Greek word · G3374
μηλωτή
mēlōtē
sheepskin
A sheepskin, a fleece worn as a garment. It comes from μῆλον, 'sheep, flock animal'.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
μηλωτή, -ῆς, ἡ
(μῆλον, a sheep or goat) [in LXX for אַדֶּרֶת, 3Ki.19:13 19:19, 2 Kings 2:8 * ;]
a sheepskin: Hebrews 11:37.†
(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 Hebrews 11:37
- Range of meaning
A sheepskin, a fleece worn as a garment. It comes from μῆλον, 'sheep, flock animal'.
- Against the English
English 'sheepskins' is accurate. What English cannot show is that this exact word is the Greek Bible's name for Elijah's mantle.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Greek Old Testament uses μηλωτή for Elijah's mantle (Hebrew ʾadderet) in 1 Kings 19:13, 19 and 2 Kings 2:8, 13–14. Zechariah 13:4 treats a 'hairy mantle' as the recognisable dress of a prophet. 1 Clement 17:1, written in Rome near the time of Hebrews, praises 'those who went about in goatskins and sheepskins' and names 'Elijah and Elisha, and also Ezekiel, the prophets'. That suggests the phrase was a standard way of describing prophets.
Where it appears
Hebrews · 1
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Hebrews 11:37 μηλωταῖς, sheepskins,
They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated.
Here: 'Sheepskins.' This is the Greek Old Testament's word for Elijah's mantle, the cloak he threw on Elisha and with which he struck the Jordan. To a reader who knew the Greek Bible, it would call up the dress of a prophet.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.