A twig or bough (as if broken off)
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Κλάδος is a branch, especially a shoot connected to a tree. Paul's significant use occurs in Romans 11, where branches, root, breaking off, and grafting portray the relation of Gentile believers to Israel's covenantal root and warn against arrogance.
Reader summary
Full entry for κλάδος (G2798) · Open the biblical lexicon
Κλάδος is a branch, especially a shoot connected to a tree. Paul's significant use occurs in Romans 11, where branches, root, breaking off, and grafting portray the relation of Gentile believers to Israel's covenantal root and warn against arrogance.
The BSB source-word alignment has 11 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include branches (11).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 13:32. Its strongest book concentrations include Romans (5), Matthew (3), Mark (2), Luke (1).
Κλάδος is a branch, especially a shoot connected to a tree. Paul's significant use occurs in Romans 11, where branches, root, breaking off, and grafting portray the relation of Gentile believers to Israel's covenantal root and warn against arrogance. Some branches are broken off in unbelief, wild branches are grafted in by faith, and those grafted in do not support the root.
The image offers both severity and hope, including God's power to graft natural branches in again. The noun does not authorize contempt for Jewish people, a boast that the church has replaced Israel, or a claim that ethnicity saves. The controlling responses are faith, fear, gratitude, humility, and hope in God's covenant mercy.
Paul's κλάδος image in Romans 11 warns grafted-in Gentile believers against boasting. Branches depend on the holy root, stand by faith, and must hope in God's power to graft in again.
If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
The holiness of the root and branches introduces Paul's covenant image, preparing the warning and hope that follow.
Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,
Wild branches share the rich root by grafting, which emphasizes received privilege rather than natural superiority.
Do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
The direct prohibition against boasting reminds Gentile believers that they are supported by the root and stand only by faith.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Branch as a severable living part, emphasizing organic connection yet potential separation in grafting metaphors.
Branch as a severable living part, emphasizing organic connection yet potential separation in grafting metaphors.
(κλάω), [in LXX for דָּלִיָּה, כַּף, etc. ;] a young tender shoot broken off for grafting; then, a branch: Mat.13:32 21:8 24:32, Mrk.4:32 13:28, Luk.13:19; metaphorically, of descendants (cf. Sir.40:15), Rom.11:16-19, 21.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
11 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
a branch
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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.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 5 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 11 lexical occurrence verses.
κλάδος is built from this root:
The olive branches are meant to humble the church. Gentile believers do not arrive as owners of a new tree. They are graciously grafted into a covenantal root and share nourishment they did not produce. Some natural branches are broken off because of unbelief, but Paul turns that fact into warning, not celebration. The grafted branches stand by faith and must fear rather than become proud.
The same God is able to graft natural branches in again, sustaining Paul's hope for Israel within the mystery of God's mercy. Teachers should resist simplistic charts that make κλάδος prove more than Romans 9-11 argues. The image does clearly condemn anti-Jewish contempt and Gentile triumphalism. Salvation is in Christ by faith, covenant privilege is received by mercy, and the fitting posture is gratitude, perseverance, and awe before God's wisdom.
Rom.11.16
Κλάδος is the common noun for a branch or shoot. Romans 11 extends the concrete olive-tree image metaphorically. Each feature should be interpreted within Paul's explicit explanation rather than assigned independent symbolic meanings.
The prophets use tree and branch imagery for Israel, judgment, restoration, and the coming Messiah. Paul draws on that covenant world to explain Gentile inclusion and Israel's hope, while Christ remains the center of salvation for Jew and Gentile alike.