Greek word · G2766

κέραμος

keramos

clay roof tile

Clay or earthenware in general; a clay jar or vessel; and very commonly a fired roof tile, or a tiled roof taken as a whole. BDAG gives 'clay, earthenware … roof tile, tiles' and puts Luke 5:19 under the tile sense.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

κεραμος, -ου, ὁ

(κεράννυμι), [in LXX: 2 Samuel 17:28 (יָצַר כְּלִי)* ;]

1. potter's clay.

2. an earthen vessel.

3. a tile: Luke 5:19.†

(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 Luke 5:19

Range of meaning

Clay or earthenware in general; a clay jar or vessel; and very commonly a fired roof tile, or a tiled roof taken as a whole. BDAG gives 'clay, earthenware … roof tile, tiles' and puts Luke 5:19 under the tile sense.

Against the English

Nearly every English version has 'tiles' (KJV 'tiling'). That is accurate. NLT spells out the action: 'took off some tiles.' What English readers may not notice is that the parallel in Mark describes a different roof.

Used elsewhere in the period

In classical Greek it is used for roof tiles: Thucydides 2.4.2 tells of the people of Plataea pelting invaders from the rooftops 'with stones and tiles' (keramos). It means pottery or earthenware in the Septuagint (2 Sam 17:28) and in Homer (Iliad 5.387, a bronze or clay jar). Documents from Greek and Roman Egypt use it for tiles and jars. This verse is its only use in the New Testament.

Where it appears

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 5:19 κεράμων tiles

    but they could not find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

    Here: Fired clay roof tiles. The plural points to separate tiles that were lifted out, not a solid layer that was dug through. This is Luke's way of picturing the roof (see Setting).

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