Greek word · G2353
θρέμμα
thremma
livestock
"A thing reared" (from τρέφω, to feed or raise): a domestic animal, especially sheep and goats. It can occasionally mean a nursling or a child someone has raised. It is used collectively for flocks and herds.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
θρέμμα, -τος, τό
(τρέφω)
1. a nurseling, esp. of animals (Eur., Plat., al.).
2. cattle: John 4:12.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
"A thing reared" (from τρέφω, to feed or raise): a domestic animal, especially sheep and goats. It can occasionally mean a nursling or a child someone has raised. It is used collectively for flocks and herds.
- Against the English
KJV "cattle" was accurate in 1611, when "cattle" meant livestock in general. Today it suggests cows. Modern "livestock" (BSB, WEB, NIV) is better.
- How it drifted
English "cattle" (from Old French chatel, property) once covered all owned animals and gradually narrowed to bovines.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Found only here in the New Testament. It is common in classical and Hellenistic Greek for farm animals and in papyri for flocks. Genesis describes Jacob's wealth mainly as sheep and goats (Genesis 30:31–43; 31:38; 33:13–14).
Where it appears
John · 1
-
John 4:12 θρέμματα livestock
Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?”
Here: Literally "things raised" (from trephō, to feed or rear): domestic animals, above all the sheep and goats of a herding household like Jacob's. Watering whole flocks implies a deep, abundant water source. This is the only use of the word in the New Testament.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.