What does κάρφος (kárphos) mean in the Bible?
Karphos denotes a small dry fragment, such as a piece of straw or a twig. In the New Testament Jesus uses it for the speck in a brother's eye.
Greek · G2595
κάρφος
Karphos denotes a small dry fragment, such as a piece of straw or a twig. In the New Testament Jesus uses it for the speck in a brother's eye.
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κάρφοςG2595
Pronunciationkárphos
What does κάρφος (kárphos) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for κάρφος (G2595) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2595?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include speck (6).
Where does κάρφος (kárphos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 7:3. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (3), Matthew (3).
What This Word Actually Means
Karphos denotes a small dry fragment, such as a piece of straw or a twig. In the New Testament Jesus uses it for the speck in a brother's eye. The contrast with a timber beam reveals how readily someone can notice another person's fault while overlooking their own obstruction. Yet the speck remains in an eye: Jesus' final instruction speaks of removing it, so the picture does not celebrate leaving a brother without help.
Matthew 7:5 and Luke 6:42 place such care after the helper's own beam has been addressed. This word draws attention to the person who needs careful assistance and to the disproportionate scrutiny that can masquerade as concern. Its smallness within the illustration cannot determine the seriousness of every actual offense or justify dismissing an injured person's account.
How the Bible Uses It
Karphos appears only in the parallel Gospel passages about the speck and the beam. Its role is stable: it is the noticed obstruction in the brother's eye, whose removal requires the helper's corrected vision.
- Matt.7.3
Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?
The brother's speck becomes the object of concentrated attention while the critic fails to acknowledge the beam in their own eye.
- Matt.7.5
You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
The closing instruction retains removal of the speck as a helpful aim but places it after the helper's own repentance.
- Luke.6.41
Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?
Luke challenges why the brother's small obstruction is inspected while the much larger personal obstruction is overlooked.
- Luke.6.42
How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
The repeated word brother gives the scene a relational setting; assistance must become credible through the helper's clearer sight.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itspeck6×Matthew 7:3, Matthew 7:4, Matthew 7:5, Luke 6:41
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 7:3κάρφοςtospeckNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularMatthew 7:4κάρφοςtospeckNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularMatthew 7:5κάρφοςtospeckNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularLuke 6:41κάρφοςtospeckNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularLuke 6:42κάρφοςtospeckNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularLuke 6:42κάρφοςtospeckNoun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 7:3
Aligned rows6
Books represented2
Matthew3Luke3
Source forms
κάρφος6xkarphosMatthew 7:3, Matthew 7:4, Matthew 7:5, Luke 6:41
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular6xMatthew 7:3, Matthew 7:4, Matthew 7:5, Luke 6:41
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Offer correction with attention to the other person's actual welfare and readiness to receive appropriate help.
- Do not make a vulnerable person's need for protection wait for the accused person's self-examination.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim karphos means every sin is minor, because it names the smaller object in one particular comparison.
- Do not claim the brother should remain unhelped, because Jesus ends by describing clearer sight for removing the speck.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. A trivial fault or minor blemish, contrasted with major failings one ignores in others.
Strong'sG2595
Lexical occurrences6 versesGreek text appearances6 timesWord forms1 form6 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkLuke 6:37-42Source Gloss
a dry twig or straw
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
A trivial fault or minor blemish, contrasted with major failings one ignores in others.
a small dry stalk, a twig; metaphorically, of a minor fault: Mat.7:3-5, Luk.6:41-42.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 7:3Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
κάρφοςkarfov
a dry stalk, chip of wood
Read verseMatthew 7:4Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
κάρφοςkarfov
a dry stalk, chip of wood
Read verseMatthew 7:5Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
κάρφοςkarfov
a dry stalk, chip of wood
Read verseLuke 6:41Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
κάρφοςkarfov
a dry stalk, chip of wood
Read verseLuke 6:42Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
κάρφοςkarfov
a dry stalk, chip of wood
Read verseLuke 6:42Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
κάρφοςkarfov
a dry stalk, chip of wood
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 1 case and number pattern. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns1Aligned forms6Case patternAccusative (6)Number patternSingular (6)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Accusative · Singular · NeuterMatt 7:3 · Matt 7:4 · Matt 7:5 · Luke 6:41 · Luke 6:426×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
minor fault in another's eye, metaphorically contrasted with a plank
Showing 1 selected witness from 6 lexical occurrence verses.
For the Preacher and Teacher
A speck can be small and still need removal. Jesus' illustration holds that need alongside the absurdity of a helper who has ignored a beam. The teaching therefore presses beyond a contest over who has the worse fault. It asks whether the person offering assistance can actually see clearly enough to serve the brother. The final removal of the speck should be read as restoration, not a victory for the critic.
In teaching, this invites a change in purpose: concern for the other person replaces the satisfaction of discovering something to condemn. The image has a particular comparison and sequence; it supplies no scale by which a listener can downgrade violence, deception, or exploitation to a trivial fragment.
Anchor passage
Luke.6.42
Doctrinal connections
- The repeated brother language locates the speck within responsibility for another person's welfare.
- Matthew 7:5 gives clearer sight a purpose: removing what obstructs the brother's eye.
- Luke 6:39-42 warns that impaired guides can draw others into danger.
- The mercy commanded in Luke 6:36 shapes the manner of corrective concern.
- Galatians 6:1 offers a supporting pattern of gentle restoration rather than triumphant accusation.
- Leviticus 19:17-18 places truthful rebuke beside love and the rejection of vengeance.
Karphos is a neuter noun for a small dry piece of material. The lexical contrast with dokos gives the illustration its scale; Jesus' surrounding speech supplies the lesson about scrutiny, hypocrisy, and properly ordered help.
From Old to New Testament
Leviticus 19:17-18 combines refusal to harbor hatred, truthful rebuke, and love for the neighbor. That supporting context helps distinguish restorative concern from resentful faultfinding; it does not use this Greek word as a direct witness or erase the Gospel's first-then sequence.