a dried straw-fragment
| Root | κάρφος (karphos) |
| Core Meanings | dry twig, straw, withered fragment, small dry particle |
| Semantic Range | a small dry twig, straw, chaff-like particle, splinter, speck in the eye, insignificant fragment |
| Conceptual Significance | Used in Yeshua’s teaching about the "straw-fragment" in a brother’s eye, it highlights the contrast between a minor fault and a major one (the "beam"). The term evokes something tiny, dry, and easily blown about, underscoring the pettiness of the fault being criticized. |
| Morphological Notes | Noun; accusative, neuter, singular (ANS). The accusative case marks it as the direct object of a verb; neuter gender and singular number indicate one small, inanimate dry fragment. |
| Rendering Rationale | "Dried straw-fragment" preserves the root sense of something withered or dried (from the idea of withering) and keeps the concrete image of a tiny dry piece of plant material. The singular form reflects the accusative singular neuter morphology, functioning as a direct object in its occurrences. |
AI-generated (openai/gpt-5.2-chat-latest)