noun · feminine
trofēas
Strong’sG5160
food, nourishment
stem trofē-16 times in the New Testamentin 6 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
Food or nourishment, in the ordinary sense of what a person eats or lives on 1234. This sense also extends figuratively, covering things like spiritual or teaching-related "nourishment" 13, and, by extension, can refer to rations or wages given as sustenance 2.
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
τροφή, -ῆς, ἡ
(< τρέφω), [in LXX for לֶחֶם, מָזוֹן, אֹכֶל, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G5160 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidtrof-ay'
nourishment (literally or figuratively); by implication, rations (wages)
Fromfrom G5142;
King Jamesfood, meat.
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
(τρέφω) nourishment, food, NT+5th c.BC+; the means of maintaining an army, provisions, forage, τροφὴν παρέχειν Refs 3rd c.BC+
2 βίου τροφαί way of life, livelihood, living, Refs 5th c.BC+; τροφή alone, δουλίαν ἕξειν τροφήν Refs 5th c.BC+: then, simply, mode of life, δίκην τίνουσαι τῆς προτέρας τ. Refs 5th c.BC+
3 that which provides or procures sustenance, as the bow of Philoctetes, χερὶ πάλλων τὰν ἐμὰν μελέου τροφάν Refs 5th c.BC+
4 a meal, τροφαῖς τέτταρσιν ἐχρῶντο Philem.Refs cited in Refs 2nd c.AD+
II nurture, rearing, παιδία.. τρέφειν.. τροφήν τινα τοιήνδε Refs 5th c.BC+; χάριν τροφᾶς ἀμείβων variant in Refs 5th c.BC+ while in the nursery, opposed to ἐφηβήσας, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐκτίνων τροφάς, much like{τροφεῖα}, Refs 4th c.BC+
II.2 education, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 rearing or keeping of animals, Refs 5th c.BC+
III sometimes in Poets for the concrete θρέμμα, brood, νέα τ. a new generation, Refs 5th c.BC+; of animals, ἀρνῶν τροφαί, i.e. young lambs, Refs 5th c.BC+
IV a place in which animals are reared, ἰβίων τροφαί Refs 3rd c.BC+
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 | trofēas2×τροφὴ | trofēais |
| object accusative | trofēan2×τροφὴν | trofēain1×τροφὰς |
| direct address vocative | trofēar | trofēair |
| of, belonging to genitive | trofēau11×τροφῆς | trofēaiu |
| to, for dative | trofēa | trofēai |
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
trofēa 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.
16 occurrences, every one of them listed
trofēas“food”subjectnominative singular2×
Matthew 3:4… peri tan osfuan autou, tas de trofēas ate autou akridais kai melitem agriem.… leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
Hebrews 5:14teleioiu de atō tas stereas trofēas, toiu dia tan hexian teim aisthētērieim …But solid food is for the mature, who by …
trofēan“food”objectaccusative singular2×
Matthew 24:45… oiketeiau autou teu dōara autoi tan trofēan en kairo?… household, to give the others their food at the proper time?
Acts 9:19kai labarantos trofēan enischuata. Geneta de meta toiu en …and after taking some food, he regained his strength. And he …
trofēau“food”of, belonging togenitive singular11×
Matthew 6:25… ouchi tas psuchas polloterem atō tau trofēau kai tem sōmem teu endumeu?… wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
Matthew 10:10“food”… rabdan; axios gar tos ergatos tau trofēau autou.… sandals, or staff; for the worker is worthy of his provisions.
Luke 12:23tas gar psuchas polloterem atō tau trofēau kai tem sōmem teu endumeu.For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.
Acts 2:46“food”… klarōntois tē kata oikon arton, metalabale trofēau en agalliasia kai afelota kardiau,… to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of …
Acts 14:17… huetoin dōarōntos kai kairoin karpoforoin, empimplēarōntos trofēau kai eufrosunēau tain kardiain vu.… fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
Acts 27:33… genorō parakalate tos Paulos hapantoin metalabara trofēau legarōntos; Tessareskaidekatan sēmeron hēmeran prosdokarōntois asitois …… in constant suspense, without taking any food.
Acts 27:34“food”dio parakalamō vin metalabara trofēau, houtem gar pros tau humeterau sōtērēau …So for your own preservation, I urge you to eat …
Acts 27:36… de generantois pantois kai autois proslabela trofēau.… were all encouraged and took some food themselves.
Acts 27:38“food”korennuirantois de trofēau koufizale tem ploiem ekbalorōntois ton siton …… fill, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into …
Hebrews 5:12… genavē chreian echarōntois galakteu, ouk stereau trofēau.… word. You need milk, not solid food!
James 2:15… gumnois huparchaleiō kai leiporōntois tau efēmerau trofēau,… sister is without clothes and daily food.
trofēain“food”objectaccusative plural1×
John 4:8… autou aperchalelē eis tan polan, hina trofēain agorazaleia.… gone into the town to buy food.)