noun · neuter
brōmem
Strong’sG1033
food of any kind
stem brōm-17 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books6 of 6 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Food of any kind, in the ordinary sense of what a person eats 124. This covers food in general, including things eaten as regular meals, and Strong's notes that it can refer especially to specific articles either allowed or forbidden under Jewish dietary law 2.
The word is also used figuratively for spiritual food, food in a non-literal sense 1.
In the Greek Old Testament the word is also used of moth-damage, a kind of eating-away or corrosion rather than food as such 3.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
βρῶμα, -τος, τό (cf. βιβρώσκω),
[in LXX chiefly for אֹכֶל;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1033 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidbro'-mah
food (literally or figuratively), especially (ceremonially) articles allowed or forbidden by the Jewish law
Fromfrom the base of G977;
King Jamesmeat, victuals.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
(βιβρώσκω) that which is eaten, food, meat, Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to ὄψα, Refs 3rd c.BC+
II cavity in a tooth, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 moth-eating, in plural, LXX
III plural, filth, ordure, probably in NT; compare βρῶμος (B).
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject or object direct | brōmem3×βρῶμα | brōmeim1×βρώματα |
| of, belonging to genitive | brōmeu1×βρώματος | brōmeiu1×βρωμάτων |
| to, for dative | brōme1×βρώματί | brōmei3×βρώμασιν |
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
brōme is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
17 occurrences, every one of them listed
brōmem“food”subject or objectdirect singular3×
John 4:34legatō autoi tos Iēsus; Ēmem brōmem atō hina poiameia tem thelēmem tou …Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of …
1 Corinthians 8:8brōmem de nin ouk parastēati to theo; …But food does not bring us closer to …
1 Corinthians 8:13“food”dioper ei brōmem skandalizatō ton adelfon mu, ouk mē …Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat …
brōmeu“food”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
Romans 14:20mē heneken brōmeu kataluasōr tem ergem tou theou. panteim …… of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it …
brōme“what … eat”to, fordative singular1×
Romans 14:15“what … eat”… ouketi kata agapan peripatasō. mē te brōme su ekeinon apolasōr huper hou Christos …… you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.
brōmeim“food”subject or objectdirect plural1×
1 Corinthians 6:13teim brōmeim ta koilia, kai tas koilias tei …“Food for the stomach and the stomach …
brōmeiu“foods”of, belonging togenitive plural1×
1 Timothy 4:3kōluarōntoiu gamarō, apechorō brōmeiu heim tos theos ktizata eis metalēmpsian …… marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be …
brōmei“food”to, fordative plural3×
1 Corinthians 6:13… ta koilia, kai tas koilias tei brōmei; tos de theos kai houtan kai …… the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both …
Hebrews 9:10monem epi brōmei kai pomei kai diaforoi baptismoi, dikaiōmeim …They consist only in food and drink and special washings — external …
Hebrews 13:9… gar charita bebaiorō tan kardian, ouk brōmei, en hei ouk ōfelila tois peripatarōntois.… strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted …
brōmeim4×
Matthew 14:15… apercharantois eis tain kōmain agorazaleia heautoi brōmeim.… the villages and buy themselves some food.”
Mark 7:19… ton afedrōnon ekporeuotō? katharizarōntos panteim teim brōmeim.… and then is eliminated.” (Thus all foods are clean.)
Luke 3:11… to mē echarōnto, kai tos echarōntos brōmeim homoiōs poiatōr.… who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”
Luke 9:13… agorazaneia eis panton ton laon houton brōmeim.… answered, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”
brōmem3×
Romans 14:15ei gar dia brōmem tos adelfos su lupotō, ouketi kata …If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in …
1 Corinthians 3:2galaktem vin potizama, ouk brōmem, oupō gar dunove. alla oude ēti …I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready …
1 Corinthians 10:3kai pantois tem autem pneumatikem brōmem esthialaThey all ate the same spiritual food