Greek word · G2195

Ζακχαῖος

zakchaios

Zacchaeus

A personal name, the Greek form of the Hebrew Zakkai (זַכַּי), from the root zakah/zakak, "to be clean, pure, innocent."

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

Ζακχαῖος, -ου, ὁ (Heb. זַכַּי, cf. Nehemiah 7:14, I Esther 2:9, LXX Ζακχού),

Zaccai, Zacchaeus, a publican: Luke 19:2, 5 19:8 (cf. 2Ma.10:19).†

(AS)

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

Range of meaning: A personal name, the Greek form of the Hebrew Zakkai (זַכַּי), from the root zakah/zakak, "to be clean, pure, innocent."
Against the English: English treats it as just a name and never shows the meaning "pure, clean."
Used elsewhere in the period: Ezra 2:9 and Nehemiah 7:14 list a family of "the sons of Zakkai." 2 Maccabees 10:19 names a Zacchaeus among Judas Maccabeus' officers. The famous first-century rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai bore it as a family name. So it was an ordinary Jewish name in the period.

Luke · 3

Luke 19:2 Ζακχαῖος Zacchaeus

And there was a man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, who was very wealthy.
Luke 19:5 Ζακχαῖε, Zacchaeus,

When Jesus came to that place, He looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down, for I must stay at your house today.”

Here: Jesus calls him by name, in the form used for addressing someone. The name is the Greek form of the Hebrew Zakkai, "pure, innocent." That fits oddly with a man the crowd will call "a sinner" (v.7).
Luke 19:8 Ζακχαῖος Zacchaeus

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold.”

Here: Greek form of the Hebrew name Zakkai (Ezra 2:9; Neh 7:14). It comes from a root meaning 'pure, innocent,' which is an irony next to the crowd's label 'sinful man.' Luke does not comment on the meaning.

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