Greek word · G5606

ὦμος

ōmos

shoulder

Shoulder, including the upper back where loads are carried. In Greek and Hebrew idiom the shoulder is the place where burden, responsibility and authority rest.

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

What it means

ὦμος, οὐ, ὁ,

[in LXX chiefly for שְׁכֶם, כָּתֵף ;]

the shoulder: Matthew 23:4, Luke 15:5.†

(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 Luke 15:5

Range of meaning

Shoulder, including the upper back where loads are carried. In Greek and Hebrew idiom the shoulder is the place where burden, responsibility and authority rest.

Against the English

English 'shoulders' is accurate. Modern devotional art, though, usually shows a small lamb cuddled in the arms. The text shows a grown sheep (one of the hundred in the flock, not specified as a lamb) slung across the shoulders: a working carry for a heavy animal.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 9:6 LXX: 'whose rule is upon his shoulder' (ἐπὶ τοῦ ὤμου αὐτοῦ); Isaiah 49:22 LXX: the nations will carry Zion's daughters 'on shoulders' (ἐπ᾽ ὤμων). Greek art had a long tradition of the 'animal-bearer' figure, such as the Moschophoros (calf-bearer) from the Athenian Acropolis (c. 570 BC) and the Hermes Kriophoros ('ram-bearer'). Early Christian catacomb paintings of the Good Shepherd (3rd century) took over that pose for this parable.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 23:4 ὤμους shoulders

    They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

    Here: The shoulder, where porters and laborers carried loads. In Israel's scriptures the burden or yoke "on the shoulder" was a familiar picture of oppression (Isaiah 9:4; 10:27).

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 15:5 ὤμους shoulders

    And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders,

    Here: Plural, 'shoulders'. This is the shepherd's carry: the animal is draped across the back of the neck, and its front and back legs are gathered in the hands at the chest. It is a load-bearing posture, not the cradling of a lamb in the arms.

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