What does ὄνος (ónos) mean in the Bible?
Onos names a donkey. Matthew describes Jesus directing disciples to bring a tied donkey with her colt, then quotes the coming king as gentle and riding on a donkey.
Greek · G3688
ὄνος
Onos names a donkey. Matthew describes Jesus directing disciples to bring a tied donkey with her colt, then quotes the coming king as gentle and riding on a donkey.
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ὄνοςG3688
Pronunciationónos
What does ὄνος (ónos) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for ὄνος (G3688) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G3688?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include a donkey (2), donkey (2), of a donkey (1).
Where does ὄνος (ónos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 21:2. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (3), John (1), Luke (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Onos names a donkey. Matthew describes Jesus directing disciples to bring a tied donkey with her colt, then quotes the coming king as gentle and riding on a donkey. John also interprets His entry through the king seated on a donkey's colt, noting that the disciples understood the connection afterward. Luke supplies another setting: people untie an ox or donkey and lead it to water on the Sabbath.
Jesus uses that recognized care to challenge resistance to releasing a disabled daughter of Abraham from her bondage. Royal arrival and ordinary animal care retain different actions, yet both help direct attention toward Jesus' identity and compassionate authority. The noun does not make a particular animal spiritually powerful or authorize a person to take someone else's property.
Nor can Luke's comparison become a diagnosis of modern disability. Readers can receive the narrated king and recognize the inconsistency of allowing animal care while resisting compassionate help for a suffering person.
How the Bible Uses It
Five direct BSB donkey witnesses appear in Matthew's entry preparation and royal quotation, John's royal quotation and Luke's Sabbath comparison about leading an animal to water.
- Matt.21.2
Saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to Me.
Jesus names the tied donkey and her colt and directs the disciples to bring them, within the specific narrated preparation.
- Matt.21.5
“Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The donkey appears in the quoted announcement of the gentle king coming to Zion, giving the entry its stated royal meaning.
- Matt.21.7
They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.
The disciples bring donkey and colt and place cloaks on them; the preparation remains this event rather than a modern property entitlement.
- John.12.15
“Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion. See, your King is coming, seated on the colt of a donkey.”
The quoted king-on-a-donkey's-colt statement interprets Jesus' arrival, and the next verse notes the disciples' later understanding.
- Luke.13.15
“You hypocrites!” the Lord replied. “Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it to water?
Recognized Sabbath watering of an ox or donkey supports Jesus' challenge after healing the woman and naming her as a daughter of Abraham.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Ita donkey2×Matthew 21:2, Matthew 21:5
donkey2×Matthew 21:7, Luke 13:15
of a donkey1×John 12:15
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 21:2
Aligned rows5
Books represented3
Matthew3Luke1John1
Source forms
ὄνον4xononMatthew 21:2, Matthew 21:5, Matthew 21:7, Luke 13:15
ὄνου1xonouJohn 12:15
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular3xMatthew 21:2, Matthew 21:5, Matthew 21:7
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular1xLuke 13:15
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular1xJohn 12:15
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Respect consent and accountability when inviting the use of someone's resources.
- Attend to suffering people's dignity and practical needs without diagnostic speculation.
Avoid claiming...
- A donkey does not carry automatic sacred power or a universal spiritual identity.
- This animal word cannot justify property entitlement or diagnosis of illness.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Beast of burden representing humility; Jesus's triumphal entry on a donkey symbolizes humble, peaceful kingship
Strong'sG3688
Lexical occurrences5 versesGreek text appearances6 timesWord forms3 forms5 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkMatthew 21:2Source Gloss
a donkey
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.
Matthew 21:2Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ὄνονonon
a donkey, an ass
Read verseMatthew 21:5Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ὄνονonon
a donkey, an ass
Read verseMatthew 21:7Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
ὄνονonon
a donkey, an ass
Read verseLuke 13:15Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
ὄνονonon
a donkey, an ass
Read verseLuke 14:5Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
ὄνοςonov
a donkey, an ass
Read verseJohn 12:15Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
ὄνου.onou
a donkey, an ass
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 forms5Case patternAccusative (4)Number patternSingular (5)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Genitive · Singular · FeminineJohn 12:151×
Accusative · Singular · FeminineMatt 21:2 · Matt 21:5 · Matt 21:73×
Accusative · Singular · MasculineLuke 13:151×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Animal Jesus instructs disciples to bring for his triumphal entry
Fulfillment of OT prophecy regarding messianic king riding humble beast
OT scriptural reference to humble animal used in messianic context
Common domestic animal used in Jesus's moral teaching about mercy
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ὄνος is a primary word - no further derivation.
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
Matthew does not leave the animal detail without interpretation: the account quotes the gentle king coming to Zion and then reports the disciples' preparation and the crowd's acclamation. John also quotes the king on a donkey's colt and records that the disciples understood these events afterward. Zechariah's surrounding announcement links the king to peace and the ending of war equipment, so humility should remain tied to the promised rule rather than reduced to an attractive entrance.
Luke uses donkey language in a practical dispute. People already care for animals' thirst on the Sabbath, yet the leader resists the woman's healing. Jesus calls her a daughter of Abraham and argues for her release, keeping her personal dignity and long suffering visible. These uses invite reception of Jesus and compassionate consistency. They do not give modern leaders His narrated authority over another person's resources or permit them to diagnose disability as demonic from the animal noun.
Anchor passage
Matt.21.5
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew explicitly interprets Jesus' entry through the announcement of Zion's gentle king.
- John records that the disciples understood the entry connection after Jesus' glorification.
- Zechariah joins the coming king to peace and the ending of war equipment.
- Luke names the healed woman a daughter of Abraham with personal dignity.
- Jesus' Sabbath reasoning exposes inconsistency between animal care and resistance to healing.
- The crowd in Luke rejoices at the glorious things Jesus is doing.
The noun appears with feminine forms in Matthew and John and a masculine accusative form in Luke. Its animal referent and clause role govern interpretation; grammatical gender does not establish different spiritual meanings.
From Old to New Testament
Zechariah 9:9-17 announces Zion's humble king riding a donkey and continues with peace for nations and the removal of chariots, horses and the bow of war. The Gospel quotation makes this connection explicit while leaving the rest of the prophecy in its own stated context.