What does κλάω (kláō) mean in the Bible?
κλάω (kláō): Breaking bread, especially in liturgical/communal meals, signifies shared fellowship and covenant participation.
Greek · G2806
κλάω
To break (specially, of bread)
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κλάω G2806
Pronunciation kláō
What does κλάω (kláō) mean in the Bible?
κλάω (kláō): Breaking bread, especially in liturgical/communal meals, signifies shared fellowship and covenant participation.
Full entry for κλάω (G2806) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2806?
The BSB source-word alignment has 14 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [and] broke [it] (2), [and] broke [them] (2), he broke [it] (2), to break (2), [and] broke it (1).
Where does κλάω (kláō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 14:19. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (4), Mark (3), Matthew (3), 1 Corinthians (2).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It [and] broke [it] 2× Matthew 26:26, Luke 22:19
[and] broke [them] 2× Matthew 15:36, Mark 8:6
he broke [it] 2× Acts 27:35, 1 Corinthians 11:24
to break 2× Acts 2:46, Acts 20:7
[and] broke it 1× Mark 14:22
broke 1× Acts 20:11
broke [it] 1× Luke 24:30
He broke 1× Matthew 14:19
I broke 1× Mark 8:19
we break 1× 1 Corinthians 10:16
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 14:19 κλάσας to He broke Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 15:36 ἔκλασεν to [and] broke [them] Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Matthew 26:26 ἔκλασεν to [and] broke [it] Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Mark 8:6 ἔκλασεν to [and] broke [them] Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Mark 8:19 ἔκλασα to I broke Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular Mark 14:22 ἔκλασεν to [and] broke it Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 22:19 ἔκλασεν to [and] broke [it] Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 24:30 κλάσας to broke [it] Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Acts 2:46 κλῶντές to to break Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural Acts 20:7 κλάσαι to to break Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 14:19
Aligned rows 14
Books represented 5
Matthew 3 Mark 3 Luke 2 Acts 4 1 Corinthians 2
Source forms
ἔκλασεν 6x eklasen Matthew 15:36, Matthew 26:26, Mark 8:6, Mark 14:22
κλάσας 4x klasas Matthew 14:19, Luke 24:30, Acts 20:11, Acts 27:35
ἔκλασα 1x eklasa Mark 8:19
κλάσαι 1x klasai Acts 20:7
κλῶμεν 1x klōmen 1 Corinthians 10:16
κλῶντές 1x klōntes Acts 2:46
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 6x Matthew 15:36, Matthew 26:26, Mark 8:6, Mark 14:22
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular 4x Matthew 14:19, Luke 24:30, Acts 20:11, Acts 27:35
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular 1x Mark 8:19
Verb - Aorist Infinitive Active 1x Acts 20:7
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural 1x 1 Corinthians 10:16
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural 1x Acts 2:46
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Breaking bread, especially in liturgical/communal meals, signifies shared fellowship and covenant participation.
Strong's G2806
Lexical occurrences 14 verses Greek text appearances 15 times Word forms 3 forms 14 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Acts 20:7-12 Source Gloss
to break (specially, of bread)
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Breaking bread, especially in liturgical/communal meals, signifies shared fellowship and covenant participation.
to break, break in pieces: of bread, Mat.14:19 15:36 26:26, Mrk.8:6 14:22, Luk.22:19 24:30, Act.2:46 20:7, 11 27:35, 1Co.10:16 11:24; before εἰς, with accusative of person(s), Mrk.8:19 (cf. ἐκ-, κατα-κλάω).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
15 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 14:19 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
κλάσας klasav
I break
Read verse Matthew 15:36 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔκλασε, eklasen
I break
Read verse Matthew 26:26 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔκλασε eklasen
I break
Read verse Mark 8:6 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔκλασε eklasen
I break
Read verse Mark 8:19 Verb First Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔκλασα eklasa
I break
Read verse Mark 14:22 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔκλασε, eklasen
I break
Read verse Luke 22:19 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔκλασε, eklasen
I break
Read verse Luke 24:30 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
κλάσας klasav
I break
Read verse Acts 2:46 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
κλῶντές klwntev
I break
Read verse Acts 20:7 Verb Aorist Active Infinitive
κλάσαι klasai
I break
Read verse Acts 20:11 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
κλάσας klasav
I break
Read verse Acts 27:35 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
κλάσας klasav
I break
Read verse 1 Corinthians 10:16 Verb First Person Plural Present Active Indicative
κλῶμεν, klwmen
I break
Read verse 1 Corinthians 11:24 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔκλασε, eklasen
I break
Read verse 1 Corinthians 11:24 Verb Present Passive Participle Nominative Singular Neuter
κλώμενον· klwmenon
I break
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 mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups 3 Aligned forms 14 Tenses Aorist, Present Voices Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 8×
Aorist Active Matt 15:36 · Matt 26:26 · Mark 8:6 · Mark 14:22 · Luke 22:19 · 1 Cor 11:24 · Mark 8:19 7×
Present Active 1 Cor 10:16 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 5×
Aorist Active Matt 14:19 · Luke 24:30 · Acts 20:11 · Acts 27:35 4×
Present Active Acts 2:46 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 1×
Aorist Active Acts 20:7 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 14 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 12 present 2
Voice
active 14
Mood
indicative 8 participle 5 infinitive 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 14:19 κλάσας aorist active participle participle Matthew 15:36 ἔκλασεν aorist active indicative completed Matthew 26:26 ἔκλασεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 8:19 ἔκλασα aorist active indicative completed Mark 8:6 ἔκλασεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 14:22 ἔκλασεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 22:19 ἔκλασεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 24:30 κλάσας aorist active participle participle Acts 2:46 κλῶντές present active participle participle Acts 20:11 κλάσας aorist active participle participle Acts 20:7 κλάσαι aorist active infinitive infinitive Acts 27:35 κλάσας aorist active participle participle 1 Corinthians 10:16 κλῶμεν present active indicative ongoing 1 Corinthians 11:24 ἔκλασεν aorist active indicative completed
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
To break bread in fellowship.
Additional Occurrences
Luke 9:10–17 κλάσας kláō
Having broken
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 14 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
κλάω is a primary verb - no further derivation.
Why This Word Matters
Indicates shared worship and communal meal. Acts 20:7-12
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain