ἐσθίω
esthiō
to eat
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word ἐσθίω (esthiō) is a verb that means "to eat." It is used 65 times in the Bible, indicating its significance in the lives of ancient people. The semantic domain of "Food & Drink" suggests that this word is closely tied to everyday experiences and needs. The frequency of its usage suggests that eating was a fundamental aspect of life in ancient times. The word is used in various contexts, including descriptions of meals, hospitality, and even spiritual nourishment. This range of usage highlights the importance of food in ancient cultures, not just as a physical necessity but also as a social and symbolic act. The significance of ἐσθίω lies in its ability to convey the physical and emotional aspects of eating. It can describe the act of consuming food, but also the joy, comfort, and community that come with sharing meals. By examining this word, we gain insight into the values and practices of ancient societies, where food played a central role in daily life and social interactions.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
65 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Matthew 11:18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’
Matthew 11:19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”
Matthew 12:1At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the grain fields. His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
Matthew 14:21Those who ate were about five thousand men, in addition to women and children.
Matthew 15:2“Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.”
Matthew 15:27But she said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
Matthew 15:38Those who ate were four thousand men, in addition to women and children.
Matthew 24:49and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with the drunkards,
Matthew 26:21As they were eating, he said, “Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me.”
Matthew 26:26As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
Mark 1:6John was clothed with camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.
Mark 2:16The scribes and the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
Mark 2:16The scribes and the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”
Mark 7:2Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault.
Mark 7:3(For the Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders.
Mark 7:4They don’t eat when they come from the marketplace unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things, which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.)
Mark 7:5The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?”
Mark 7:28But she answered him, “Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
Mark 14:18As they sat and were eating, Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, one of you will betray me—he who eats with me.”
Mark 14:18As they sat and were eating, Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, one of you will betray me—he who eats with me.”
Mark 14:22As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had blessed, he broke it, and gave to them, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body.”
Luke 5:30Their scribes and the Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”
Luke 5:33They said to him, “Why do John’s disciples often fast and pray, likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink?”
Luke 6:1Now on the second Sabbath after the first, he was going through the grain fields. His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate, rubbing them in their hands.
Luke 7:33For John the Baptizer came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’
Luke 7:34The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard; a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
Luke 10:7Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don’t go from house to house.
Luke 10:8Into whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat the things that are set before you.
Luke 12:45But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My lord delays his coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken,
Luke 15:16He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.
Luke 17:27They ate, they drank, they married, and they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ship, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Luke 17:28Likewise, even as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
Luke 22:30that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. You will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Acts 27:35When he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all, then he broke it and began to eat.
Romans 14:2One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.
Romans 14:3Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.
Romans 14:3Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.
Romans 14:3Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.
Romans 14:3Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.
Romans 14:6He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.
Romans 14:6He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.
Romans 14:6He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.
Romans 14:6He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.
Romans 14:20Don’t overthrow God’s work for food’s sake. All things indeed are clean, however it is evil for that man who creates a stumbling block by eating.
1 Corinthians 8:7However, that knowledge isn’t in all men. But some, with consciousness of the idol until now, eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
1 Corinthians 8:10For if a man sees you who have knowledge sitting in an idol’s temple, won’t his conscience, if he is weak, be emboldened to eat things sacrificed to idols?
1 Corinthians 9:7What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the flock’s milk?
1 Corinthians 9:7What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the flock’s milk?
1 Corinthians 9:13Don’t you know that those who serve around sacred things eat from the things of the temple, and those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar?