Bible word study

Zygos (Strong’s G2218): Meaning in the Bible

Zygos (ζυγός) is the Greek word numbered G2218 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as a coupling, i.e. (figuratively) servitude (a law or obligation); also (literally) the beam of the balance (as connecting the scales). In the King James Bible it is translated pair of balances, yoke..

• Original wordζυγός
• Transliterationzygós
• Pronunciationdzoo-gos'
• Strong’s numberG2218
• LanguageGreek

The full Strong’s definition

Derivation. from the root of (to join, especially by a "yoke");

How the King James Bible translates it

Where Zygos appears in the Bible

In the King James Bible’s text tagged with Strong’s numbers, Zygos (G2218) stands behind 6 English renderings in 6 verses across 5 of the 66 books. It is most frequent in Matthew (2), Acts (1), Galatians (1).

How the King James Bible renders Zygos, by count

• yoke5 of 6 (83 percent)
• balances1 of 6 (17 percent)

Three places to read Zygos

• Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
• Acts 15:10 Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
• 1 Timothy 6:1 Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.

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 Zygos 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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