What does χοῖρος (choîros) mean in the Bible?
G5519 names a pig or swine. New Testament uses occur in Jesus' warning about holy things, the deliverance of a demon-oppressed man, and the lost son's humiliation.
Greek · G5519
χοῖρος
A hog
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χοῖροςG5519
Pronunciationchoîros
What does χοῖρος (choîros) mean in the Bible?
G5519 names a pig or swine. New Testament uses occur in Jesus' warning about holy things, the deliverance of a demon-oppressed man, and the lost son's humiliation.
Reader summary
Full entry for χοῖρος (G5519) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5519?
The BSB source-word alignment has 12 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include pigs (6), of pigs (4), [the] pigs (1), swine (1).
Where does χοῖρος (choîros) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 7:6. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (4), Mark (4), Matthew (4).
What This Word Actually Means
G5519 names a pig or swine. New Testament uses occur in Jesus' warning about holy things, the deliverance of a demon-oppressed man, and the lost son's humiliation. In Matt. 7. 6, pigs form part of a compact wisdom image about not placing holy and precious things before those who will trample and attack; the saying requires discernment and is not a license to label disliked people subhuman.
In Mark. 5. 11, a large herd becomes part of the dramatic departure of unclean spirits from a man long subjected to isolation and self-harm. In Luke. 15. 15, the lost son feeds pigs and remains hungry, marking his degradation in a distant land before he returns. G5519 opens teaching on discernment, deliverance, ruin, and welcome. It does not justify ethnic slurs, settle every question about the herd's owners, or make pigs spiritually demonic.
How the Bible Uses It
G5519 appears in a wisdom metaphor, the Synoptic account of demons entering a pig herd, and the lost-son parable. Jewish food-law background gives pigs social force, while each passage assigns a distinct narrative role.
- Matt.7.6
Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
Jesus warns against giving what is holy to dogs or throwing pearls before pigs that may trample them and attack the giver.
- Mark.5.11
There on the nearby hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding.
A large herd feeds nearby as Jesus confronts unclean spirits and restores a man previously isolated among the tombs.
- Luke.15.15
So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs.
The lost son feeds pigs for a foreign citizen and remains so hungry that he desires their food before coming to his senses.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itpigs6×Matthew 8:32, Mark 5:12, Mark 5:13, Mark 5:16
of pigs4×Matthew 8:30, Matthew 8:31, Mark 5:11, Luke 8:32
[the] pigs1×Luke 15:15
swine1×Matthew 7:6
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 7:6χοίρωνtoswineNoun - Genitive Masculine PluralMatthew 8:30χοίρωνtoof pigsNoun - Genitive Masculine PluralMatthew 8:31χοίρωνtoof pigsNoun - Genitive Masculine PluralMatthew 8:32χοίρουςtopigsNoun - Accusative Masculine PluralMark 5:11χοίρωνtoof pigsNoun - Genitive Masculine PluralMark 5:12χοίρουςtopigsNoun - Accusative Masculine PluralMark 5:13χοίρουςtopigsNoun - Accusative Masculine PluralMark 5:16χοίρωνtopigsNoun - Genitive Masculine PluralLuke 8:32χοίρωνtoof pigsNoun - Genitive Masculine PluralLuke 8:33χοίρουςtopigsNoun - Accusative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 7:6
Aligned rows12
Books represented3
Matthew4Mark4Luke4
Source forms
χοίρων6xchoirōnMatthew 7:6, Matthew 8:30, Matthew 8:31, Mark 5:11
χοίρους5xchoirousMatthew 8:32, Mark 5:12, Mark 5:13, Luke 8:33
χοῖροι1xchoiroiLuke 15:16
Parsing patterns
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural6xMatthew 7:6, Matthew 8:30, Matthew 8:31, Mark 5:11
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural5xMatthew 8:32, Mark 5:12, Mark 5:13, Luke 8:33
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural1xLuke 15:16
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not call another person, religion, ethnicity, political group, or church member a pig in order to deny dignity or avoid patient truthfulness.
- Do not use the drowned herd to dismiss farmers' livelihoods, animal suffering, mental-health care, or questions the narrative does not answer.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that G5519 inherently symbolizes unbelievers, demons, impurity, greed, or apostasy.
- Do not claim that Jesus' command permits Christians to decide whole classes of people are unworthy of the gospel.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Unclean animal in Jewish law, symbolizing spiritual worthlessness or moral degradation in NT teaching.
Strong'sG5519
Lexical occurrences12 versesGreek text appearances14 timesWord forms3 forms12 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkLuke 15:11-32Source Gloss
a hog
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Unclean animal in Jewish law, symbolizing spiritual worthlessness or moral degradation in NT teaching.
[in Sm.: Isa.65:4 66:3 ;] a swine: pl., Mat.7:6 8:30-32, Mrk.5:11-13, 16, Luk.8:32-33 15:15-16
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
14 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 7:6Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
χοίρων,coirwn
swine
Read verseMatthew 8:30Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
χοίρωνcoirwn
swine
Read verseMatthew 8:31Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
χοίρων.coirwn
swine
Read verseMatthew 8:32Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
χοίρων·coirwn
swine
Read verseMatthew 8:32Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
χοίρωνcoirwn
swine
Read verseMark 5:11Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
χοίρωνcoirwn
swine
Read verseMark 5:12Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
χοίρους,coirouv
swine
Read verseMark 5:13Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
χοίρους·coirouv
swine
Read verseMark 5:14Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
χοίρουςcoirouv
swine
Read verseMark 5:16Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
χοίρων.coirwn
swine
Read verseLuke 8:32Noun Genitive Plural Masculine
χοίρωνcoirwn
swine
Read verseLuke 8:33Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
χοίρους·coirouv
swine
Read verseLuke 15:15Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
χοίρους.coirouv
swine
Read verseLuke 15:16Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
χοῖροι·coiroi
swine
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 forms12Case patternGenitive (6)Number patternPlural (12)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · MasculineLuke 15:161×
Genitive · Plural · MasculineMatt 7:6 · Matt 8:30 · Matt 8:31 · Mark 5:11 · Mark 5:16 · Luke 8:326×
Accusative · Plural · MasculineMatt 8:32 · Mark 5:12 · Mark 5:13 · Luke 8:33 · Luke 15:155×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Swine as symbol of degradation and uncleanness in parable of prodigal son
Herd of swine used as vessel for demons cast out by Jesus
Swine as metaphor for lack of discretion, comparing to jewel in pig's snout
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 12 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
χοῖρος is of uncertain origin - 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
G5519 carries different force in three memorable settings. Jesus' pearl saying recognizes that faithful communication needs discernment; some responses are contemptuous or dangerous, but the image does not authorize permanent labels on people. In the Gerasene region, pigs are part of a scene centered on a man restored from violent spiritual oppression. The herd's destruction displays the seriousness of the evil that had occupied him, yet the narrative does not teach that pigs naturally house demons or that economic loss is irrelevant.
In the lost-son parable, feeding pigs intensifies the Jewish hearer's sense of distance, hunger, and degradation. The father's welcome, not the animal, is the theological center. Faithful teaching guards holy trust without contempt, prioritizes the restoration of oppressed people, acknowledges material consequences, and celebrates repentance. It never turns swine language into permission to degrade human beings made in God's image.
Anchor passage
Luke.15.15
Doctrinal connections
- G5519: wisdom protects holy and precious trust when a setting has become contemptuous, violent, or unreceptive.
- G5519: Christ's authority liberates a person whom community restraints and isolation could not restore.
- G5519: destructive spirits seek harm, and their effect must not be romanticized as merely unusual behavior.
- G5519: the lost son's pig-feeding work marks alienation, hunger, and social descent within the parable's Jewish world.
- G5519: the father's compassion and restored sonship exceed the son's plan to survive as a hired worker.
- G5519: animals in narrative and metaphor never cancel the image-bearing dignity of people.
G5519 is a masculine Greek noun for pig or swine. Plural forms commonly refer to a herd. The noun itself is zoological; purity associations, metaphorical force, and narrative meaning come from Jewish background and context.
From Old to New Testament
Torah classifies pigs as unclean food for Israel, and prophets can invoke swine in contexts of defilement. The Gospels use that background in Jewish hearing while directing attention to discernment, Jesus' liberating authority, and the Father's welcome.