What does ζώννυμι (zṓnnymi) mean in the Bible?
G2224 means to dress, gird, or bind clothing around a person. The governed witness contains only three forms in two verses.
Greek · G2224
ζώννυμι
To bind about (especially with a belt)
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ζώννυμι G2224
Pronunciation zṓnnymi
What does ζώννυμι (zṓnnymi) mean in the Bible?
G2224 means to dress, gird, or bind clothing around a person. The governed witness contains only three forms in two verses.
Reader summary
Full entry for ζώννυμι (G2224) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2224?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Get dressed (1), will dress (1), you dressed (1).
Where does ζώννυμι (zṓnnymi) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at John 21:18. Its strongest book concentrations include John (2), Acts (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G2224 means to dress, gird, or bind clothing around a person. The governed witness contains only three forms in two verses. In Acts 12:8, an angel tells the newly freed Peter to dress and put on his sandals before leaving the prison. The word carries an ordinary practical command within an extraordinary deliverance. John 21:18 uses it twice as Jesus contrasts Peter's former ability to dress himself with a future in which someone else will dress him and lead him where he does not want to go.
John then explains that Jesus was indicating the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. The clothing verb supports that contrast of agency, but the narrator's explanation and Jesus' command to follow provide the passage's theological meaning.
How the Bible Uses It
G2224 occurs only in Peter narratives. Acts uses it for an immediate command during his release from prison. John uses it twice in Jesus' prophecy about Peter's old age and death. The shared verb does not make the two scenes predictions of the same event.
- Act.12.8
“Get dressed and put on your sandals,” said the angel. Peter did so, and the angel told him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”
Peter prepares to leave the prison by obeying a concrete command.
- Jhn.21.18
Truly, truly, I tell you, when you were young, you dressed yourself and walked where you wanted; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”
Two forms contrast Peter's former self-direction with another person's future action. John's explanation in the next verse identifies the saying with Peter's death.
Passage context
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It Get dressed 1× Acts 12:8
will dress 1× John 21:18
you dressed 1× John 21:18
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row John 21:18
Aligned rows 3
Books represented 2
John 2 Acts 1
Source forms
ἐζώννυες 1x ezōnnyes John 21:18
Ζῶσαι 1x Zōsai Acts 12:8
ζώσει 1x zōsei John 21:18
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Imperative Middle - 2nd Person Singular 1x Acts 12:8
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x John 21:18
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular 1x John 21:18
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Keep the word connected to its two Peter narratives and to John 21:19's explanation.
- Distinguish costly following from accepting every harmful demand without discernment.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim G2224 is a ritual term.
- Do not claim Acts 12:8 and John 21:18 describe the same kind of event.
- Do not claim John 21:18 authorizes coercive human leadership.
- Do not speculate beyond John's explanation of Peter's future death.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. to bind about (especially with a belt)
Strong's G2224
Lexical occurrences 3 verses Greek text appearances 2 times Word forms 2 forms 3 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
to bind about (especially with a belt)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
2 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
John 21:18 Verb Second Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative
ἐζώννυες ezwnnuev
I gird
Read verse John 21:18 Verb Third Person Singular Future Active Indicative
ζώσει, zwsei
I gird
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups 2 Aligned forms 3 Tenses Imperfect, Future, Aorist Voices Active, Middle
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 2×
Imperfect Active John 21:18 1×
Future Active John 21:18 1×
Imperative command or strong request 1×
Aorist Middle Acts 12:8 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 3 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 1 imperfect 1 future 1
Voice
active 2 middle 1
Mood
indicative 2 imperative 1
NT Occurrences
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Word Origins
ζώννυμι is built from this root:
For the Preacher and Teacher
G2224 gives Peter's two scenes a concrete physical detail, but it does not carry their theology by itself. In Acts, dressing is a practical step of obedience while Peter is freed from prison. In John, two forms create a contrast between former self-direction and future loss of control. The narrator, not the lexical form, tells readers that Jesus spoke about Peter's death, and Jesus' command to follow Him gives the scene its discipleship focus.
A faithful teacher can speak honestly about obedience and costly witness without romanticizing unwanted suffering. The passage does not authorize coercive leaders, require believers to accept abuse, or invite speculation about details of Peter's death beyond John's explanation. The word remains useful precisely when it stays within its two-verse boundary.
Anchor passage
Jhn.21.18
Doctrinal connections
- Act.12.8 - Peter obeys practical commands while being led out of prison.
- Jhn.21.18 - Peter's former self-dressing represents the agency Jesus explicitly contrasts with his future.
- Jhn.21.18 - another person's future dressing belongs to Jesus' prophecy, not to a general clothing practice.
- Jhn.21.19 - the narrator identifies the prophecy with Peter's death and records Jesus' command to follow.
Acts supplies a middle-voice command for Peter to dress. John sets an imperfect form about his youthful habit beside a future form describing another person's action.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain