G2226 — ζῶον (zōon)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G2226
Original: ζῶον
Transliteration: zōon
Pronunciation: dzo'-on
Part of Speech: Neuter noun
Root: ζάω (zaō, G2198) — to live; to be alive
Occurrences: 20 unique verses (23 tokens) in NT
Books: 4 (Hebrews, 2 Peter, Jude, Revelation)
First Occurrence: Heb 13:11 — "For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A live thing, i.e., a living creature or animal. Neuter derivative of ζάω (zaō, to live). In NT contexts, used both of ordinary animals and of the four supernatural living beings surrounding God's throne in Revelation.

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - Domain 004: Animals - Domain 012: Supernatural Beings and Powers - Subdomain 012.001: Supernatural Beings

The dual domain placement reflects ζῶον's range: literal animals (Heb, 2 Pet, Jude) and the celestial throne-attendants of Revelation.

UBS Semantic Domains: - [004] Animals - [012] Supernatural Beings and Powers

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
beasts	15	75%
beast	4	20%
those beasts	1	5%

Note: KJV "beast/beasts" is ambiguous — it also translates G2342 θηρίον (the apocalyptic beast). Modern translations (ESV, NASB, NIV) render G2226 as "living creature/s" throughout Revelation, reserving "beast" for G2342.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	17	4.2
2 Peter	1	1.6
Hebrews	1	0.3
Jude	1	—

Revelation dominates at 85% of occurrences (17 of 20 verses), all within the throne-room vision complex. The remaining 3 verses use ζῶον for ordinary animals.

Semantic Categories¶

1. The Four Heavenly Living Creatures (Revelation)¶

The most frequent use — the four ζῶα (living beings) that surround God's throne, each with a distinctive face (lion, calf, man, eagle), six wings, and full of eyes. They lead worship in the heavenly sanctuary and announce the seal judgments.

Rev 4:6–7 — "in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts… And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle."
Rev 4:8 — "And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty."
Rev 5:8 — "And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb."
Rev 6:1 — "And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see."

2. Sacrificial/Ritual Animals¶

Used for animals whose blood or bodies are involved in the sacrificial system — physical, mortal creatures distinguished by their use in worship.

Heb 13:11 — "For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp."

3. Brute/Irrational Animals (Moral Comparison)¶

Used to describe the animal nature of those who act without reason or spiritual understanding — the instinctive, unreasoning creature.

2 Pet 2:12 — "But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not."
Jude 1:10 — "But what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves."

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
τέσσαρες (four)	G5064	11x	"the four living creatures" (τέσσαρα ζῶα)
θρόνος (throne)	G2362	7x	living creatures before/around the throne
πρεσβύτερος (elder)	G4245	7x	"the four creatures and twenty-four elders"
ἀκούω (hear)	G191	6x	hearing a creature speak or cry out
γέμω (full of)	G1073	4x	creatures "full of eyes"
σφραγίς (seal)	G4973	4x	creature announces each seal opening
φωνή (voice)	G5456	4x	creature's voice heard in vision
πίπτω (fall down)	G4098	4x	elders and creatures prostrate in worship
ἀρνίον (Lamb)	G721	3x	creatures alongside the Lamb
αἰών (ever)	G165	3x	"who liveth for ever and ever" — accompanying doxology

Word Family / Cognates¶

G2198 ζάω (zaō) — root verb: to live, to be alive (143 occurrences)
G2222 ζωή (zōē) — life, living existence (136 occurrences)
G2221 ζωγρέω (zōgreō) — take alive, capture living

Synonyms¶

θηρίον (G2342) — overlapping creature vocabulary returned by search_relationships.py; closest at the level of shared KJV "beast/beasts" usage.
τετράπους (G5074) — narrower animal vocabulary ("four-footed") returned by search_relationships.py.

Antonyms¶

τελευτή (G5054) — contrastive death-related term returned by search_relationships.py.
ᾅδης (G86) — contrastive death-realm term returned by search_relationships.py.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared KJV Translation	Key Difference
θηρίον (thērion)	G2342	"beast/beasts"	Dangerous wild animal; in Revelation, the satanic beast powers of chapters 13–17 — the opposite of ζῶον
κτῆνος (ktēnos)	G2934	"beasts"	Domestic animals, livestock, beasts of burden
חַי (chay)	H2416	"beast"	Hebrew "living (thing)"; the OT/LXX source of ζῶον for the throne-vision creatures
חֵיוָא (chêyvâʼ)	H2423	"beast"	Aramaic "beast" — used for Daniel's four beasts (Dan 7); different symbolic valence from the ζῶα of Revelation

Critical KJV Conflation: Both ζῶον (G2226, holy living creatures) and θηρίον (G2342, the satanic beast) are rendered "beast" in KJV. They are antithetical figures in Revelation's symbolic world — the ζῶα worship God continuously; the θηρίον blasphemes God.

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
חַי (chay)	H2416	14	5.51	Primary — LXX renders חַיּוֹת (living creatures, Ezek 1; 10) as ζῶα
אוֹפָן (ʼophan)	H212	4	8.08	Wheels of Ezekiel's chariot-vision — appear in same LXX passages
דְּמוּת (dᵉmûwth)	H1823	3	7.59	Likeness/resemblance — Ezekiel describes the creatures' appearance

The Revelation ζῶα are John's NT development of Ezekiel's חַיּוֹת (Ezek 1:5–28; 10:1–22) and Isaiah's seraphim (Isa 6:2–3). The LXX translation of Ezekiel's throne-chariot vision (using ζῶον for חַי) provides the direct bridge.