement, location, and origin: in Acts 1:11 the APB renders Jesus as taken “into heaven” and later coming as he was seen going; in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 it renders the Lord descending “from heaven.” The same sphere is the setting of a kept inheritance in 1 Peter 1:4 and of joy in Luke 15:7.
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The heavens in the created world · common
The term occurs in clauses that set the heavens alongside earth and other created realities. In Acts 14:15 the APB renders God as maker of “the heaven and the earth and the sea,” while Acts 10:12 describes “the birds of the heaven”; James 5:18 says that “the heaven gave rain.” Plural forms also name heavens that will pass away or be made new in 2 Peter 3:10 and 2 Peter 3:13.
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Plural phrase in “kingdom of the heavens” · rare
In Matthew 10:7 and Matthew 11:11, the genitive plural form stands in the clause the APB renders “the kingdom of the heavens.” The first announces that this kingdom “has come near,” and the second compares John the Baptist with the least person in it.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term as “heaven” or “heavens,” including clauses of descent “from heaven,” ascent “into heaven,” and the created heavens alongside earth. Because the APB is a whole-verse translation, its English phrasing does not isolate every contribution of the Greek form.