verb
klamō
Strong’sG2806
I break
stem kl-14 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books6 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
Break, or break in pieces 1234. It appears in the New Testament in connection with bread, describing the action of breaking a loaf 13.
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
κλάω,
[in LXX: Je 16:7 (פּרם), al.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2806 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidklah'-o
to break (specially, of bread)
Froma primary verb;
King Jamesbreak.
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
A imperfect ἔκλων (κατ-) Refs 8th c.BC+: future κλάσω [ᾰ] Refs 1st c.AD+: aorist 1 ἔκλᾰσα, Epic dialect κλάσε Refs 8th c.BC+:—middle, poetry aorist κλάσσατο Refs 4th c.BC+:—passive, future κλασθήσομαι Refs 4th c.BC+: aorist ἐκλάσθην Refs 8th c.BC+: perfect κέκλασμαι Refs 4th c.BC+aorist 2 participle κλάς (as if from κλῆμι) Refs 6th c.BC+:—break, break off, ἐξ ὕλης πτόρθον κλάσε Refs 8th c.BC+; break off the luxuriant shoots of the vine, NT+4th c.BC+
A.2 Geometry texts, deflect, inflect, usually of drawing a straight line 'broken back' at a line or surface, κλάσαι εὐθεῖαν τὴν ΑΓΒ ἐν λόγῳ τῷ δοθέντι Refs 3rd c.AD+; ἀπὸ δύο σημείων τῶν B, E κλάσαι τὴν ΒΝΞΕ Refs:—more frequently in passive, Refs 4th c.BC+.; ἡ κεκλασμένη (i.e. γραμμή) Refs 3rd c.BC+; ἐὰν ἀπὸ τῶν σημείων κλασθῶσινRefs 3rd c.BC+; of visual rays, Refs 4th c.BC+; of arteries, Refs 1st c.AD+ their broken courses, Refs
A.3 metaphorically, break, weaken, frustrate, τὴν ἐλπίδα Refs 1st c.AD+perfect participle passive, κεκλασμένη φωνή weak, effeminate voice, Refs 5th c.BC+ (also of the Siren's song, Refs 2nd c.AD+; τὰ κεκλ. τῶν ὀμμάτων enfeebled eyes, Refs 4th c.BC+; κεκλ. μέλη varied by modulation, Refs 1st c.AD+; ῥυθμὸς κεκλ. broken rhythm, Refs 3rd c.AD+; τὸ κεκλ. καὶ παντοδαπόν (i.e. τῆς λέξεως) Refs 1st c.BC+
A.3.b of emotion, ἐκλάσθην πρὸς ἔλεον Refs 1st c.AD+
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
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| klanōκλῶμεν | happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural | break | 1× |
| klamaἔκλασα | happened · Iaorist active indicative 1st person singular | broke | 1× |
| klataἔκλασεν | happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular | broke | 6× |
| klaraκλάσαι | happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive | break | 1× |
| klarōntoisκλῶντές | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine | breaking | 1× |
| klarantosκλάσας | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine | broke | 4× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 8 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | klamō | klame | klami | klama1×ἔκλασα | klamē | klamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | klasō | klase | klasi | klasa | klasē | klaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | klatō | klate | klati | klata6×ἔκλασεν | klatē | klatelē |
| we 1st person plural | klanō1×κλῶμεν | klane | klani | klana | klanē | klanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | klavō | klave | klavi | klava | klavē | klavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | klalō | klale | klali | klala | klalē | klalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | klameiō | klameia | klameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | klaseiō | klaseia | klaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | klateiō | klateia | klateiē |
| we 1st person plural | klaneiō | klaneia | klaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | klaveiō | klaveia | klaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | klaleiō | klaleia | klaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | klasōr | klasar | klasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | klatōr | klatar | klatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | klavōr | klavar | klavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | klalōr | klalar | klalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | klamoiō | klamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | klasoiō | klasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | klatoiō | klatoia |
| we 1st person plural | klanoiō | klanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | klavoiō | klavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | klaloiō | klaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 1 occurrence
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | klarō | klari | klara1×κλάσαι | klarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 5 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | klarōntos1× | klarintos | klarantos4×κλάσας | klarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
kl 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.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
klanō“break”happening now · wepresent active indicative 1st person plural1×
1 Corinthians 10:16… haimeu tou Christou? ton arton hon klanō, ouchi koinōnias teu sōmeu tou Christou …… is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of …
klama“broke”happened · Iaorist active indicative 1st person singular1×
Mark 8:19hote toin pente artoin klama eis toin pentakischilioi, posoin kofinoin klasmeiu …When I broke the five loaves for the five …
klata“broke”happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular6×
Matthew 15:36… artoin kai toin ichthoin kai eucharistarantos klata kai dōate toi mathētoi tois de …… the fish, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to …
Matthew 26:26… labarantos tos Iēsus arton kai eulogarantos klata kai dōarantos toi mathētoi legata; Labavar …… took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the …
Mark 8:6… kai labarantos toin hepta artoin eucharistarantos klata kai dōate toi mathētoi autou hina …… the seven loaves, gave thanks and broke them, and gave them to His …
Mark 14:22Kai esthiarōntoiu autoiu labarantos arton eulogarantos klata kai dōata autoi kai legata; Labavar, …… took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the …
Luke 22:19kai labarantos arton eucharistarantos klata kai dōata autoi legarōntos; Houtem atō …… took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them …
1 Corinthians 11:24kai eucharistarantos klata kai legata; Houtem mu atō tem …… when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My …
klara“break”happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive1×
Acts 20:7… ta hena teiu sabbateiu sunagorēntoiu nu klara arton tos Paulos dialegote autoi, mellarōntos …… the week we came together to break bread. Since Paul was ready to …
klarōntois“breaking”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine1×
Acts 2:46“breaking”… tē proskarterarōntois homothumadōs en te hiere, klarōntois tē kata oikon arton, metalabale trofēau …… meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of …
klarantos“broke”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine4×
Matthew 14:19… anableparantos eis ton ouranon eulogata kai klarantos dōata toi mathētoi toin artoin tois …… He spoke a blessing. Then He broke the loaves and gave them to …
Luke 24:30… autoiu labarantos ton arton eulogata kai klarantos epidōate autoi;… took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to them.
Acts 20:11“broken”anabainarantos de kai klarantos ton arton kai geuerantos epi hikanon …Then Paul went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. And after speaking …
Acts 27:35… eucharistata to theo enōpion pantoiu kai klarantos archeta esthiarō.… front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat.