Greek word · G2798

κλάδος

klados

branch

A branch or bough, especially a young, leafy one. It is also used figuratively for offspring (Rom 11:16–21).

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 30, 2026

What it means

κλάδος, -ου, ὁ

(κλάω), [in LXX for דָּלִיָּה, כַּף, etc. ;]

a young tender shoot broken off for grafting; then, a branch: Matthew 13:32 21:8 24:32, Mark 4:32 13:28, Luke 13:19; metaphorically, of descendants (cf. Sirach 40:15), Romans 11:16-19, 21.†

(AS)

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

Range of meaning: A branch or bough, especially a young, leafy one. It is also used figuratively for offspring (Rom 11:16–21).
Against the English: All the major versions say 'branches'. The drift happens in popular memory, which says 'palms'. That comes from John's account, not Matthew's.
How it drifted: The name 'Palm Sunday' and the liturgical use of palms come from John 12:13 (ta baia tōn phoinikōn, 'the fronds of the date palms'). Readers then carry that detail into Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Used elsewhere in the period: 2 Maccabees 10:7 describes the Temple rededication (the origin of Hanukkah): the Jews carried 'ivy-wreathed wands and beautiful branches (kladous) and also palm fronds' and sang hymns. 1 Maccabees 13:51 says Simon entered the citadel in 141 BC 'with praise and palm branches and with harps and cymbals'. Leviticus 23:40 commands branches for the Feast of Booths (Sukkot). Psalm 118, quoted in the next verse, was sung at Sukkot while worshippers waved branches. Mark 11:8 has stibadas, meaning leafy greenery cut from the fields. Luke 19:36 mentions only cloaks.

Range of meaning: A branch or shoot, especially a young, breakable one (from klaō, 'to break'). Used of tree branches (Mark 11:8; 13:28) and, figuratively, of descendants (Romans 11:16–21, the olive-tree branches).
Against the English: 'Branches' everywhere. KJV 'shooteth out great branches' keeps the vigour of the growth.
Used elsewhere in the period: Daniel 4 (Theodotion's Greek) describes the birds dwelling 'in its branches' (en tois kladois autou). Ezekiel 17:23 and 31:6 speak of the cedar's boughs and branches. In Mark 13:28 the fig tree's klados 'becomes tender' as a sign that summer is near.

Range of meaning: Branch, shoot, young growth of a tree (from klaō, "to break," i.e. what can be broken off).
Against the English: "Branches" is accurate. Modern readers sometimes take the branches here to be Christians, but in this verse they are the natural branches: ethnic Israel.
Used elsewhere in the period: Matthew 13:32 and 24:32 use it for branches of mustard and fig. Romans 11:17–21 develops the image of natural branches broken off and wild branches grafted in. The word's link to klaō ("break") matches the "broken off" (exeklasthēsan) of verse 17.

Matthew · 3

Matthew 13:32 κλάδοις branches

Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

Here: Branches, the young limbs of a tree. The same word appears in the Greek (Theodotion) version of Daniel 4 for the branches of the world-tree where birds nest.
Matthew 21:8 κλάδους branches

A massive crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

Here: Branches or leafy boughs, with no species named. Matthew does not say 'palms'. That detail comes from John 12:13.
Matthew 24:32 κλάδος branch

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.

Here: Singular in Greek, but used collectively for the tree's branches or new shoots. Many English versions rightly use the plural, 'branches' or 'twigs'.

Mark · 2

Mark 4:32 κλάδους branches

But after it is planted, it grows to be the largest of all garden plants and puts forth great branches, so that the birds of the air nest in its shade.”

Here: Branches or shoots. The word is at home in descriptions of trees, including the great symbolic trees of Daniel 4 and Ezekiel 17, which prepares for the echo at the end of the verse.
Mark 13:28 κλάδος branch

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.

Luke · 1

Luke 13:19 κλάδοις branches

It is like a mustard seed that a man tossed into his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

Here: Branches, the boughs that give shelter. The word Daniel 4 uses for the branches of the world-tree.

Romans · 5

Romans 11:16 κλάδοι. branches.

If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Here: Shoots growing naturally from the root. They stand for the people of Israel descended from the patriarchs, including those Paul has just called "hardened" (11:7). The next verse speaks of some of these branches being broken off.
Romans 11:17 κλάδων branches

Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,

Here: The branches are individual Israelites, members of the people that grows from the patriarchal root. The noun comes from the verb klaō, "to break," so there is a sound-play with the next word: the "break-offs" were broken off.
Romans 11:18 κλάδων· branches;

do not boast over those branches. If you do, remember this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.
Romans 11:19 κλάδοι branches

You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”
Romans 11:21 κλάδων branches

For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either.

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