1. food composed of flour mixed with water and baked; the Israelites made it in the form of an oblong or round cake, as thick as one's thumb, and as large as a plate or platter (cf. Winers RWB under the word Backen; (BB. DD.)); hence, it was not cut, but broken (see κλάσις and κλάω) Matthew 4:3; Matthew 7:9; Matthew 14:17, 19; Mark 6:36 (T Tr WH omit; L brackets), Mark 6:37; Luke 4:3; Luke 24:30; John 6:5ff; Acts 27:35, and often; ἄρτοι τῆς προθέσεως, loaves consecrated to Jehovah, see πρόθεσις; on the bread used at the love-feasts and the sacred supper (Winer's Grammar, 35), cf. Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19; Acts 2:42, 46; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:26-28.

2. As in Greek writings, and like the Hebrew לֶחֶם, food of any kind: Matthew 6:11; Mark 6:8; Luke 11:3; 2 Corinthians 9:10; ὁ ἄρτος τῶν τέκνων the food served to the children, Mark 7:27; ἄρτον φαγεῖν or ἐσθίειν to take food, to eat (לֶחֶם אֲכֹל) (Winer's Grammar, 33 (32)): Mark 3:20; Luke 14:1, 15; Matthew 15:2; ἄρτον φαγεῖν παρά τίνος to take food supplied by one, 2 Thessalonians 3:8; τόν ἑαυτόν ἄρτον ἐσθίειν, to eat the food which one has procured for himself by his own labor, 2 Thessalonians 3:12; μήτε ἄρτον ἐσθίον, μήτε οἶνον πίνων, abstaining from the usual sustenance, or using it sparingly, Luke 7:33; τρώγειν τόν ἄρτον μετά τίνος to be one's table-companion, his familiar friend, John 13:18 (Psalm 40:10 ()). In John 6:32-35 Jesus calls himself, τόν ἄρτον τοῦ Θεοῦ, τόν ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς, as the Divine λόγος, come from heaven, who containing in himself the source of heavenly life supplies celestial nutriment to souls that they may attain to life eternal.