As well as the physical stomach, the term is used in association with God's judgment or in a figurative sense.
Stomach as part of the physical body
1 Corinthians 6:13 See also Job 40:16; Song of Solomon 7:2; Daniel 2:32
“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
Jonah in the stomach of a huge fish
Matthew 12:40 See also Jonah 1:17–2:1
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Ritual laws concerning the stomach
Mark 7:18–19 parallel Matthew 15:17 See also Leviticus 11:41–45
“Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him, because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and then is eliminated.” (Thus all foods are clean.)
Afflictions of the stomach
Luke 15:16 hunger; 1 Timothy 5:23 illness
Fatal wounding in the stomach
Judges 3:21; 2 Samuel 2:23, 2 Samuel 3:27, 2 Samuel 4:6, 2 Samuel 20:10
The stomach and God's judgment
Severe stomach pain
Jeremiah 30:6–7 See also Numbers 5:20–22, Numbers 5:27
Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale? How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.
Crawling on one's stomach as a sign of submission
Genesis 3:14 Part of God's curse upon Satan. See also Psalm 72:9; Isaiah 49:23, Isaiah 65:25; Micah 7:17
So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life.
Hunger as a result of God's judgment
Micah 6:14 See also Job 20:12–15, Job 20:20–23; Proverbs 13:25; Isaiah 9:20; Ezekiel 7:19
You will eat but not be satisfied, and your hunger will remain with you. What you acquire, you will not preserve; and what you save, I will give to the sword.
An empty stomach as a warning
“I afflicted all your cities with cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
The stomach and God's blessing
In the OT a full stomach was one sign of God's blessing: Psalm 34:9–10, Psalm 37:19, Psalm 37:25; Proverbs 10:3
Figurative uses of the stomach
Stomach as a symbol of inner thoughts
Ezekiel 3:3 See also Proverbs 18:8, Proverbs 26:22; Revelation 10:9–10
“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
Stomach as a symbol of worldliness
Philippians 3:19 See also Romans 16:18
Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
Stomach as something to be filled
Proverbs 18:20 See also Job 15:2; Jeremiah 51:34
From the fruit of his mouth a man’s belly is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.