Greek word · G4619

σιτιστός

sitistos

fattened

From sitizō, 'to feed with grain'. The word means animals that were stall-fed and fattened rather than left to graze. It appears only here in the New Testament.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

σιτιστός, -ή, -όν

(σιτίζω, to fatten) [in Sm.: Psalms 22:13, Jeremiah 46:21 * ;]

= σιτευτός, fattened; as subst., pl., τὰ σ., fatlings: Matthew 22:4.†

(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 Matthew 22:4

Range of meaning

From sitizō, 'to feed with grain'. The word means animals that were stall-fed and fattened rather than left to graze. It appears only here in the New Testament.

Against the English

KJV and WEB say 'fatlings', BSB 'fattened cattle'. Other versions have 'fat calves' or 'fattened livestock'. The Greek does not name the species. It describes how the animals were raised.

Used elsewhere in the period

Josephus (Antiquities 8.40) uses sitista for the fattened animals provided for Solomon's table. The idea is close to the LXX's 'fatted' animals at royal and festive meals (1 Kgs 4:23) and to the 'fattened calf' killed for celebration in Luke 15:23.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 22:4 σιτιστὰ fatlings

    Again, he sent other servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

    Here: Animals penned and fed on grain to fatten them for a special occasion. This was luxury meat in a world where most people rarely ate meat at all.

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