Greek word · G5167
τρυγών
trygōn
dove
The turtledove (Streptopelia turtur), a wild migratory dove. The name imitates its coo (from τρύζω, "to murmur"). It renders Hebrew tor.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
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
The turtledove (Streptopelia turtur), a wild migratory dove. The name imitates its coo (from τρύζω, "to murmur"). It renders Hebrew tor.
- Against the English
No real drift. Some readers know it only from the carol ("two turtle doves") or as a picture of romance. In Leviticus it is simply one of two birds permitted for sacrifice.
- Used elsewhere in the period
LXX Lev 1:14; 5:7, 11; 12:6, 8; 14:22; 15:14, 29; Num 6:10; Song 2:12 (its return marks spring); Jer 8:7 (it knows its season). Mishnah Hullin 1:5 is often cited as teaching that turtledoves are fit for offering when grown and pigeons when young. That fits Luke's "pair of turtledoves" next to "young pigeons."
Where it appears
Luke · 1
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Luke 2:24 τρυγόνων of turtle doves
and to offer the sacrifice specified in the Law of the Lord: “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Here: The wild turtledove, a migrating bird named for its murmuring coo (Hebrew tor). It was one of the two kinds of bird allowed for this offering.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.