Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · In the Text · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
Cleopas is one of the two disciples to whom the risen Christ appeared on the road to Emmaus on the afternoon of resurrection Sunday (Luke 24:13-35). Luke names only one of the pair — Cleopas (Luke 24:18) — and leaves the second unnamed (traditionally identified as his wife Mary, or as Luke himself, or others). The story: two disciples were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus (~7 miles) talking about "all these things which had happened" — Christ's crucifixion and the women's morning report of an empty tomb. Christ Himself drew near and walked with them, but "their eyes were holden that they should not know him" (24:16). Christ asked what they were discussing; Cleopas answered: "Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?" (24:18). Then Christ rebuked them: "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken" (24:25) and "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (24:27). At supper in Emmaus, when Christ broke bread, "their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight" (24:31). They returned that night to Jerusalem and reported to the eleven, finding the Lord had already appeared to Peter. Cleopas's name is therefore preserved as one of the very first witnesses of the resurrected Christ. The Emmaus-road conversation is one of the great Reformed preaching texts: Christ Himself opening the Scriptures, expounding all the prophets concerning Himself.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Greek (possibly "glory of the father"); one of two disciples to whom the risen Christ appeared on the Emmaus road (Luke 24:13-35).
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CLEOPAS, proper noun. Greek Kleopas (G2810) — possibly a short form of Kleopatros, "glory of the father."
One of the two disciples to whom the risen Christ appeared on the Emmaus road, Resurrection Sunday (Luke 24:13-35). Christ expounded the Scriptures to them "beginning at Moses and all the prophets" (24:27).
📖 Key Scripture
Luke 24:18 — "And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?"
Luke 24:27 — "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
Luke 24:30-31 — "And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight."
Luke 24:32 — "And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?"
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Cleopas is corrupted when the Emmaus-road narrative is treated as merely a touching post-resurrection appearance, missing its specific theological weight as Christ's own demonstration of Christ-centered preaching from the entire OT.
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Touching-appearance reduction. The Emmaus road story is sometimes preached as a sweet narrative about Christ meeting troubled disciples and revealing Himself in the breaking of bread. True as far as it goes — but the canonical text emphasizes something specific: Christ "BEGINNING AT MOSES AND ALL THE PROPHETS" expounded "in ALL the scriptures the things concerning HIMSELF" (24:27). The whole OT is Christ-centered. This is the canonical warrant for the Reformed practice of preaching Christ from every text of Scripture, not just the obviously messianic ones. Cleopas's hearing on the road is the prototype of every Christian sermon since.
Allegorical-only reading. Some interpretive traditions, recognizing Christ's Christological reading of the OT, swing to opposite extreme and treat the OT only allegorically — turning every detail into a hidden Christ-symbol. The Reformed corrective is careful: yes, Christ is the subject-matter of all Scripture; no, this does not warrant fanciful allegorizing of historical details. Christ Himself "opened to us the scriptures" — but the opening was orderly, beginning at Moses and proceeding through all the prophets, demonstrating the canonical-typological-promise structure of the whole canon.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek Kleopas (G2810) — possibly "glory of the father"; Emmaus-road disciple (Luke 24:13-35).
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Greek Kleopas (G2810) — possibly a short form of Kleopatros, "glory of the father"
Named only at Luke 24:18; one of two Emmaus-road disciples (the other is unnamed, traditionally identified as his wife)
First disciples to hear Christ expound the whole OT as Christ-centered (Luke 24:27)
Returned to Jerusalem that night to confirm the resurrection to the eleven apostles
Usage
"Did not our heart burn within us, while he opened to us the scriptures? — Cleopas's word after the Emmaus walk."
"Christ began at Moses and all the prophets, expounding the things concerning Himself — the canonical pattern of preaching."
"Cleopas was one of the very first witnesses of the resurrected Christ — preserved by name in the canon."
📖 In the Text
Chapters of the reading Bible where this entry is linked.