Biblical Lexicon

κάλᾰμος G2563

N-AMS | 12× in 2 senses

A reed plant or staff made from it; also a writing pen fashioned from a sharpened reed.

Kalamos is one of those humble, everyday objects that Scripture presses into vivid service. As a plant, it evokes the wind-tossed marshlands of the Jordan -- Jesus asks the crowds, 'What did you go out to see? A reed shaken by the wind?' (Matt 11:7). As a staff, it became a cruel prop in the mockery of Christ: soldiers placed a reed in his hand as a scepter, then struck him with it (Matt 27:29-30). In one solitary occurrence (3 John 1:13), the word takes its specialized meaning of a writing pen -- a sharpened reed dipped in ink -- reminding us that the ancient world's technology for recording Scripture was itself a gift of creation.

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Senses

1. reed (plant or staff) — The reed as a living plant or a rod/staff fashioned from it. In Matt 11:7 and Luke 7:24, Jesus uses the image of a reed swaying in the wind as a metaphor for fickleness. Matt 12:20 quotes Isaiah: 'a bruised reed he will not break,' evoking gentleness toward the fragile. At the crucifixion, a reed served both as a mock scepter (Matt 27:29) and as a pole to lift a sponge of sour wine (Matt 27:48; Mark 15:36). In Revelation 11:1 and 21:15-16, a reed functions as a measuring rod. Spanish 'caña' and French 'roseau' consistently denote the marsh plant across all these varied uses. 11×

PLANTS_AGRICULTURE › Plants › Reed Cane Plant

AR["القَصَبَةِ", "الْقَصَبَةَ", "بِقَصَبَةٍ", "عَلَى-قَصَبَةٍ", "قَصَبَةً", "قَصَبَةٌ"]·ben["নল", "নল-দিয়ে", "নলখাগড়া", "নলে", "লাঠি", "লাঠিতে"]·DE["Rohr", "κάλαμον", "καλάμῳ"]·EN["a-reed", "on-a-reed", "reed", "with-a-reed"]·FR["roseau"]·heb["בְּ-קָנֶה", "הַ-קָנֶה", "עַל-קָנֶה", "קָנֶה"]·HI["नरकुल", "नरकुल-को", "सरकंडा", "सरकंडे-पर", "सरकण्डा", "सरकण्डे-पर", "सरकण्डे-से"]·ID["Buluh", "buluh", "dengan-tongkat", "pada-tongkat", "tongkat"]·IT["canna", "kalamon", "kalamos", "kalamō"]·jav["Glagah", "deling", "glagah", "tebu", "tebu,", "wonten-ing-tebu,"]·KO["갈대-를", "갈대-에", "갈대가", "갈대로", "갈대를", "갈대에"]·PT["cana", "caniço", "com-cana", "em-cana", "numa-cana", "vara"]·RU["Трость", "на-трость", "тростник", "трость", "тростью"]·ES["caña", "caña,", "con-caña", "de-caña"]·SW["kwa-mwanzi", "mwanzi", "mwanzi,", "mwanzini", "unyasi"]·TR["kamiscila", "kamış", "kamış-mı", "kamışa", "kamışla", "kamışı"]·urd["سرکنڈا", "سرکنڈے-سے", "سرکنڈے-پر", "لاٹھی", "لاٹھی-پر", "ہوا"]

Matt 11:7, Matt 12:20, Matt 27:29, Matt 27:30, Matt 27:48, Mark 15:19, Mark 15:36, Luke 7:24, Rev 11:1, Rev 21:15, Rev 21:16

2. pen (writing instrument) — A reed pen -- a writing instrument made by cutting and shaping a reed stalk to a point. This specialized sense appears only in 3 John 1:13, where the elder writes, 'I had many things to write to you, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink.' English 'pen' and the broader Romance and Germanic glosses ('caña,' 'roseau,' 'Rohr') reflect how the same physical object -- the reed -- transitions from plant to tool depending on context, a natural metonymy understood across cultures. 1×

PLANTS_AGRICULTURE › Plants › Reed Cane Plant

AR["قَلَمٍ"]·ben["কলমের"]·DE["Rohr"]·EN["pen"]·FR["roseau"]·heb["קוּלְמוֹס"]·HI["कलम"]·ID["pena"]·IT["kalamou"]·jav["péna"]·KO["갈대"]·PT["cálamo"]·RU["трость"]·ES["caña"]·SW["kalamu"]·TR["kalem"]·urd["قلم"]

3 John 1:13

BDB / Lexicon Reference

κάλᾰμος [κᾰ], ὁ, reed, used for thatching or wattling, Refs 5th c.BC+; various species, κ. εὐώδης, ἀρωματικός, sweet flag, Acorus Calamus, Refs 4th c.BC+; κ. αὐλητικός pole-reed, Arundo Donax, Refs 4th c.BC+; κ. εἰλετίας marram, Ammophila arundinacea, Refs; κ. ἐπίγειος bush-grass, Calamagrostis epigeios, Refs; κ. Ἰνδικός bamboo, Bambusa arundinacea, Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. Ἰνδικὸς ὁ ἄρρην male bamboo,…