Original Word: παροψίς
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: paropsis
Pronunciation: pah-rop-SEES
Phonetic Spelling: (par-op-sis')
KJV: platter
NASB: dish
Word Origin: [from G3844 (παρά - than) and the base of G3795 (ὀψάριον - fish)]

1. a side-dish (the receptacle)

platter.

From para and the base of opsarion; a side-dish (the receptacle) -- platter.

see GREEK para

see GREEK opsarion

Word Origin
from para and the same as opsarion
Definition
a side dish of delicacies
NASB Translation
dish (2).STRONGS NT 3953: παροψίς

παροψίς, παροψίδος, ἡ (παρά (which see IV. 1), and ὄψον, on which see ὀψάριον);

1. "a side-dish, a dish of dainties or choice food suited not so much to satisfy as to gratify the appetite; a side-accompaniment of the more solid food"; hence, equivalent to παροψημα; so in Xenophon, Cyril 1, 3, 4 and many Attic writings in Athen. 9, p. 367 d. following

2. the dish itself in which the delicacies are served up: Matthew 23:25, 26 (here T omits; WH brackets παροψίδος); Artemidorus Daldianus, oneir. 1, 74; Alciphron 3, 20; Plutarch, de vitand. aere alien. § 2. This latter use of the word is condemned by the Atticists; cf. Sturz, Lex. Xenophon, iii., 463f; Lob. ad Phryn., p. 176; (Rutherford, New Phryn., p. 265f); Poppo on Xenophon, Cyril 1, 3, 4.

Overview

The term παροψίς designates a shallow serving dish or platter. Jesus employs it in Matthew 23:25 – 26 as an illustration of hypocrisy—outward religious polish masking inner corruption. Because the word appears only in this passage, its meaning is shaped almost entirely by the immediate context and by first-century dining customs.

Historical and Cultural Background

Households in the Greco-Roman world placed food upon a variety of vessels: deep cups (ποτήρια), small bowls (τράπεζαι), and flat dishes (παροψίδες). These platters were usually earthenware, bronze, or occasionally silver, and were washed after every meal. Rabbinic tradition added ceremonial rinsings (cf. Mark 7:4), so a ritually clean surface became a conspicuous marker of piety. Rabbis debated not only which foods defiled but also which utensils required immersion. Jesus turns that familiar scene into a spiritual parable.

Old Testament Foundations

Leviticus 11:32 – 35 and Numbers 31:22 – 24 regulate the purification of containers contacted by uncleanness. While the Mosaic Law addressed hygiene and symbolized holiness, later Jewish practice sometimes elevated the ritual above the moral demand for a purified heart (Psalm 24:3 – 4; Psalm 51:6). Jesus’ dish metaphor thus resonates with the prophetic call for inner holiness over mere external compliance (Isaiah 1:11 – 17; Amos 5:21 – 24).

New Testament Usage

Matthew 23:25 – 26 presents the only two uses:

• Matthew 23:25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”
• Matthew 23:26 “Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.”

Together with the “cup,” the “dish” forms a pair: the visible and the hidden. The outside represents public religious performance; the inside represents motives and affections (cf. Matthew 15:18 – 20). Jesus presses for a holiness that begins within and inevitably reshapes external behavior.

Theological Significance

1. Integrity of Holiness. Genuine sanctification starts in the heart (Jeremiah 31:33) and expresses itself outwardly, not vice-versa.
2. Divine Omniscience. God sees beneath every polished surface (1 Samuel 16:7; Hebrews 4:13).
3. Hypocrisy Exposed. Religious showmanship may impress observers but cannot withstand divine scrutiny (Matthew 6:1 – 6).

Related Biblical Themes

• Ritual versus Moral Purity: Mark 7:18 – 23; Titus 1:15.
• The Cleansed Heart: Acts 15:9; James 4:8.
• Pharisaic Blindness: Luke 11:39-40 (parallel woes).
• Whited Tombs Analogy: Matthew 23:27 – 28, expanding the same inner-outer contrast.

Ministry and Discipleship Application

• Personal Examination. Believers are urged to evaluate motives as well as actions (2 Corinthians 13:5).
• Teaching and Counseling. Pastors should emphasize heart transformation, not mere behavioral modification.
• Corporate Worship. Churches may maintain reverent liturgy and orderly aesthetics, yet must pair them with sincere repentance and faith.

Historical Reception

Early Church writers such as Origen and Chrysostom cite Matthew 23 to warn against clerical ostentation. The Reformers drew upon the passage to confront externalized sacramentalism. Contemporary applications continue in calls for authentic spirituality, social justice grounded in personal holiness, and mission work guided by integrity.

Summary

Strong’s 3953, though rare, encapsulates a central biblical conviction: God desires vessels—human lives—made clean from the inside out, that His glory may shine without hypocrisy.

παροψιδος παροψίδος paropsidos paropsídosInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts

Matthew 23:25 N-GFS
GRK: καὶ τῆς παροψίδος ἔσωθεν δὲ
NAS: of the cup and of the dish, but inside
KJV: and of the platter, but
INT: and of the dish inside however

Matthew 23:26 N-GFS
GRK: καὶ τῆς παροψίδος ἵνα γένηται
NAS: of the cup and of the dish, so
KJV: the cup and platter, that the outside
INT: and of the dish that might become

Strong's Greek 3953
2 Occurrences

παροψίδος — 2 Occ.