Greek word · G5268
ὑποζύγιον
hypozygion
donkey
Literally 'that which is under the yoke': a draught or pack animal. In the papyri and the Septuagint it most often means a donkey.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ὑπο-ζύγιος, -α, -ον
[in LXX for חֲמוֹר ;]
under the yoke; as subst., τ . (Hdt., al.), a beast of burden; colloq., an ass (see Deiss., BS, 160 f.), and so always in LXX and NT: Matthew 21:5 (LXX), 2 Peter 2:16.†
(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 21:5
- Range of meaning
Literally 'that which is under the yoke': a draught or pack animal. In the papyri and the Septuagint it most often means a donkey.
- Against the English
BSB, KJV and WEB say 'donkey' or 'ass' for clarity. YLT, ESV and NASB keep 'beast of burden', which preserves the 'working animal' sense.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Septuagint of Zechariah 9:9 reads ἐπὶ ὑποζύγιον καὶ πῶλον νέον, 'upon a beast of burden and a young colt'. Matthew instead writes πῶλον υἱὸν ὑποζυγίου, 'a colt, son of a beast of burden'. This matches the Hebrew ʿayir ben-ʾatonot, 'a male donkey, son of she-donkeys', more closely, so Matthew (or his source) knew the Hebrew wording and did not simply copy the Septuagint. In 2 Peter 2:16 the word refers to Balaam's donkey.
Where it appears
Matthew · 1
-
Matthew 21:5 ὑποζυγίου.¶ of a beast of burden.
“Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
Here: Literally 'one under the yoke', a working pack animal. In Greek of the period it usually means a donkey. The colt is the foal of an ordinary working donkey, not a horse bred for war or show.
2 Peter · 1
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2 Peter 2:16 ὑποζύγιον [by] a donkey
But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.