Bread (Bible)

Term and Translation

In the Bible, bread is a food made by kneading grain flour into dough and baking it. The word translates the Hebrew lechem in the Old Testament and the Greek artos in the New Testament. Both words can mean food in general as well as bread. The place name Bethlehem is commonly interpreted as "house of bread."

In Korean Bible translations, the Revised Korean Version and the Korean Revised Version render the term as tteok, while the New Korean Standard Version and the Korean Common Translation mostly use ppang ("bread"). The biblical food is not the Korean rice cake, which is also called tteok.

Background

In ancient Israel, bread made from wheat or barley was a staple food. It was usually baked flat and broken by hand to be shared, so the expression "to break bread" also came to mean sharing a meal. Barley bread is thought to have been cheaper than wheat bread.

Occurrences in the Bible

• Unleavened bread: At the time of the Exodus, the Israelites ate bread baked in haste without leaven at the Passover (Exodus 12:8, 12:39).
• Manna: In the wilderness, God rained bread from heaven (Exodus 16:4). The article Manna and Quail covers this event in detail.
• Showbread: Twelve loaves were set on the table in the tabernacle (Leviticus 24:5-9). These loaves were the showbread. While fleeing, David received this bread and ate it (1 Samuel 21:1-6). Jesus cited this incident in a dispute over the Sabbath (Mark 2:25-26).
• Not by bread alone: During the temptation in the wilderness, Jesus quoted the words "man doth not live by bread only" (Deuteronomy 8:3), saying, "Man shall not live by bread alone" (Matthew 4:4).
• Feeding of the five thousand: Jesus fed the crowd with a boy's five barley loaves and two fishes (John 6:9).
• Bread of life: Jesus said, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35).
• The Last Supper and the early church: Jesus broke bread and said, "this is my body" (Matthew 26:26). The early church continued "in breaking of bread" (Acts 2:42). On the road to Emmaus, two disciples recognized Jesus when he broke bread (Luke 24:30-31).

Significance Across Scripture

In the Old Testament, bread is tied to the confession that God provides for the needs of his people. The "daily bread" of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:11) is also artos in the Greek text. The New Testament connects the manna in the wilderness with Jesus himself (John 6:31-35). Paul links bread with the unity of the church: "For we being many are one bread, and one body" (1 Corinthians 10:17).

Interpretations and Issues

• The bread of the Lord's Supper and the body of Christ: Churches understand the relationship between the bread and the body of Christ in different ways. The Catholic Church teaches that consecration, the prayer that sets the elements apart as holy, changes the substance of the bread into the body of Christ. Lutherans confess that the body of Christ is truly present with the bread. The Reformed tradition, including Presbyterians, teaches a spiritual presence through the Holy Spirit. Traditions that descend from Huldrych Zwingli and many Baptist churches emphasize the Supper as a memorial. The article Eucharistic controversies discusses these views in more detail.
• Use of leaven: The Catholic Church uses unleavened bread. The Orthodox Church uses leavened bread. Practice varies among Protestant churches.
• Differences in interpretation: Interpreters disagree on whether "breaking bread" in Acts 2:46 refers to the Lord's Supper or to ordinary meals. They also disagree on whether the bread-of-life discourse in John 6 refers to the Lord's Supper.
• A misunderstanding caused by translation: Some Korean readers take the tteok of the Korean Revised Version to mean the Korean rice cake. This misunderstanding comes from the translators' choice of word.

In the Korean Church

In Korean Protestant churches, phrases from the Korean Revised Version such as "bread of life" and "the bread and the cup" are common in sermons and in liturgies for the Lord's Supper. For communion, many of these churches cut ordinary bread, such as sandwich bread, into small pieces.