The verb βοσκω (bosko) means to [put out to] feed or graze, and specifically of herds and cattle. The derived noun βοσκος (boskos) is a relatively uncommon word for herdsman and unused in the New Testament (in Matthew 8:33, Mark 5:14 and Luke 8:34, pig herders are indicated by a participle of our verb). The more common word for shepherd is ποιμην (poimen).

Our verb βοσκω (bosko) stems from the Proto-Indo-European root "geh-", to feed, but is also reminiscent of the noun βους (bous), meaning ox or cattle, and the apparently unrelated Proto-Indo-European root "buH-", to grow, from which English gets its noun bush (and Dutch the equivalent bos).

Our verb is used 9 times in the New Testament, see full concordance, possibly most spectacular in Jesus' command to Peter to feed his lambs and sheep (John 21:15-17). From this verb derives:

The noun βοτρυς (botrus) describes a cluster of grapes (Revelation 14:18 only). One would expect this word to fit right into the above, but the experts have deemed it of non-Greek origin, and perhaps even Semitic. The Hebrew noun בסר (boser) describes a comparable fruit, although it derives from the verb בסר (basar), to be early, and rather describes a sour or unripe grape or date (Job 15:33, Isaiah 18:5, Ezekiel 18:2): "Everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge" (Jeremiah 31:29-30).

The noun συκον (sukon) means fig, whose tree is related to the μορον (moron), the proverbially dim berry, which came to symbolize intellectual primitivity and immaturity. The Hebrew word for the first ripe fig, namely בכורה (bikkura), derives from the verb בכר (bakar), meaning to rise early.

The Hebrew for cluster is אשכול ('eshkol), hence the Valley of Eshcol (Numbers 13:23).