StrongerBible

trapeza

τράπεζα

GreekG5132table, bank

Appears 15 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 15:27Mat 21:12Mrk 7:28Mrk 11:15Luk 16:21Luk 19:23Luk 22:21Luk 22:30Jhn 2:15Act 6:2Act 16:34Rom 11:91Co 10:21 (2×)Heb 9:2
Compound of
Root family
Word studyTRAH-peh-zahnoun

What trapeza means

1

a table: the furniture a household or its guests gather around to eat, and by extension the meal it holds or a table set apart for God.

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

At its simplest this is the ordinary table people sit around to eat. The Greek word literally pictures something four-footed, and that plain piece of furniture is where most of its uses live: the household table with its falling crumbs, the rich man's table that Lazarus longed to eat from, the table where Jesus shared his last meal.

From the furniture the word reaches naturally to what the furniture holds. A person's "table" can stand for their whole feast and security, and to sit "at my table" is to share in someone's honor and fellowship. The meal (δεῖπνον) is the event; the table is the standing place of belonging around it.

It also names tables set apart for God: the table that held the sacred bread in the sanctuary, and "the table of the Lord" that Paul sets against "the table of demons." To eat at such a table was to share in the worship it belonged to, which is why Paul treats it as the counterpart to the altar (θυσιαστήριον) where a sacrifice is offered up. The Hebrew Scriptures use one steady word for all of this (שׁלחן).

Nuances

1aan everyday dining table, where a household or its guests sit down to eat.
Mat 15:27Mrk 7:28Luk 16:21Luk 22:21Act 16:34
1bthe table as the meal or provision set on it, and the fellowship of sharing it.
Luk 22:30Act 6:2Rom 11:9
1ca table set apart for God: the table that held the sacred bread in the sanctuary, and the Lord's table set against the table of demons.
1Co 10:21 (2×)Heb 9:2
2

a moneychanger's table, and so the banking business carried on at it: where coins were exchanged and money left on deposit.

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

In the ancient world a banker did business at a table, weighing and exchanging coins on it, so the same word that means a dining table also means the moneychanger's counter. When Jesus overturned "the tables" in the temple, these were the money counters of the traders.

From the counter the word stretches to the whole business of banking. In one parable a servant is scolded for not putting his master's money "in the bank," where it would at least have earned interest. English needs a second word, "bank," for that sense, but in Greek it is still the same table.

Nuances

2athe moneychanger's table, the counter where coins were weighed and exchanged.
Mat 21:12Mrk 11:15Jhn 2:15
2ba bank, where money is left on deposit to earn interest.
Luk 19:23

What scholars say about trapeza

Standard lexica (BDAG, LSJ) treat τράπεζα as a single word ranging from the ordinary dining table, through metonymy for the meal or fare it holds, to the specialized cultic table (the table of the Bread of the Presence, Exod 25:23-30) and, from Hellenistic commercial usage, the banker's table and hence a bank. The noun is a contraction of an older term meaning "four-footed." In 1 Corinthians 10:21 Paul's antithesis between the table of the Lord and the table of demons trades on the wider ancient understanding of a cult meal as communion with the deity honored at the table, a background developed in the commentaries (Fee; Thiselton). The classic exegetical crux is Acts 6:2: whether διακονεῖν τραπέζαις denotes waiting at meal tables (the daily food distribution to the widows) or, taking τράπεζα in its banking sense, administering the community's common fund; most commentators favor the former.

Sources

  • BDAG (Bauer-Danker), s.v. τράπεζαlexicon
  • LSJ (Liddell-Scott-Jones), s.v. τράπεζαlexicon
  • Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT (1987)commentary
  • Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NIGTC (2000)commentary
  • C.K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, ICC (1994)commentary

All attested forms of τράπεζα

genitive f s

τραπέζης

Mat 15:27, Mrk 7:28, Luk 16:21, Luk 22:21, Luk 22:30, 1Co 10:21, 1Co 10:21

accusative f p

τραπέζας

Mat 21:12, Mrk 11:15, Jhn 2:15

accusative f s

τράπεζαν

Luk 19:23, Act 16:34

nominative f s

τράπεζα

Rom 11:9, Heb 9:2

dative f p

τραπέζαις

Act 6:2