Greek word · G4597

σής

sēs

moth

The clothes moth, or more exactly its larva, which eats wool and other fabric.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 23, 2026

What it means

σής σητός (late genitive for cl. σεός), ὁ,

[in LXX: Job 4:19, Isaiah 50:9 (עָשׁ), Isaiah 51:8 (סָס), al. ;]

a moth, clothes moth: Matthew 6:19-20, Luke 12:33.†

(AS)

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

Range of meaning: The clothes moth, or more exactly its larva, which eats wool and other fabric.
Against the English: 'Moth' is accurate. A modern reader may not realise that clothing was stored wealth, so the image can seem trivial.
Used elsewhere in the period: Common in the Septuagint as a picture of slow, certain decay: Job 13:28 ('like a garment that the moth eats'); Isa 50:9 and 51:8 ('the moth will eat them up like a garment'); Hos 5:12 (God like a moth to Ephraim). Luke 12:33 uses the same image.

Matthew · 2

Matthew 6:19 σὴς moth

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

Here: The clothes moth, whose larvae eat wool. It fits because fine garments were one of the main forms of stored wealth in that world.
Matthew 6:20 σὴς moth

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Here: The clothes moth, whose larvae ate woollen garments. Garments were a main form of stored wealth, so the moth was a real threat to a family's savings.

Luke · 1

Luke 12:33 σὴς moth

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide yourselves with purses that will not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.

Here: The clothes moth, whose larvae eat wool. It threatened garments and fabrics, which were a major form of stored wealth.

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