What does μόσχος (móschos) mean in the Bible?
Calf or young bull names an animal, while each Greek witness gives it a different role. Luke's returning-son parable places the fattened calf in a celebration of the son's return.
Greek · G3448
μόσχος
Calf or young bull names an animal, while each Greek witness gives it a different role. Luke's returning-son parable places the fattened calf in a celebration of the son's return.
Reading a lexicon entry
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μόσχοςG3448
Pronunciationmóschos
What does μόσχος (móschos) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for μόσχος (G3448) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3448?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include calf (3), a calf (1), calves (1), of calves (1).
Where does μόσχος (móschos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 15:23. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (3), Hebrews (2), Revelation (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Calf or young bull names an animal, while each Greek witness gives it a different role. Luke's returning-son parable places the fattened calf in a celebration of the son's return. The older brother later describes that feast through his own resentful accusation, which must remain attributed speech rather than a narrator's confirmation of every charge. Hebrews contrasts the blood of goats and calves with Christ's own blood and his once-for-all entry, preserving the difference the argument states.
Revelation describes a living creature as like a calf within its throne vision. These uses cannot be reduced to one hidden identity for the animal. Keep celebration, covenant blood and visionary resemblance in their distinct accounts, without treating the word as a command to reproduce a ritual or a code assigning Christ or a modern institution to a particular creature.
How the Bible Uses It
Three returning-son references, two covenant-blood references and one throne-vision resemblance account for the six Greek witnesses. Each animal's role comes from the parable, argument or vision.
- Luke.15.23
Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate.
The father orders the fattened calf for celebration because his returning son was lost and is found, within the explicitly narrated parable.
- Heb.9.12
He did not enter by the blood of goats and calves, but He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, thus securing eternal redemption.
Christ's entry is distinguished from goats' and calves' blood through his own blood and once-for-all redemption, retaining the contrast rather than transferring the animal's role to him.
- Rev.4.7
The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.
The second living creature is described as like a calf among four visionary creatures, supplying resemblance without an explicit identification with a named later person or institution.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itcalf3×Luke 15:23, Luke 15:27, Luke 15:30
a calf1×Revelation 4:7
calves1×Hebrews 9:12
of calves1×Hebrews 9:19
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 15:23μόσχονtocalfNoun - Accusative Masculine SingularLuke 15:27μόσχονtocalfNoun - Accusative Masculine SingularLuke 15:30μόσχονtocalfNoun - Accusative Masculine SingularHebrews 9:12μόσχωνtocalvesNoun - Genitive Masculine PluralHebrews 9:19μόσχωνtoof calvesNoun - Genitive Masculine PluralRevelation 4:7μόσχῳtoa calfNoun - Dative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowLuke 15:23
Aligned rows6
Books represented3
Luke3Hebrews2Revelation1
Source forms
μόσχον3xmoschonLuke 15:23, Luke 15:27, Luke 15:30
μόσχων2xmoschōnHebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:19
μόσχῳ1xmoschōRevelation 4:7
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular3xLuke 15:23, Luke 15:27, Luke 15:30
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural2xHebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:19
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular1xRevelation 4:7
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Teach welcome without demanding unsafe family contact or recreating the feast's every action.
- Do not issue a ritual mandate or complete symbolic identity scheme from the animal name.
Avoid claiming...
- The calf always signifies Christ or a particular modern church institution.
- Every allegation spoken by a parable character is endorsed by the narrator.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. a young bullock
Strong'sG3448
Lexical occurrences6 versesGreek text appearances6 timesWord forms3 forms6 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
a young bullock
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 15:23Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
μόσχονmoscon
a calf
Read verseLuke 15:27Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
μόσχονmoscon
a calf
Read verseLuke 15:30Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
μόσχονmoscon
a calf
Read verseHebrews 9:12Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
μόσχων,moscwn
a calf
Read verseHebrews 9:19Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
μόσχωνmoscwn
a calf
Read verseRevelation 4:7Noun Dative Singular Masculine
μόσχῳ,moscw
a calf
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.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns3Aligned forms6Case patternAccusative (3)Number patternSingular (4)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Genitive · Plural · MasculineHeb 9:12 · Heb 9:192×
Dative · Singular · MasculineRev 4:71×
Accusative · Singular · MasculineLuke 15:23 · Luke 15:27 · Luke 15:303×
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
A repeated animal name does not carry one interpretation across every account. In Luke, the father celebrates a son who has returned, while the older brother reacts angrily and voices a charge about prostitutes that the narrator does not separately establish. The father's reply keeps the relationship and reason for celebration before the hearer. Hebrews uses calves' blood within an argument that expressly distinguishes Christ's own once-for-all entry; keeping the contrast visible serves the passage better than making the animal a complete doctrinal system.
Revelation's creature is like a calf in a worshiping vision, not explicitly labeled as Christ or a later church group. Teach welcome, covenant comparison and visionary resemblance where each is stated. Do not transform a parable's figurative dead-and-alive language into a narrated bodily resurrection or turn the source range into unsupported symbolic assignments.
Anchor passage
Luke.15.23
Doctrinal connections
- Luke 15:22-24 joins the father's commanded feast with the returned son's lost-and-found status, keeping celebration within the parable's stated reason.
- Luke 15:27 reports the servant's explanation that the brother has returned safe, distinguishing the reported reason from the older brother's subsequent reaction.
- Luke 15:30-32 attributes the accusation to the older brother and retains the father's relationship-focused reply and insistence that celebration is fitting.
- Hebrews 9:11-14 distinguishes Christ's own blood and once-for-all entry from goats and calves, preserving the argument's agent and contrast.
- Hebrews 9:19-22 recalls Moses and covenant blood within its explanation, without directing present readers to recreate the narrated sprinkling.
- Revelation 4:7-9 describes four living creatures and their unceasing praise, bounding the calf resemblance within the throne's worship scene.
The licensed Greek source includes a wider historical range, but all six selected New Testament witnesses concern an animal or animal resemblance. Luke's fattened calf, Hebrews' blood references and Revelation's likeness should remain distinct uses; unused source possibilities do not add a hidden meaning to these sentences.
From Old to New Testament
Ezekiel 1:10 describes human, lion, ox and eagle faces in its vision, whereas Revelation 4 describes four living creatures with differing likenesses. The separate visions can be read together while preserving their actual arrangements. Shared animal imagery does not authorize silently harmonizing the details or assigning the calf a named identity that neither sentence gives; Hebrews' own recalled covenant setting likewise remains an argument rather than a new ritual instruction.