noun · masculine
kalamos
Strong’sG2563
a reed, reed-pen
stem kalam-12 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books4 of 10 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
κάλαμος refers to a reed, the plant itself or its stem 124, and by extension a reed-staff or measuring rod used to measure things 1, and a reed-pen used for writing 1234.
In its plain sense it denotes the reed plant, the kind that grows by water and bends in the wind 1.
From this basic sense the word is also used for a staff made from a reed, including the reed put in Jesus' hand as a mock sceptre and the reed used to offer him a sponge on the cross 1.
It is likewise used of a reed employed as a measuring rod, the standard used for measuring the temple and the city in Revelation 13.
Finally it denotes a reed cut and shaped into a pen for writing, the sense found in the closing words of 3 John 1234.
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
κάλαμος, -ου, ὁ,
[in LXX chiefly for קָנֶה, Is 42:3, Ez 40:3 ff., al.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2563 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidkal'-am-os
a reed (the plant or its stem, or that of a similar plant); by implication, a pen
Fromof uncertain affinity;
King Jamespen, reed.
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
reed, used for thatching or wattling, Refs 5th c.BC+; various species, κ. εὐώδης, ἀρωματικός, sweet flag, Acorus Calamus, Refs 4th c.BC+; κ. αὐλητικός pole-reed, Arundo Donax, Refs 4th c.BC+; κ. εἰλετίας marram, Ammophila arundinacea, Refs; κ. ἐπίγειος bush-grass, Calamagrostis epigeios, Refs; κ. Ἰνδικός bamboo, Bambusa arundinacea, Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. Ἰνδικὸς ὁ ἄρρην male bamboo, Dendrocalamus strictus, Refs 4th c.BC+; κ. κύπριος, ={δόναξ}, Refs 3rd c.BC+; κ. πλόκιμος spear-grass, Phragmites communis, Refs 4th c.BC+; κ. Χαρακίας, Arundo Donax, Refs
II applied to various uses,
II.1 reed-pipe, flute, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 fishing-rod, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 limed twig used by fowlers, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.4 shaft of an arrow, Refs 1st c.BC+; made of κ. τοξικός, or Κρητικός, Refs 4th c.BC+
II.5 reed-pen, LXX+NT+1st c.BC+; κ. γραφεῖς Refs 2nd c.AD+
II.6 measuring-rod, NT+2nd c.AD+; = 5 πήχεις, Refs 2nd c.BC+ “*Geometry texts” 4.11; = 6 2/3 πήχεις, Refs
II.7 in Medicine texts, tube for insufflation, Refs 3rd c.BC+; also, splint, Refs 6th c.AD+in Hp.Fract.Refs
II.8 ornament of female dress, Refs 3rd c.BC+
II.9 stake to which vines were tied, Refs 2nd c.AD+
III collectively,
III.1 reed, i.e. reeds, Refs 4th c.BC+, etc.: in plural, reed-beds, Refs 2nd c.BC+
III.2 of plants, which are neither shrub nor bush (ὕλη), nor tree (δένδρον), Refs 5th c.BC+
III.3 mat of reeds, Refs 5th c.BC+; roof of reeds Refs 5th c.AD+
IV ={καλάμη}, stalk of wheat, Refs 5th c.BC+
V ὁ κ. τοῦ σκέλους the shinbone, Refs 2nd c.AD+
VI ticket for obtaining corn-rations, = tessera frumentaria, Refs (Cf. Latin culmus, OHG. halm, etc.)
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 nominative | kalamos1×κάλαμος | kalamois |
| object accusative | kalamon6×κάλαμον | kalamoin |
| direct address vocative | kalamor | kalamoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | kalamou1×καλάμου | kalamoiu |
| to, for dative | kalamo4×καλάμῳ | kalamoi |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
kalamo 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.
12 occurrences, every one of them listed
kalamos“measuring rod”subjectnominative singular1×
Revelation 11:1Kai dōita mi kalamos homoios rabda, legarōntos; Egerasōr kai metrasar …Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told …
kalamon“reed”objectaccusative singular6×
Matthew 11:7… Tinem exerchava eis tan erēman theasera? kalamon hupo anemou saleuorōnton?… into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?
Matthew 12:20kalamon suntriborēnton ouk kateagati kai linem tuforōntem …A bruised reed He will not break, and a …
Matthew 27:29“reed”… epitithala epi tau kefalau autou kai kalamon en ta dexa autou, kai gonupetarantois …… of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand, knelt down before Him, and mocked Him …
Matthew 27:30“reed”kai emptuarantois eis auton labala ton kalamon kai tuptale eis tan kefalan autou.… they spit on Him and took the staff and struck Him on the head repeatedly.
Luke 7:24… Tinem exerchava eis tan erēman theasera? kalamon hupo anemou saleuorōnton?… into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?
Revelation 21:15… tos lalarōntos meta mu echate metrem kalamon chrusouem, hina metrateia tan polan kai …… with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city and its …
kalamou“pen”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
3 John 1:13… alla ouk thelamō dia melaneu kai kalamou si grafarō;… prefer not to do so with pen and ink.
kalamo“reed”to, fordative singular4×
Matthew 27:48… spongon pimplēarantos tē oxeu kai perititharantos kalamo potizate auton.… sour wine, put it on a reed, and held it up for Jesus …
Mark 15:19“reed”kai tuptale autou tan kefalan kalamo kai emptuale auto, kai titharōntois teim …… striking His head with a staff and spitting on Him. And they knelt down and bowed before Him.
Mark 15:36… tinos kai gemizarantos spongon oxeu perititharantos kalamo potizate auton, legarōntos; Afiēkavar horaneia ei …… wine. He put it on a reed and held it up for Jesus …
Revelation 21:16… platem. kai metrata tan polan to kalamo epi stadioin dōdeka chiliadaiu; tem mēkem …… he measured the city with the rod, and all its dimensions were equal …