Greek word · G5314

φάγος

phagos

glutton

Phagos means 'big eater, glutton'. Oinopotēs means 'wine-drinker', meaning a habitual or heavy drinker, a tippler. Together they form a stock insult for a self-indulgent, disreputable person.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

φάγος, -ου, ὁ

(φαγεῖν, see: ἐσθίω)

a glutton: Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34.†

(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 11:19

Range of meaning

Phagos means 'big eater, glutton'. Oinopotēs means 'wine-drinker', meaning a habitual or heavy drinker, a tippler. Together they form a stock insult for a self-indulgent, disreputable person.

Against the English

'Glutton and drunkard' is accurate. KJV's 'winebibber' (to 'bib' meant to drink) is correct but archaic. What English can't show is the scriptural echo: to a Jewish ear this pair sounded like a legal charge, not just an insult about manners.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 21:20 describes the 'stubborn and rebellious son' whom his parents bring to the elders as zolel ve-sove', 'a glutton and a drunkard'. The penalty is stoning. Proverbs 23:20–21 uses the same Hebrew pair, and in the Greek Old Testament Proverbs 23:20 says 'do not be a wine-drinker (oinopotēs)'. The Greek translation of Deuteronomy 21:20 uses different words, so the echo works through the Hebrew phrase and the familiar idea rather than identical Greek wording.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 11:19 φάγος a glutton

    The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by her actions.”

    Here: Literally 'an eater', in the sense of someone who eats too much. The word is rare, and in the New Testament it appears only in this saying and its parallel in Luke 7:34.

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 7:34 φάγος a glutton

    The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

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