Greek word · G1385

δοκός

dokos

plank

A beam or main timber, especially a roof-beam or the supporting beam of a house. It could also mean a bar or a large plank. It means a heavy piece of a building, not a stick.

Appears 6 times in 5 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

δοκός, -οῦ, ἡ

(δέχομαι) [in LXX for קוֹרָה, etc. ;]

a beam of timber: Matthew 7:3-5, Luke 6:41-42 (DCG, i, 176).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Matthew 7:3

Range of meaning

A beam or main timber, especially a roof-beam or the supporting beam of a house. It could also mean a bar or a large plank. It means a heavy piece of a building, not a stick.

Against the English

'Beam' (KJV, BSB, WEB) is the closest. 'Log' (ESV, NASB, NLT) suggests firewood or a raw tree trunk and loses the building picture. 'Plank' (NIV) is a board. It is closer, but thinner than a main roof timber.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used in classical Greek for roof timbers (Homer, Herodotus). In the Greek Old Testament it appears for house and building beams, for example 2 Kings (4 Kingdoms) 6:2, 5, where the prophets' disciples cut beams to build and an axe-head flies off one of them. A later rabbinic saying uses the same pair of images: 'take the chip (qisem) from between your eyes' answered by 'take the beam (qorah) from between your eyes' (Babylonian Talmud, Arakhin 16b, attributed to Rabbi Tarfon; also Baba Bathra 15b).

From the study of Matthew 7:5

Range of meaning

A beam or main timber: a roof-beam, joist, or rafter, the heavy wood a house is built on.

Against the English

KJV/BSB/WEB/YLT 'beam' and ESV/NASB 'log' keep the sense of size. NIV 'plank' is smaller and flatter than the Greek picture, a sawn board rather than a structural timber.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament: Song of Songs 1:17, 'the beams of our houses are cedars,' and 2 Kings 6:2, 5, where the prophets' disciples cut beams and an axe-head falls into the Jordan. A close Jewish parallel appears in the Babylonian Talmud (Arakhin 16b). Rabbi Tarfon complains that his generation cannot accept correction: if someone says 'remove the chip from between your eyes,' the reply is 'remove the beam from between your eyes.'

From the study of Luke 6:41

Range of meaning

A beam or main timber, especially the heavy beam that supports a roof or floor (LSJ, BDAG: 'beam of wood used in construction').

Against the English

KJV, BSB and WEB have 'beam', which is accurate. ESV, NASB and NLT have 'log', and NIV has 'plank'. 'Log' keeps the size and absurdity but loses the picture of building timber. 'Plank' sounds thinner and lighter than a roof-beam.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint, Gen 19:8 has Lot's guests 'under the shelter of my beams' (ὑπὸ τὴν σκέπην τῶν δοκῶν), meaning his roof. 2 Kings (4 Kingdoms) 6:2 has the prophets' disciples each going to cut 'a beam' (δοκόν) to build a house. Rabbinic parallel: qôrâ, 'roof-beam' (b. Arakhin 16b; b. Bava Batra 15b).

Where it appears

Matthew · 3

  1. Matthew 7:3 δοκὸν a beam

    Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?

    Here: A main structural timber, the kind of beam that holds up a roof. The joke is deliberately absurd: a roof-beam sticking out of someone's eye.

  2. Matthew 7:4 δοκὸς beam

    How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye?

    Here: A load-bearing beam, the kind of main timber that holds up a roof. The idea of one stuck in an eye is deliberately ridiculous.

  3. Matthew 7:5 δοκόν, beam,

    You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

    Here: A large structural timber of the kind that holds up a roof. Picturing one stuck in an eye is deliberately absurd.

Luke · 3

  1. Luke 6:41 δοκὸν the beam

    Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?

    Here: A heavy structural timber, the kind that holds up a roof. The image is deliberately absurd: a roof-beam sticking out of someone's eye.

  2. Luke 6:42 δοκὸν δοκὸν beam

    How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

    Here: A main structural timber, the kind of beam that holds up a roof. The exaggeration is deliberately absurd: a whole rafter sticking out of a man's eye.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.