G2342 — θηρίον (thērion)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G2342
Original: θηρίον
Transliteration: thērion
Pronunciation: thay-ree'-on
Part of Speech: Neuter noun
Root: Diminutive of θήρ (thēr) — a wild beast, dangerous animal
Occurrences: 45 in NT
First Occurrence: Mark 1:13 — "and was with the wild beasts (thērion)"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Diminutive from θήρ (thēr); a dangerous animal, a wild beast. The diminutive form does not indicate small size but rather denotes a specific, concrete instance of the general category (θήρ = "wild beast" as a class; θηρίον = a particular wild beast). In classical Greek, used for any wild animal as distinguished from domestic animals.

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - 04 — Animals — animal, quadruped - 88.115 — Bad, Evil, Harmful, Damaging — reflecting the word's connotation of danger and harm - Other words in domain 04: ζῷον (zōon), δράκων (drakōn), λέων (leōn), λύκος (lykos), κτῆνος (ktēnos)

UBS Semantic Domains: - [004] Animals - [088] Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
beast (all forms)	42	93.3%
wild beasts	3	6.7%
Total	45	100%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Revelation	38	9.4
Acts	4	0.4
Mark	1	0.1
Titus	1	2.2
Hebrews	1	0.3

The word is overwhelmingly concentrated in Revelation (84% of all occurrences). Outside Revelation it appears only 7 times, always in a literal animal sense. Absent from the Gospels except Mark 1:13, and absent from Paul's epistles except the Titus quotation.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Literal Wild/Dangerous Animal¶

Mark 1:13 — "And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts (thēria)"
Acts 28:4 — "And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast (thērion) hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer"
Acts 28:5 — "And he shook off the beast (thērion) into the fire, and felt no harm"
Hebrews 12:20 — "And if so much as a beast (thērion) touch the mountain, it shall be stoned"

2. Generic Wild Animals (as a class)¶

Acts 10:12 — "Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts (thēria), and creeping things"
Acts 11:6 — "I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts (thēria), and creeping things"
James 3:7 — "For every kind of beasts (thēriōn), and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed"

3. Metaphorical: Brutish Character¶

Titus 1:12 — "One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts (thēria), slow bellies"

4. Apocalyptic Beast — Political/Religious Power¶

Rev 13:1 — "I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast (thērion) rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns"
Rev 13:2 — "And the beast (thērion) which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion"
Rev 13:11 — "And I beheld another beast (thērion) coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb"
Rev 11:7 — "the beast (thērion) that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them"
Rev 17:8 — "The beast (thērion) that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit"

5. Beast as Object of False Worship / Mark of the Beast¶

Rev 14:9 — "If any man worship the beast (thērion) and his image, and receive his mark"
Rev 16:2 — "a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast (thēriou)"
Rev 19:20 — "And the beast (thērion) was taken, and with him the false prophet... These both were cast alive into a lake of fire"
Rev 20:4 — "which had not worshipped the beast (thērion), neither his image, neither had received his mark"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
γῆ (gē)	G1093	10x	"beast of the earth," "out of the earth"
ὁράω (horáō)	G3708	15x	"I saw a beast" (apocalyptic vision)
προσκυνέω (proskynéō)	G4352	8x	"worship the beast"
εἰκών (eikōn)	G1504	8x	"image of the beast"
ποιέω (poiéō)	G4160	8x	"make war," "make an image"
χάραγμα (cháragma)	G5480	7x	"mark of the beast"
ὄνομα (ónoma)	G3686	7x	"name of the beast"
δίδωμι (dídōmi)	G1325	7x	"power was given unto the beast"
ἐξουσία (exousía)	G1849	6x	"authority of the beast"
κέρας (kéras)	G2768	6x	"ten horns" (beast description)
πῦρ (pŷr)	G4442	5x	"lake of fire" (beast's fate)
ἀναβαίνω (anabaínō)	G305	5x	"ascend out of the sea/pit"

Word Family / Cognates¶

G2339 θήρα (thēra) — hunting, a trap, snare
G2340 θηρεύω (thēreuō) — to hunt, to catch
G2341 θηριομαχέω (thēriomachéō) — to fight with wild beasts (hapax: 1 Cor 15:32)

Synonyms¶

No direct synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G2342.

Antonyms¶

No direct antonyms were identified by search_relationships.py for θηρίον.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ζῷον (zōon)	G2226	"beast" in KJV	zōon = living creature/being; used for the 4 holy creatures around God's throne (Rev 4:6-9). thērion = wild/dangerous beast; used for the evil beast powers
κτῆνος (ktēnos)	G2934	"beast" in KJV	ktēnos = domestic animal, beast of burden (Luke 10:34, Acts 23:24). thērion = wild, untamed animal
בְּהֵמָה (behemah)	H929	"beast" in KJV	behemah = OT domestic/mute animal, cattle. thērion in LXX renders the wild animal sense
חַי (chay)	H2416	"beast" in KJV	chay = "living thing" broadly; thērion specifically renders its wild animal uses

The KJV's uniform translation "beast" for both θηρίον and ζῷον in Revelation obscures a critical distinction: the four ζῷα around God's throne (Rev 4:6-9) are holy attendants, while the θηρίον of Rev 13 is their antithesis.

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	PMI Score	Notes
חֵיוָא (chêyvâ')	H2423	7.78	Aramaic "animal/beast" — primary equivalent (Daniel's beasts)
חַי (chay)	H2416	5.12	"living thing" — broad Hebrew term
עוֹף ('ôwph)	H5775	6.37	"bird/fowl" — in lists of animal categories
בְּהֵמָה (behemah)	H929	4.94	"beast/cattle" — domestic animal
רֶמֶשׂ (remes)	H7431	6.70	"creeping thing" — in lists of animal kinds

The strongest LXX connection is with Aramaic חֵיוָא (H2423), used in Daniel 7 for the four beasts rising from the sea — the direct OT background for Revelation's beast imagery.