StrongerBible

ichthus

ἰχθύς

GreekG2486fish

Appears 20 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 7:10Mat 14:17Mat 14:19Mat 15:36Mat 17:27Mrk 6:38Mrk 6:41 (2×)Mrk 6:43Luk 5:6Luk 5:9Luk 9:13Luk 9:16Luk 11:11 (2×)Luk 24:42Jhn 21:6Jhn 21:8Jhn 21:111Co 15:39
Root family
Word studyikh-THOOSnoun

What ichthus means

fish: the water-dwelling animal that people catch, cook, and eat

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

This is the ordinary word for a fish, the everyday creature of lake and sea. In the New Testament it turns up almost entirely in scenes from around the Sea of Galilee, where fishing was a common trade and fish were a dietary staple: the boy's five loaves and two fish that feed the crowd, the nets so full they begin to tear, the coin found in a fish's mouth, and the piece of broiled fish the risen Jesus eats to show he is not a ghost. Paul uses it once in a wider way, listing fish alongside people, animals, and birds as one of the distinct kinds of living flesh.

Greek has more than one word in this area, and they are not quite interchangeable. This word names the living creature itself. When the Gospels speak of fish already caught and prepared as something to eat with bread, they often switch to a different word (ὀψάριον), and there is also a diminutive for a small fish (ἰχθύδιον). The distinctions are gentle, but they explain why one Gospel scene can use two different "fish" words within a few verses.

Because the meaning is so plain and stable, the word carries no hidden theological weight of its own. Its interest lies almost entirely in the vivid, concrete settings where it appears.

Mat 7:10Mat 14:17Mat 14:19Mat 15:36Mat 17:27Mrk 6:38Mrk 6:41 (2×)Mrk 6:43Luk 5:6Luk 5:9Luk 9:13Luk 9:16

What scholars say about ichthus

The lexicons treat ἰχθύς as the common Greek term for a fish, attested from Homer onward (LSJ, s.v.; BDAG, s.v.). In the New Testament it is confined to literal reference, chiefly the Synoptic feeding narratives and the Johannine and Lukan catch and meal scenes, plus a single categorical use in 1 Corinthians 15:39 among the kinds of σάρξ. Rengstorf's TDNT article surveys the word's later career as an early Christian symbol and acrostic (ΙΧΘΥΣ), but locates that symbolism firmly in the post-apostolic church rather than in the New Testament text itself, where the sense is simply the animal. The near-synonyms ὀψάριον (fish as prepared food) and the diminutive ἰχθύδιον are distinguished on register and nuance, not on any dispute over meaning.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. ἰχθύςlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. ἰχθύςlexicon
  • K. H. Rengstorf, "ἰχθύς κτλ.," TDNT 9:44-52theological-dictionary

All attested forms of ἰχθύς

accusative m p

ἰχθύας

Mat 14:17, Mat 14:19, Mat 15:36, Mrk 6:38, Mrk 6:41, Mrk 6:41, Luk 9:16

genitive m p

ἰχθύων

Mrk 6:43, Luk 5:6, Luk 5:9, Jhn 21:6, Jhn 21:8, Jhn 21:11, 1Co 15:39

accusative m s

ἰχθὺν, ἰχθύν

Mat 7:10, Mat 17:27, Luk 11:11

genitive m s

ἰχθύος

Luk 11:11, Luk 24:42

nominative m p

ἰχθύες

Luk 9:13