Greek word · G1241

διαζώννυμι

diazōnnymi

to tie around

To tie or wrap something around oneself, to gird.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

δια-ζώννυμι, (also -ννύω)

[in LXX for חֲגוֹר, Ezekiel 23:15 A * ;]

to gird round: ἑαυτόν, John 13:4; pass., John 13:5; mid., to gird oneself with: with accusative, John 21:7.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of John 13:5

Range of meaning

To tie or wrap something around oneself, to gird.

Against the English

KJV and NASB keep 'girded', an older word many readers no longer know. 'Wrapped around him' (BSB, WEB) is clear but loses some of the overtone. YLT's 'was being girded' wrongly makes it an ongoing process. The Greek describes a state already in place: he had tied it on and was wearing it.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb appears in John 13:4, 5 and 21:7 (Peter tying his garment around himself before jumping into the sea). Related verbs describe a servant girding himself to wait on tables (Luke 17:8). In Luke 12:37 Jesus describes a master who, startlingly, 'will gird himself and have them recline and will come and serve them.'

From the study of John 21:7

Range of meaning

To tie around, to gird, to fasten securely about the body. The form here means he did it to himself.

Against the English

KJV has "girt," WEB "wrapped ... around himself," YLT "did gird on": these keep the action of tying. BSB, ESV and NLT have "put on," which reads smoothly but loses the tying.

How it drifted

"Put on" is natural modern English for dressing, but it hides the detail that explains the action. A man does not usually put on clothes in order to swim, though he might well tie something tightly to his body.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the New Testament the verb appears only in John: Jesus ties a towel around himself to wash feet (13:4-5), and here. Thucydides (1.6) uses it for athletes wearing a loincloth, so it can describe minimal clothing tied around the waist. A related, simpler verb appears at John 21:18, where Jesus tells Peter that when young he "used to tie his own belt," but one day another would tie him.

Where it appears

John · 3

  1. John 13:4 διέζωσεν He girded

    So He got up from the supper, laid aside His outer garments, and wrapped a towel around His waist.

  2. John 13:5 διεζωσμένος.¶ having girded himself.

    After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel that was around Him.

    Here: 'Having tied (it) around himself.' The Greek form describes a finished action whose result continues: he had tied the towel on in v. 4 and is still wearing it. So he dries their feet with the very cloth he is dressed in, like a household servant girded for work.

  3. John 21:7 διεζώσατο, put on

    Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it) and jumped into the sea.

    Here: He tied or belted the garment around his own body. The picture is of securing it, not simply slipping it on, and that makes more sense for someone about to go into the water.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.