"bread; a loaf or thin cake of bread, Mt. 26:26; food, Mt. 15:2; Mk. 3:20; bread, maintenance, living, necessaries of life, Mt. 6:11; Lk. 11:3; 2 Thess. 3:8"
Definition and meaning
bread; a loaf or thin cake of bread, Mt. 26:26; food, Mt. 15:2; Mk. 3:20; bread, maintenance, living, necessaries of life, Mt. 6:11; Lk. 11:3; 2 Thess. 3:8
In the original Greek the word is written: ἄρτος
Historical context
Rome had controlled Judea since 63 BC. Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple into one of the most magnificent structures in the ancient world — and simultaneously murdered members of his own family. The common people paid multiple layers of taxation and were politically powerless. Into that world a carpenter from Galilee began teaching that the kingdom of God had arrived.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of artos (G740) across the King James Bible.
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
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Common questions
Strong's G740 (artos) is a Greek word that means: bread; a loaf or thin cake of bread, Mt. 26:26; food, Mt. 15:2; Mk. 3:20; bread, maintenance, living, necessaries of life, Mt. 6:11; Lk. 11:3; 2 Thess. 3:8 It appears 90 times in the King James Bible.
The word artos (G740) appears 90 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G740 is artos, a Greek word defined as: bread; a loaf or thin cake of bread, Mt. 26:26; food, Mt. 15:2; Mk. 3:20; bread, maintenance, living, necessaries of life, Mt. 6:11; Lk. 11:3; 2 Thess. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
artos is a Greek word found in the New Testament.