Greek word · G5009
ταμεῖον
tameion
inner room
Comes from tamias, a steward or treasurer. Basic sense: storeroom or storehouse, the place where provisions or valuables are kept. Extended sense: any inner or private room of a house, sometimes a bedroom. Koine Greek spelled it ταμεῖον, a contraction of the classical ταμιεῖον.
Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ταμεῖον
(late syncopated form of cl. ταμιεῖον; see M, Pr., 44 f.; Bl., § 6, 5; Thackeray, Gr., 63 ff.; Deiss., BS, 182 f.), -ον, τό, [in LXX chiefly for חֶדֶר ;]
1. a treasury (Thuc., al).
2. a store-chamber (Arist., Xen.; Deuteronomy 28:8): Luke 12:24.
3. an inner chamber (Xen., Hell., v, 4, 5 Isaiah 26:20, al.): Matthew 6:6 24:26, Luke 12:3.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
Comes from tamias, a steward or treasurer. Basic sense: storeroom or storehouse, the place where provisions or valuables are kept. Extended sense: any inner or private room of a house, sometimes a bedroom. Koine Greek spelled it ταμεῖον, a contraction of the classical ταμιεῖον.
- Against the English
KJV "closet"; BSB, WEB, NASB "inner room"; NIV "room"; YLT "chamber"; NLT drops the room and paraphrases as going away by yourself. In 1611 "closet" meant a small private room for study or prayer. Today it means a cupboard for clothes, so the KJV word now gives a smaller and slightly comic picture.
- How it drifted
English "closet" narrowed between the 17th and 20th centuries, from "private chamber" to "storage cupboard". The phrase "prayer closet" has kept the old word alive while the everyday meaning moved.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) Joseph goes "into the chamber" (tameion) to weep unseen (Gen 43:30). Isaiah 26:20 tells God's people to "enter your chambers, shut your door" and hide until the wrath passes. The word also appears for bedchambers (e.g. 2 Kgs 6:12). In the New Testament: Luke 12:3, words whispered "in the inner rooms"; Luke 12:24, ravens have "no storeroom"; Matt 24:26, "he is in the inner rooms". Greek papyri use it for storerooms and treasuries.
- Range of meaning
An inner room of a house, often windowless and lockable: a storeroom or pantry, and also a private room or bedroom.
- Against the English
'Storehouse' (BSB, KJV) suggests a separate building. The word means a room inside the house where household supplies were kept. Matthew 6:6 uses it for the private room where one prays.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Septuagint Deut 28:8 ('blessing in your storehouses'), Gen 43:30 (Joseph's private chamber), Isa 26:20 ('enter your rooms'). In the New Testament: Matt 6:6, Matt 24:26, Luke 12:3.
Where it appears
Matthew · 2
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Matthew 6:6 ταμεῖόν room
But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Here: Originally a storeroom (it comes from the word for a steward or treasurer). In an ordinary Galilean house this was the inner room where food and goods were kept. It was often the only room with a door that could be shut, and it was the least public spot in the house.
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Matthew 24:26 ταμείοις, inner rooms,
So if they tell you, ‘There He is, in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Here He is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
Luke · 2
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Luke 12:3 ταμείοις inner rooms
What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.
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Luke 12:24 ταμεῖον a storehouse
Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds!
Here: An inner room of a house where supplies were kept under lock. It is the household pantry, as opposed to the farm building. The same word means 'inner rooms' in Luke 12:3.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.