κάλᾰμος G2563
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.
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×
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"]
▼ 1 more sense below
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×
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"]
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,…