Definition | MW Collegiate Dict. (11th Ed.)
paradise \ˈper-ə-ˌdīs, -ˌdīz, ˈpa-rə-\ n
1 a : eden 2
b : an intermediate place or state where the souls of the righteous await resurrection and the final judgment
c : heaven
2 : a place or state of bliss, felicity, or delight paradisial \ˌper-ə-ˈdi-sē-əl, -zē-, ˌpa-rə-\ also paradisical \-si-kəl, -zi-\ adj
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1.14 παράδεισος, ου m: a dwelling place of the righteous dead in a state of blessedness (generally equated with οὐρανόςb heaven, 1.11)paradise. σήμερον μετ̓ ἐμοῦ ἔσῃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ today you will be with me in paradise/heaven Lk 23.43. In some languages paradise has been translated by a borrowed term, but more often than not it is rendered by an expression which is roughly equivalent to that wonderful place or even that wonderful place in heaven.
In Re 2.7 ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ τοῦ θεοῦ in the paradise of God, the reference may reflect somewhat more closely the historical background of this term
Louw, Johannes P. ; Nida, Eugene Albert: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based on Semantic Domains. electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New York : United Bible societies, 1996, c1989, S. 1:4
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In its present concealment Paradise is according to Lk. 23:43 the abode of the souls of the redeemed in the intermediate state between death and resurrection. Elsewhere, however, the word παράδεισος is used for the hidden Paradise only in 2 C. 12:4. As later Judaism had no consistent view of the intermediate state of the righteous, but used many other figures of speech as well as גַּן עֵדֶן,36 so the NT has other expressions as well as παράδεισος for the state of the redeemed after death: table fellowship with Abraham (ἐν τοῖς κόλποις Ἀβραάμ, Lk. 16:23),37 being with the Lord (2 C. 5:8), σὺν Χριστῷ εἶναι (Phil. 1:23 cf. Ac. 7:59; Jn. 12:26), the heavenly kingdom (2 Tm. 4:18), the heavenly Jerusalem (Hb. 12:22), abiding-places in the Fathers house (Jn. 14:2).38 As concerns the location of the hidden Paradise, it appears from Mk. 13:27 that Jesus sought it in the heavenly world, for the assembling of the elect from the four winds from the point of earth to the point of heaven is the assembling of the living and the dead (who dwell in Paradise), → 516, 18 ff.39
Kittel, Gerhard (Hrsg.) ; Bromiley, Geoffrey William (Hrsg.) ; Friedrich, Gerhard (Hrsg.): Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. electronic ed. Grand Rapids, MI : Eerdmans, 1964-c1976, S. 5:769
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