Bible Dictionary
CRUMB
A crumb is a small fragment or scrap of food. The term appears in the New Testament in accounts involving Lazarus and the crumbs desired by the Canaanite woman’s daughter.
Definition
A crumb is a little piece or fragment of food, especially a remnant or scrap left from a meal.
Biblical Usage
Lazarus desired the crumbs falling from the rich man’s table. Jesus also refers to the crumbs eaten by little dogs in the account of the Canaanite woman.
Historical Background
The crumbs may have been fragments of bread with which guests wiped their hands after eating from a common dish and then threw to the dogs.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>krum (psichion, "a little bit"): Occurs only in the New Testament, of remnants of food, scraps. Lazarus desired "to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table" (Lu 16:21). "Even the (little) dogs eat of the crumbs" (Mt 15:27; Mr 7:28), "possibly the fragments of bread on which the guests wiped their hands (after thrusting them into the common dish), and flung to the dogs" (Farrar, Life of Christ, I, 476).</p>