Greek word · G2056
ἔριφος
eriphos
a goat
A goat, often specifically a kid, a young goat. Verse 33 uses the diminutive eriphion. Goats were valued for milk, meat, hair (for tents and cloth) and skins, and were acceptable sacrificial animals (Lev 1:10; 16, the Day of Atonement goats).
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
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 Matthew 25:32
- Range of meaning
A goat, often specifically a kid, a young goat. Verse 33 uses the diminutive eriphion. Goats were valued for milk, meat, hair (for tents and cloth) and skins, and were acceptable sacrificial animals (Lev 1:10; 16, the Day of Atonement goats).
- Against the English
In English culture 'goat' can carry sinister overtones from later devil imagery. In first-century Palestine goats were ordinary livestock. The prodigal son's brother complains he was never given even a kid (eriphos, Luke 15:29).
- How it drifted
The association of the goat with the devil and the demonic grew up in later Christian and European art and folklore. It is not present in the biblical image.
- Used elsewhere in the period
LXX Gen 27:9, 16; 38:17; Judg 6:19 and others, always as ordinary livestock or food. Ezek 34:17 already sets 'rams and male goats' within God's flock as objects of judgment, but it is their behaviour, not their species, that condemns them (34:18–21).
- Range of meaning
A young goat, a kid. Also used for goats in general (Matt 25:32–33, 'the sheep from the goats').
- Against the English
The KJV's 'kid' means a young goat, but modern readers may hear 'child'. BSB adds 'even' ('not even a young goat') to bring out the contrast.
- How it drifted
In everyday modern English 'kid' means a child; the animal sense has become rare.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Young goats were a common, inexpensive meat for a meal with guests (Gen 27:9; Judg 6:19; 13:15). The Greek papyri use the word in livestock records. A fattened calf was a much rarer, costlier animal kept for major occasions.
Where it appears
Matthew · 1
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Matthew 25:32 ἐρίφων, goats,
All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
Here: Goats, often specifically young goats. They grazed with sheep in mixed flocks in Palestine. They were ordinary, useful animals, not symbols of evil in themselves. Verse 33 switches to the diminutive eriphia, 'kids'.
Luke · 1
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Luke 15:29 ἔριφον a young goat
But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.
Here: A young goat: a modest animal, enough for a meal with a few friends. It is set against the fattened calf killed for the brother (v. 23, v. 30), which was enough to feed a whole village.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.