Greek word · G2823

κλίβανος

klibanos

oven

A baking oven, usually a domed or cylindrical clay oven (Hebrew tannûr), heated from inside. Bread dough was slapped against its hot walls (BDAG; LSJ).

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

κλίβανος, -ον, ό

(Att.., κρίβ-, but κλ- in Ion., Hdt., ii, 92), [in LXX for תַּנּוּר, Genesis 15:17, Hosea 7:4, 6 al. ;]

1. in cl., a clibanus, cribanus, an earthen vessel for baking bread.

2. In LXX and NT, a furnace (cf. MM, Exp., xv), an oven: Matthew 6:30, Luke 12:28.†

(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 6:30

Range of meaning

A baking oven, usually a domed or cylindrical clay oven (Hebrew tannûr), heated from inside. Bread dough was slapped against its hot walls (BDAG; LSJ).

Against the English

KJV, WEB and ESV say 'oven', which is right. BSB, NASB and YLT say 'furnace', and NIV and NLT say 'fire'. To modern ears 'furnace' suggests a smelting or industrial furnace, or Daniel's 'fiery furnace' and Matthew's furnace of judgment, which is a different Greek word (κάμινος, 13:42, 50).

How it drifted

Older English used 'furnace' loosely for any enclosed fire. Today it means industrial or heating equipment, and in church language it is tied to judgment scenes.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint κλίβανος translates tannûr: the frogs reach the ovens (Exod 8:3); grain offerings 'baked in an oven' (Lev 2:4; 7:9); 'ten women shall bake your bread in one oven' (Lev 26:26); Hosea's image of the heated baker's oven (Hos 7:4–7). It is used as a picture of judgment only by comparison ('burning like an oven', Mal 4:1 [3:19 LXX]; Ps 21[20]:9). The Mishnah takes it for granted that stoves were heated with stubble or straw (m. Shabbat 3:1).

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 6:30 κλίβανον [the] furnace

    If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

    Here: The household clay bread-oven. Dried grass and brush were its everyday fuel. It is a kitchen image, not a picture of industrial or hellish fire.

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 12:28 κλίβανον [the] furnace

    If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith!

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