UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: 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.’