noun · neuter
zōem
Strong’sG2226
an animal
stem zō-23 times in the New Testamentin 4 of 27 books4 of 6 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
ζῷον refers to a living creature or animal 1234. In the New Testament it is used of the animals pictured in visionary scenes of worship, of animals offered in sacrifice, and of brute or irrational creatures contrasted with humans 1. Strong's glosses it simply as a live thing, an animal, or beast 2.
The word is broader than another Greek term for "beast," since it points to the quality of being alive that is shared by the whole animal creation, rather than emphasizing anything fierce or brutish about the creature 1.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ζῷον (Rec. ζῶον, v. LS, s.v.), -ου, τό
(< ζωός, alive), [in LXX for חַיָּה (chiefly) and cognate forms; freq. in Wi;]
SYN.: θηρίον, 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 animal creation (v. Tr., Syn., lxxxi; Cremer, 274).
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2226 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saiddzo'-on
a live thing, i.e. an animal
Fromneuter of a derivative of G2198;
King Jamesbeast.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
living being, animal, Refs 5th c.BC+; ζῷα, opposed to φυτά, Refs; ζ. θαλάττιον, χερσαῖον, Refs 1st c.BC+.; contemptuously, ὅπως ἡ χώρα τοῦ τοιούτου ζῴου καθαρὰ γίγνηται may be free from this kind of animal (i.e. beggars), Refs 5th c.BC+; ζ. πονηρόν, of women, Refs 2nd c.AD+
II in art, figure, image, not necessarily of animals (compare ζῴδιον), ζῷον δέ οἱ ἐνῆν, ἀνὴρ ἱππεύς Refs 5th c.BC+: mostly in plural, ζῷα ἐς τὴν ἐσθῆτα ἐγγράφειν Refs 5th c.BC+; ζῷα γράψασθαι τὴν ζεῦξιν τοῦ Βοσπόρου to have pictures of the bridging of the Bosporus painted, Refs 5th c.BC+; compare ζωγραφέω: ζῷα ποιεῖν Refs 1st c.AD+
III sign of the Zodiac, Refs 8th c.BC+, no generic word used for animal being found till after the middle of the fifth cent. BC Refs 7th c.BC+ by contraction: ι is found in Refs 3rd c.BC+., and in codices optative in the Noun; the adjective ζωός (which see) had no ι: for the compounds (except ζωγλύφος, ζωγράφος) decisive evidence is lacking: ζῳάγρια with ι was read by Refs 8th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject or object direct | zōem4×ζῷον | zōeim8×ζῷα |
| of, belonging to genitive | zōeu3×ζῴου | zōeiu8×ζῴων |
| to, for dative | zōe | zōei |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
zōe is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
23 occurrences, every one of them listed
zōem“living creature”subject or objectdirect singular4×
Revelation 4:7kai tem zōem tem prōtem homoiem leonto, kai tem …The first living creature was like a lion, the second …
Revelation 4:7“living creature”… prōtem homoiem leonto, kai tem deuterem zōem homoiem moscho, kai tem tritem zōem …The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a …
Revelation 4:7“living creature”… zōem homoiem moscho, kai tem tritem zōem echarōntos tem prosōpem hōs anthrōpou, kai …… the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was …
Revelation 4:7“living creature”… prosōpem hōs anthrōpou, kai tem tetartem zōem homoiem aeto petorōnto;… had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.
zōeu“living creature”of, belonging togenitive singular3×
Revelation 6:3… sfragidan tan deuteran, akouama teu deutereu zōeu legarōnteu; Erchosōr.… second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”
Revelation 6:5… sfragidan tan tritan, akouama teu triteu zōeu legarōnteu; Erchosōr. kai horama, kai idou …… third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” Then I looked and …
Revelation 6:7… tan tetartan, akouama fōnan teu tetarteu zōeu legarōnteu; Erchosōr.… heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”
zōeim“living creatures”subject or objectdirect plural8×
2 Peter 2:12houtois de, hōs alogeim zōeim gennorēnteim fusikeim eis halōsian kai fthoran, …These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be …
Jude 1:10… hoseim de fusikōs hōs teim alogeim zōeim epistolō, en houtei ftherolō.… do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the …
Revelation 4:6… thronou kai kuklō tou thronou tessares zōeim gemarōnteim ofthalmoiu emprosthen kai opisthen;… center, around the throne, were four living creatures, covered with eyes in front and …
Revelation 4:8kai teim tessares zōeim, henem kata henem auteiu echarōntos ana …And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered …
Revelation 4:9kai hotan dōali teim zōeim doxan kai timan kai eucharistian to …And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to …
Revelation 5:8… hote labata tem bibliem, teim tessares zōeim kai tois eikosi tessares presbuterois piptala …… had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down …
Revelation 5:14kai teim tessares zōeim legale; Amēn. kai tois presbuterois piptala …And the four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell …
Revelation 19:4… tois eikosi tessares kai teim tessares zōeim, kai proskunala to theo to kathorōnto …… the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who …
zōeiu“living creatures”of, belonging togenitive plural8×
Hebrews 13:11heiu gar eisferotō zōeiu tem haimem peri hamartau eis teim …… high priest brings the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a …
Revelation 5:6… mese tou thronou kai teiu tessares zōeiu kai en mese toiu presbuteroiu arniem …… the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had …
Revelation 5:11… polloiu kuklō tou thronou kai teiu zōeiu kai toiu presbuteroiu, kai ate tos …… angels encircling the throne, and the living creatures and the elders. And their number …
Revelation 6:1… kai akouama heneu ek teiu tessares zōeiu legarōnteu hōs fōna brontau; Erchosōr.… I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder …
Revelation 6:6… hōs fōnan en mese teiu tessares zōeiu legarōntan; Choinixas sitou dēnarieu, kai treis …… a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for …
Revelation 7:11… kai toiu presbuteroiu kai teiu tessares zōeiu, kai piptala enōpion tou thronou epi …… around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell facedown before the …
Revelation 14:3… tou thronou kai enōpion teiu tessares zōeiu kai toiu presbuteroiu; kai oudenos dunote …… the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one …
Revelation 15:7kai henem ek teiu tessares zōeiu dōata toi hepta angeloi hepta fialain …Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden …