UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: loaf of bread

Semantic entry: 5.8

Semantic domains: Foods and Condiments

Subdomains: Food

Definition: a relatively small and generally round loaf of bread (considerably smaller than present-day typical loaves of bread and thus more like rolls or buns)

Sense 2: food

Semantic entry: 5.1

Semantic domains: Foods and Condiments

Subdomains: Food

Definition: any kind of food or nourishment{N:001}

Notes: Almost all languages have at least a few general terms for food, though these may be derived from verbal expressions meaning essentially ‘that which is eaten.’ In some instances a distinction may be made between ‘that which is chewed’ and ‘that which is drunk,’ and it may therefore be important in certain contexts to speak of food in general by a phrase meaning ‘that which is either chewed or drunk.’ If one fails to include both types of food, the reader might interpret a passage such as RV MAT 6:11 · LV MAT 6:11 · Read together MAT 6:11 as requesting only solid foods.|In the place of a general term or phrase such as ‘that which is eaten’ or ‘that which is consumed,’ some languages generalize the meaning of a particular term. For example, in certain parts of the Orient the term meaning specifically ‘rice’ also refers to ‘food’ in general. In fact, some persons will declare, ‘I have not eaten!’ if they have not had rice as part of a meal. A similar type of meaning has developed in English with respect to ‘bread.’ For example, in rendering RV LUK 4:4 · LV LUK 4:4 · Read together LUK 4:4 (οὐκ ἐπ’ ἄρτῳ μόνῳ ζήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος ‘man shall not live by bread alone’) it would be wrong to employ a strictly literal rendering, since this might mean simply that people should not live on a diet consisting solely of bread. The meaning of RV LUK 4:4 · LV LUK 4:4 · Read together LUK 4:4 is, of course, ‘to live means more than merely eating.’

Sense 3: bread offered to God, consecrated bread

Semantic entry: 53.26

Semantic domains: Religious Activities

Subdomains: Offering, Sacrifice

Definition: (an idiom, literally: bread of the placing forth) bread which was set out as an offering in the presence of God in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple

Notes: In some languages ἄρτοι τῆς προθέσεως is rendered as ‘bread placed before God’ or ‘bread placed in the presence of God.’

Collocations: ἄρτοι τῆς προθέσεως

Sense 4: to eat a meal, to have a meal

Semantic entry: 23.20

Semantic domains: Physiological Processes and States

Subdomains: Eat, Drink

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to break bread) to eat a meal, without reference to any particular time of the day or to the type of food involved

Notes: In some languages it is impossible to speak of ‘having a meal’ without indicating the time of day or the nature of the food consumed.|The implication of ‘eating together’ comes from the total context. ἐν δὲ τῇ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων συνηγμένων ἡμῶν κλάσαι ἄρτον ‘on the first day of the week we gathered together for a meal’ RV ACT 20:7 · LV ACT 20:7 · Read together ACT 20:7. No doubt the reference in RV ACT 20:7 · LV ACT 20:7 · Read together ACT 20:7 is to the ‘fellowship meal,’ called ‘agape,’ which constituted the early Christian form of the ‘Lord’s Supper.’ See 23.28: ἀγάπη.

Collocations: ἄρτον κλάω

Sense 5: to earn a living, to earn a livelihood

Semantic entry: 57.190

Semantic domains: Possess, Transfer, Exchange

Subdomains: Earn, Gain, Do Business

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to eat one’s own bread) to earn a living by one’s own efforts

Collocations: τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἄρτον ἐσθίω