Greek word · G66

ἄγριος

agrios

wild

Wild, of the field, as opposed to the house or farm. Used of untamed animals, uncultivated plants (the "wild honey" of Mark 1:6), and fierce or savage people. With weather and sea it means fierce or raging.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἄγριος, -α, -ον

(ἀγρός), [in LXX for שָׂדֶה, etc. ;]

1. living in fields, wild: μέλι. Matthew 3:4, Mark 1:6.

2. savage, fierce: Jude 1:13. (Cf. usage in π. of a malignant wound; MM, VGT, see word)

† (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 Jude 1:13

Range of meaning

Wild, of the field, as opposed to the house or farm. Used of untamed animals, uncultivated plants (the "wild honey" of Mark 1:6), and fierce or savage people. With weather and sea it means fierce or raging.

Against the English

"Wild" (BSB, WEB, YLT, most modern versions) fits well. KJV's "raging" brings out the violence but loses the sense of untamed, outside order and cultivation.

Used elsewhere in the period

Classical and Koine writers use it for beasts and savage tribes. In Wisdom of Solomon 16:5 and LXX texts it describes fierce animals. Greek writers also speak of a "wild sea". Jewish tradition pictures the sea as the chaotic power God fences in (Job 38:8–11; Ps 65:7; Ps 89:9).

From the study of Mark 1:6

Range of meaning

ἄγριος means 'of the field', wild, uncultivated or untamed. It describes plants and animals that grow or live without human care (compare the 'wild olive' of Romans 11:17). μέλι is honey or, more broadly, any sweet syrup.

Against the English

'Wild honey' is accurate. YLT's 'honey of the field' keeps the 'open country' flavour of ἄγριος. The point is that nobody farmed it, not that it was especially fierce or exotic.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Old Testament knows honey from wild bees in rocks and woods: Deuteronomy 32:13 ('honey from the rock'), Judges 14:8 (Samson's lion carcass), and 1 Samuel 14:25–27 (Jonathan in the forest). Josephus says the Jericho district near the lower Jordan was good country for bees (War 4.469). Diodorus Siculus (19.94.10) says the Nabataean Arabs drank, mixed with water, 'the honey called wild' that comes from trees. That shows the phrase could also mean sweet tree sap.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 3:4 ἄγριον.¶ wild.

    John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

    Here: Not cultivated, not kept by people, found out in open country. John did not buy it or farm it. He gathered it. Related to agros, 'field', which is why Young's has 'honey of the field'.

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 1:6 ἄγριον. wild.

    John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

    Here: 'Wild' means uncultivated and unfarmed: honey found, not produced by beekeepers or bought. John lived on what the wilderness gave by itself.

Jude · 1

  1. Jude 1:13 ἄγρια wild

    They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

    Here: Used of wild animals and plants nobody has tamed or tended. The waves are uncontrolled and out of order, with no restraint.

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