StrongerBible

klasma

κλάσμα

GreekG2801fragment, piece, ...

Appears 9 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 14:20Mat 15:37Mrk 6:43Mrk 8:8Mrk 8:19Mrk 8:20Luk 9:17Jhn 6:12Jhn 6:13
Root family
Word studyKLAS-mahnoun

What klasma means

a broken piece: a fragment, especially a piece of bread broken off from a loaf

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

This word comes from the verb κλάω, "to break," and it names the result of that action: a piece that has been broken off from something larger. It is not a word for any small bit but specifically for a broken-off portion.

In the New Testament it appears only in the accounts of Jesus feeding the crowds, and always in the plural: the leftover pieces gathered up after everyone had eaten their fill. The Gospel writers carefully count the baskets, twelve after the five thousand and seven after the four thousand, so the fragments become a way of measuring how far the miracle overflowed the need.

It is worth keeping the word apart from two neighbors. A crumb (ψιχίον) is the tiny scrap that falls from a table; a fragment here is a substantial broken portion, enough to fill baskets. And a fragment is not the whole loaf but a part broken from it.

Mat 14:20Mat 15:37Mrk 6:43Mrk 8:8Mrk 8:19Mrk 8:20Luk 9:17Jhn 6:12Jhn 6:13

What scholars say about klasma

The lexica (BDAG; LSJ) gloss κλάσμα as "fragment, piece broken off," a verbal noun from κλάω "to break." In the New Testament all nine occurrences cluster in the two feeding narratives (Matthew 14:20; 15:37; Mark 6:43; 8:8, 19, 20; Luke 9:17; John 6:12, 13), always plural and always denoting the leftover pieces collected afterward, where the count of baskets underscores the surplus. Beyond the New Testament the word is taken up in early Christian usage for the broken eucharistic bread (Didache 9.3-4), and Behm treats it under κλάω in TDNT; the Gospel occurrences themselves, however, remain within the frame of an ordinary shared meal.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. κλάσμαlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. κλάσμαlexicon
  • J. Behm, "κλάω, κλάσις, κλάσμα," TDNT 3:726-743dictionary

All attested forms of κλάσμα

genitive n p

κλασμάτων

Mat 14:20, Mat 15:37, Mrk 8:8, Mrk 8:19, Mrk 8:20, Luk 9:17, Jhn 6:13

accusative n p

κλάσματα

Mrk 6:43, Jhn 6:12