ὗς (hus)
hus
sow
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The noun hys refers specifically to a female pig, or sow. In the New Testament, it appears only once, in 2 Peter 2:22. The text uses this animal as a vivid metaphor for those who have turned away from holy teaching after briefly knowing the way of righteousness.
The choice of the feminine form is significant. While the general word for swine is neuter, Peter selects hys to describe a person who returns to wallow in what was once rejected. This imagery draws on Jewish purity laws where pigs were unclean, making the regression not just a moral failure but a return to spiritual defilement.
Translators render this as "sow" to preserve the specific gender and the repulsive nature of the image. The verse contrasts the clean state of knowing Christ with the dirty state of returning to sin, using the sow’s natural behavior to illustrate a deliberate rejection of truth.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word for sow appears only once in the New Testament, found in a warning within 2 Peter. It describes someone who has known the truth of righteousness but chooses to return to old, unclean habits. The image is stark: a pig that has been washed clean still instinctively seeks out the mud and mire it came from.
This metaphor reminds us that spiritual knowledge alone does not guarantee lasting change. True transformation involves a heart that no longer desires the things it once rejected. It invites us to examine whether our lives are moving toward purity or drifting back into familiar patterns of sin.
Grace offers a way out of this cycle. By relying on God’s strength rather than our own willpower, we can break free from old habits and find true freedom in Christ.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- A sow1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- ὗς1×
Key Verses
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II Peter 2:22
But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”
This verse uses the sow as a metaphor for those who reject holy teaching after briefly knowing the way of righteousness, highlighting the danger of returning to spiritual defilement.