What does ζῶον (zōon) mean in the Bible?
ζῶον (zōon): Emphasizes the vital living principle common to all animate creation, contrasting with θηρίον's brutish emphasis.
Greek · G2226
ζῶον
Living thing
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ζῶον G2226
Pronunciation zōon
What does ζῶον (zōon) mean in the Bible?
ζῶον (zōon): Emphasizes the vital living principle common to all animate creation, contrasting with θηρίον's brutish emphasis.
Full entry for ζῶον (G2226) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2226?
The BSB source-word alignment has 23 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include living creatures (13), living creature (4), - (3), animals (2), of animals (1).
Where does ζῶον (zōon) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Hebrews 13:11. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (20), 2 Peter (1), Hebrews (1), Jude (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It living creatures 13× Revelation 4:6, Revelation 4:8, Revelation 4:9, Revelation 5:6
living creature 4× Revelation 4:7, Revelation 6:3, Revelation 6:5, Revelation 6:7
- 3× Revelation 4:7
animals 2× 2 Peter 2:12, Jude 1:10
of animals 1× Hebrews 13:11
Show sample aligned rows
Hebrews 13:11 ζῴων to of animals Noun - Genitive Neuter Plural 2 Peter 2:12 ζῷα to animals Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural Jude 1:10 ζῷα to animals Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural Revelation 4:6 ζῷα to living creatures Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural Revelation 4:7 ζῷον to living creature Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular Revelation 4:7 ζῷον to - Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular Revelation 4:7 ζῷον to - Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular Revelation 4:7 ζῷον to - Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular Revelation 4:8 ζῷα to living creatures Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural Revelation 4:9 ζῷα to living creatures Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Hebrews 13:11
Aligned rows 23
Books represented 4
Hebrews 1 2 Peter 1 Jude 1 Revelation 20
Source forms
ζῷα 8x zōa 2 Peter 2:12, Jude 1:10, Revelation 4:6, Revelation 4:8
ζῴων 8x zōōn Hebrews 13:11, Revelation 5:6, Revelation 5:11, Revelation 6:1
ζῷον 4x zōon Revelation 4:7
ζῴου 3x zōou Revelation 6:3, Revelation 6:5, Revelation 6:7
Parsing patterns
Noun - Genitive Neuter Plural 8x Hebrews 13:11, Revelation 5:6, Revelation 5:11, Revelation 6:1
Noun - Nominative Neuter Plural 8x 2 Peter 2:12, Jude 1:10, Revelation 4:6, Revelation 4:8
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular 4x Revelation 4:7
Noun - Genitive Neuter Singular 3x Revelation 6:3, Revelation 6:5, Revelation 6:7
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Emphasizes the vital living principle common to all animate creation, contrasting with θηρίον's brutish emphasis.
Strong's G2226
Lexical occurrences 0 verses Greek text appearances 23 times 16 shown below Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
living thing
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Emphasizes the vital living principle common to all animate creation, contrasting with θηρίον's brutish emphasis.
(ζωός, alive), [in LXX for חַי (chiefly) and cognate forms; frequently in Wis ;] a living creature, an animal: Rev.4:6-9 5:6 ff. Rev.6:1 ff. Rev.7:11 14:3 15:7 19:4; ζῴων τ. αἷμα, Heb.13:11; ἄλογα ζ., 2Pe.2:12, Ju 10.
Synonymsθηρίον, in which the brutal, bestial element is emphasized, and which is never used of sacrificial animals. On the other hand, ζ. is the more comprehensive, as expressing the vital element common to the whole anima] creation (see Tr., Syn., LXXxi; Cremer, 274).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 23 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Hebrews 13:11 Noun Genitive Plural Neuter
ζώων zwwn
an animal
Read verse 2 Peter 2:12 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
ζῶα zwa
an animal
Read verse Jude 1:10 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
ζῶα, zwa
an animal
Read verse Revelation 4:6 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
ζῶα zwa
an animal
Read verse Revelation 4:7 Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
ζῶον zwon
an animal
Read verse Revelation 4:7 Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
ζῶον zwon
an animal
Read verse Revelation 4:7 Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
ζῶον zwon
an animal
Read verse Revelation 4:7 Noun Nominative Singular Neuter
ζῶον zwon
an animal
Read verse Revelation 4:8 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
ζῶα, zwa
an animal
Read verse Revelation 4:9 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
ζῶα zwa
an animal
Read verse Revelation 5:6 Noun Genitive Plural Neuter
ζώων, zwwn
an animal
Read verse Revelation 5:8 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
ζῶα zwa
an animal
Read verse Revelation 5:11 Noun Genitive Plural Neuter
ζώων zwwn
an animal
Read verse Revelation 5:14 Noun Nominative Plural Neuter
ζῶα zwa
an animal
Read verse Revelation 6:1 Noun Genitive Plural Neuter
ζώων zwwn
an animal
Read verse Revelation 6:3 Noun Genitive Singular Neuter
ζώου zwou
an animal
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Word Origins
ζῶον is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain