τάφος G5028
A tomb, grave, or burial place; a sepulchre cut from rock where the dead are interred.
Refers to a burial site — typically a rock-hewn chamber — where a body is placed after death. In the Gospels it appears most prominently in the Passion narrative for the tomb of Jesus: the new tomb where Joseph of Arimathea lays the body (Matt 27:61), sealed with a stone and guarded by soldiers (Matt 27:64, 66). Jesus also uses the word in his prophetic critique of the scribes and Pharisees, calling them 'whitewashed tombs' — beautiful on the outside but full of dead bones within (Matt 23:27, 29). The multilingual uniformity is striking: Spanish 'sepulcro,' French 'tombeau,' German 'Grab' — every tradition isolates the same concrete referent.
Senses
1. tomb, grave, burial place — A grave, tomb, or rock-cut sepulchre where the dead are laid to rest. The multilingual evidence is remarkably uniform — Spanish 'sepulcro,' French 'tombeau,' German 'Grab' — all pointing to the same concrete burial site. In Matt 23:27, 29 Jesus uses the image of whitewashed tombs as a devastating metaphor for outward religious show concealing inner corruption. In Matt 27:61–66 it denotes the specific tomb of Jesus, sealed and guarded, which becomes the site of the resurrection discovery. 7×
AR["القَبرَ", "الْقَبْرَ", "الْقَبْرُ", "الْقَبْرِ", "قَبرٌ", "قُبورًا", "قُبورَ"]·ben["কবর", "কবরগুলি", "কবরগুলির", "কবরের"]·DE["Grab", "τάφοις", "τάφον", "τάφου", "τάφους"]·EN["grave", "tomb", "tombs"]·FR["tombeau"]·heb["הַ-קֶבֶר", "לִקְבָרִים", "קִבְרֵי", "קֶבֶר"]·HI["कब्र", "कब्रें", "कब्रों-से"]·ID["Kubur", "kubur", "kubur-kubur"]·IT["sepolcro", "tomba"]·jav["kubur", "kubur,", "kubur.", "kuburan"]·KO["무덤", "무덤-을", "무덤들-을"]·PT["sepulcro", "túmulo"]·RU["гроб", "гроба", "гробницам", "гробницу", "гробницы"]·ES["a-sepulcros", "sepulcro", "sepulcros", "tumba"]·SW["kaburi", "ya-", "yaliyopakwa-chokaa"]·TR["mezar", "mezara", "mezarlara", "mezarlarını", "mezarı", "mezarın"]·urd["قبر", "قبر-کو", "قبر-کے", "قبروں-سے", "قبریں"]
Related Senses
H3548 1. priest, cultic officiant (750×)G5547 1. Christ, Messiah, Anointed One (540×)H5030 1. Prophet, divine spokesperson (317×)H5930a 1. burnt offering (sacrifice) (286×)H3881 1. Levites (priestly class) (283×)G4396 1. prophet, spokesperson of God (146×)H6944 1. sanctuary, holy place (129×)G0749 1. high priest, chief priest (123×)H6944 2. holiness, sacredness (abstract quality) (123×)G5330 1. Pharisee (99×)G4336 1. pray to God (86×)H6944 3. holy things, sacred offerings (plural) (86×)H3722a 1. make ritual atonement (Piel) (85×)H6912 1. bury (Qal active) (82×)H6419 1. pray (Hitpael) (80×)H6944 4. holiness (with possessive pronoun) (77×)H6942 1. sanctify, consecrate (Piel factitive) (76×)H2930a 1. Qal: be/become unclean (75×)H7819a 1. slaughter an animal (Qal active) (72×)H1486 1. lot (object cast for decisions) (71×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
τάφος [ᾰ], ὁ, (θάπτω) __A funeral-rites, Refs 8th c.BC+; δαινύναι τάφον to give a funeral-feast, Refs 8th c.BC+; τελέσαι τάφον Ἕκτορι δίῳ to perform the funeral-rites, Refs 8th c.BC+; so ὃν πόλις στυγεῖ, σὺ τιμήσεις τάφ; Refs 5th c.BC+; τάφου τυχεῖν obtain the rites of burial, Refs 5th c.BC+: plural of a single funeral, Refs 5th c.BC+; so of cremation, Refs 1st c.AD+ __A.2 the act of performing…