2907. kreas
Lexical Summary
kreas: Meat, flesh

Original Word: κρέας
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: kreas
Pronunciation: KRAY-as
Phonetic Spelling: (kreh'-as)
KJV: flesh
NASB: meat
Word Origin: [perhaps a primary word]

1. (butcher's) meat

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
flesh, meat

Perhaps a primary word; (butcher's) meat -- flesh.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. word
Definition
flesh
NASB Translation
meat (2).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 2907: κρέας

κρέας, τό (cf. Latincaro, cruor; Curtius, § 74), plural κρέα (cf. Winers Grammar, 65 (63); (Buttmann, 15 (13))); (from Homer down); the Sept. very often for בָּשָׂר; (the) flesh (of a sacrificed animal): Romans 14:21; 1 Corinthians 8:13.

Topical Lexicon
Literal Sense and Scope of Meaning

The term refers specifically to animal flesh prepared for human consumption. Unlike broader terms for food, it highlights the portion of a creature that is eaten after slaughter, distinguishing it from both living flesh and plant fare. In the New Testament it appears only twice, both times in Paul’s pastoral counsel about disputable matters within the body of Christ.

Old Testament and Intertestamental Background

Under the Mosaic covenant, distinctions between clean and unclean animals (Leviticus 11) shaped Israel’s diet and identity. Meat offered in sacrifice belonged to God, the priests, and the offerer, reinforcing covenant fellowship (Leviticus 7:15–18). In exilic and post-exilic times, pressures from Gentile environments intensified concern over meat provenance (Daniel 1:8). By the first century, questions about meat purchased in pagan markets or shared at idol-shrines were a daily test of loyalty to the Lord.

New Testament Usage

1. Romans 14:21 situates the word in a trilogy—meat, wine, and any other practice—that might become a stumbling block. Christian liberty is affirmed, yet restricted by love: “It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble.”
2. 1 Corinthians 8:13 applies the same principle amid Corinth’s idol-saturated society: “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to stumble.”

In both contexts Paul treats meat as a morally neutral substance whose consumption turns ethically significant only when it intersects with another believer’s conscience.

Theological Emphasis

• Christ’s Lordship over diet: “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).
• Liberty regulated by love: Freedom is genuine yet voluntarily curtailed for the weaker brother’s edification.
• The unity of Jew and Gentile: By addressing meat in mixed congregations, Paul upholds the gospel’s power to reconcile divergent cultural scruples.
• Common grace and thanksgiving: All creation is declared good when received with prayer (1 Timothy 4:3–5), though never at another’s expense.

Historical Church Practice

The Apostolic Decree (Acts 15:20) asked Gentile converts to abstain from blood and meat strangled or polluted by idols, not as a new legal code but as a bridge for table fellowship with Jewish believers. Early Christian writers such as Justin Martyr and Tertullian echo Paul’s concern: liberty exercised without scandal. Fasting traditions later adopted periodic abstinence from meat as a discipline of self-denial, not a salvific requirement.

Pastoral and Missional Application

• Conscience care: Leaders should help believers distinguish between biblical commands and cultural preferences, encouraging the strong to bear with the weak.
• Contextual sensitivity: Missionaries and local churches wisely adapt diet to avoid hindering the gospel in Muslim, Hindu, or vegetarian regions.
• Ethical sourcing: Contemporary debates on animal welfare and environmental stewardship may be addressed through the same principles—gratitude, love, and the common good.

Contemporary Relevance

Whether discussing kosher labels, vegetarianism, or food offered in non-Christian religious ceremonies, the two Pauline occurrences provide a timeless ethic: believers relinquish legitimate rights rather than wound a fellow disciple or cloud the testimony of Christ. In this way a single word for “meat” continues to instruct the church in holiness, humility, and sacrificial love.

Forms and Transliterations
κρεα κρέα κρέας κρέατα κρεών krea kréa
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Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Romans 14:21 N-ANP
GRK: μὴ φαγεῖν κρέα μηδὲ πιεῖν
NAS: It is good not to eat meat or to drink
KJV: neither to eat flesh, nor to drink
INT: not to eat meat nor drink

1 Corinthians 8:13 N-ANP
GRK: μὴ φάγω κρέα εἰς τὸν
NAS: eat meat again, so
KJV: no flesh while the world standeth,
INT: not should I eat meat to the

Strong's Greek 2907
2 Occurrences


κρέα — 2 Occ.

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