Bible word study

Zelos (Strong’s G2205): Meaning in the Bible

Zelos (ζῆλος) is the Greek word numbered G2205 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as properly, heat, i.e. (figuratively) "zeal" (in a favorable sense, ardor; in an unfavorable one, jealousy, as of a husband (figuratively, of God), or an enemy, malice). In the King James Bible it is translated emulation, envy(-ing), fervent mind, indignation, jealousy.

• Original wordζῆλος
• Transliterationzēlos
• Pronunciationdzay'-los
• Strong’s numberG2205
• LanguageGreek

The full Strong’s definition

Derivation. from G2204;

How the King James Bible translates it

Where Zelos appears in the Bible

In the King James Bible’s text tagged with Strong’s numbers, Zelos (G2205) stands behind 17 English renderings in 17 verses across 10 of the 66 books. It is most frequent in 2 Corinthians (5), Acts (2), Romans (2).

How the King James Bible renders Zelos, by count

• zeal6 of 17 (35 percent)
• envying4 of 17 (24 percent)
• indignation2 of 17 (12 percent)
• emulations1 of 17 (6 percent)
• envy1 of 17 (6 percent)
• envyings1 of 17 (6 percent)

Three places to read Zelos

• John 2:17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
• 1 Corinthians 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
• Galatians 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Counts are made at build time from the King James text tagged with Strong’s numbers (eBible.org, public domain). Verses are read from the stored King James text, never typed.

Why the word matters

Every word the biblical writers chose carries weight. Studying Zelos in the original Greek lets you read the passages where it appears more carefully, closer to what the first hearers understood, so the meaning is drawn from the text itself rather than from the English alone.

The lexical data on this page comes from the public-domain Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890), a Hebrew and Greek dictionary keyed to the King James Bible. It is a reference tool, not a settled verdict: no single word decides a doctrine, and meaning is finally shaped by how a word is used in its sentences. Read the passages themselves, prayerfully, and in full.

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