κάρφος

From the study of Matthew 7:3

Range of meaning

A small dry piece of plant matter or wood: a chip, a splinter, a wisp of straw or chaff, a twig, a bit of the stuff a bird builds a nest with. It comes from the verb karphō, 'to dry up'. It is something light and close to worthless.

Against the English

'Speck' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB) gets the size right but loses what the thing is: a bit of wood or straw, the same kind of stuff as the beam, only tiny. KJV's 'mote' once meant a particle of dust or straw, but most readers today no longer know the word. NIV's 'speck of sawdust' keeps the wood idea by adding a word the Greek does not have.

How it drifted

'Mote' fell out of everyday English. 'Speck' is accurate about size but loses the link to the beam.

Used elsewhere in the period

Classical Greek uses it for dry twigs and straw, for example birds' nesting material in Herodotus and Aristophanes. In the Greek Old Testament, Genesis 8:11 has the dove return with an olive leaf, 'a twig' (karphos). The only New Testament uses are this saying (Matt 7:3–5; Luke 6:41–42). The Greek fragment of the Gospel of Thomas (Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1, saying 26) uses the same word in the same saying.

From the study of Matthew 7:5

Range of meaning

A small dry stalk or twig, a bit of straw or chaff, a wood-chip or splinter. Any small dry fragment that could blow into an eye.

Against the English

'Speck' (BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV, NASB) gets the size right but loses that it is dry plant matter, which pairs naturally with a beam of wood. KJV 'mote' meant a particle of dust and is now archaic. The supplied in-context gloss 'splinter' keeps the woody material.

How it drifted

'Mote' came from Tyndale's English, and Wycliffe used a related word for the straw in the Latin festuca. Most modern readers no longer know the word.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek Old Testament Genesis 8:11: the dove returns with 'an olive leaf, a twig (karphos), in her mouth.' The Talmud parallel above uses Hebrew qisam (chip, splinter) against qorah (beam), the same pairing of a small piece of wood and a big one.

From the study of Luke 6:41

Range of meaning

A small, dry piece of plant matter or wood: a twig, stalk, piece of straw, bit of chaff, chip or splinter (BDAG: 'a small piece of straw, chaff, or wood'). It comes from κάρφω, 'to dry up, wither'. It is small, light and dry, the stuff that blows off a threshing floor or falls from a carpenter's saw.

Against the English

KJV 'mote' (from Tyndale) is old English for a particle of dust. Modern 'speck' (BSB, ESV, NASB) suggests a dot of dirt or dust. NIV 'speck of sawdust' and WEB 'speck of chaff' keep the plant or wood material. In the original, splinter and beam are the same kind of stuff, so the joke is all about size.

How it drifted

Tyndale's 'mote' (a dust particle) shaped later English versions, and 'speck' carried the dust picture on, so the link in material between the two objects dropped out.

Used elsewhere in the period

In classical Greek, Herodotus (3.111) uses κάρφεα for the dry sticks birds carry to build nests. In the Septuagint (Gen 8:11) the dove returns with an olive leaf, φύλλον ἐλαίας κάρφος, a freshly plucked sprig. The New Testament uses the word only in this saying (Matt 7:3–5; Luke 6:41–42). The Rabbinic version of the proverb (b. Arakhin 16b) has the Hebrew qêsam, 'chip, splinter'.