Greek word · G258

ἀλώπηξ

alōpēx

fox

Literally the fox. Used figuratively in two overlapping ways. (1) In the Greek world the fox was the clever trickster of the fables (Aesop) and stood for craftiness and deceit; Pindar uses 'fox-like' for crafty people. It is also the opposite of the lion: a lesser creature with pretensions.

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

What it means

ἀλώπηξ, -εκος, ἡ

[in LXX for שׁוּעָל ;]

a fox: Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58; metaphorically, of Herod, Luke 13:32.†

(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 Luke 13:32

Range of meaning

Literally the fox. Used figuratively in two overlapping ways. (1) In the Greek world the fox was the clever trickster of the fables (Aesop) and stood for craftiness and deceit; Pindar uses 'fox-like' for crafty people. (2) In the Hebrew Bible and later Jewish usage (Hebrew shu'al, which covers both fox and jackal), the fox is a small, destructive animal that hangs around ruins and spoils vineyards. It is also the opposite of the lion: a lesser creature with pretensions.

Against the English

Every major English version says 'fox', which is right. But today 'fox' mostly suggests 'sly and clever', which can even sound half-admiring, and in slang it means an attractive person. The Jewish sense of 'small-time, destructive, not a real lion' is easy to miss.

How it drifted

English inherited the fox mostly from the European fable tradition (Reynard the Fox), which keeps only the 'cunning' side. The Jewish contrast between lion and fox, and the image of the scavenger in the ruins, dropped out of common knowledge.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX: Judges 15:4 (Samson's foxes); Song 2:15 ('the little foxes that spoil the vineyards'); Ezekiel 13:4 ('your prophets are like foxes among ruins'); Lamentations 5:18 (foxes roaming ruined Zion); Nehemiah 4:3 (a fox would knock down the wall); Psalm 63:10 (the wicked become 'a portion for foxes/jackals'). Mishnah Avot 4:15: 'Be a tail to lions rather than a head to foxes.' Rabbinic parables (e.g. Akiva's fox and fish, b. Berakhot 61b) also use the fox as the cunning one. Luke 9:58 'foxes have holes'.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 8:20 ἀλώπεκες Foxes

    Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

    Here: The ordinary red fox (and possibly jackals, which Hebrew šûʿāl could also cover), common in Galilee's hills. A humble, wild, unvalued animal, and yet even it has a home.

Luke · 2

  1. Luke 9:58 ἀλώπεκες foxes

    Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”

  2. Luke 13:32 ἀλώπεκι fox

    But Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look, I will keep driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.’

    Here: Herod Antipas. In Greek usage the fox stands for slyness. In Jewish usage it is a small, destructive scavenger, a nobody next to a lion. The word is contempt: Herod is a threat, but not a serious power.

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