This page looks at building - whether it be a house or something else. This concept appears to be important in the parable of building a house on rock or sand.

In particular, Matthew appears to use a word for "build" that has a meaning more general than a house and more specialized for that passage.

Luke appears to use a word for "build" that is specific to a physical house in which one lives.

Let us investigate. The passages have been discussed elsewhere (see above links) so this page concentrates on just these two words for "house".

The suffix of both words, having to do with "building", is the same, so let us look at that now.

• The ancient Greek word "δομή" ≈ "structure".
• The modern Greek word "δομή" (tho-MEE) ≈ "structure".

The Greek word is from the PIE (Proto Indo-European) root "DEM" ≈ "build". The following words come from that root and are related to the English word "timber".

• The Latin word "domus" ≈ "house" and is the source of English words such as "domestic", "domicile", etc.
• The Old English word "timber" ≈ "timber, building" from the German word "timra" ≈ "build".
• The German word "Zimmer" ≈ "room".
• The Gothic word "timrjandin" ≈ "build".
• The Old Church Slavonic word "домъ" (dom) ≈ "house".
• The Russian word "дом" (dom) ≈ "house".
• The Sanskrit word "दम" (dama) ≈ "house".

From the modern Greek word for "structure" one gets the modern Greek word "δόμηση" (THO-mee-see) ≈ "building, construction" (as in the act or process of doing it).

For completeness, let us look at the English "build" from the PIE root "BUH" ≈ "live, dwell".

• The Middle English word "bilden" ≈ "build".
• The Old English word "byldan" ≈ "build".
• The Old English word "bold" ≈ "abode" and is the source of the English word "abode".
• The German word "bauen" ≈ "build".

There are many other words in many languages from the PIE root (omitted).

Here are the verses in Matthew.

Here are the verses in Luke.

As a first comparison, the following can be observed.

Matthew and Luke use different Greek words for "build".

• The ancient Greek word "οἰκοδομοῦντι" ≈ "build".
• The modern Greek word "ωκοδόμυσεν" (o-ko-THO-mee-sehn) ≈ "build" using prefix "ωκο".
• The ancient Greek word "ᾠκοδόμησεν" ≈ "build".
• The modern Greek word "οικοδόμυσεν" (ee-ko-THO-mee-sehn) ≈ "build" using prefix "οικο" (meaning "house").

These Greek words are not the same but Strongs list of words appears to consider them the same. Here are some relevant definitions from Strongs.

The modern Greek version preserves these distinctions, but it is not clear as to the exact difference between the meaning of the words.

Let us investigate the use of these words.

Luke did use the word used by Matthew so it is not a case of not having the word in his vocabulary. Matthew used both words so the same reasoning applies to Matthew.

In particular, since dictionaries do not appear to distinguish the terms, let us look at how they are used in context, after some comments on the Latin and Russian versions.

Some Greek versions of the GNT (Greek New Testament) use these words.

The Latin and KJV (King James Version) use the same word for "build" in both Matthew and Luke (ignoring inflection endings).

• The Latin word "aedificanti" ≈ "build".
• The Latin word "aedifico" ≈ "I build, erect".
• The Latin word "aedis" ≈ "temple, shrine, room".
• The Latin word "templum" ≈ "temple" and is the source of the English word "temple".

For some reason, the Latin word has a connection with a "temple" or "shrine".

• The Russian word "дом" (dom) ≈ "house".
• The Russian word "храм " (khram) ≈ "temple, shrine".
• The Old Church Slavonic word "домъ" ≈ "house".
• The Old Church Slavonic word "храмъ" (khram) ≈ "house, building, temple".
• The Russian word "построил" (po-stroil) ≈ "built"
• The Old Church Slavonic word "храмину" (khrameenu) ≈ "built" (as used in the parable of the house built on rock or sand).
• The Old Church Slavonic word "созда" ≈ "built" (as used in other places)

For some reason, the Old Church Slavonic word for "build" or "built" has a connection with a "temple" or "shrine". The descendant language Russian has removed that connection.

Let us now look at the usage of these words in the LXX (Septuagint) and GNT.

The first usage can be important.

The Hebrew word "ויבן" (way-yi-ben) ≈ "and made".