Phrase guide

man shall not live by bread alone

proverb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

proverb

Meaning 1

People need more than food and shelter to live a fulfilling life.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From the King James translation of Luke 4:4 (“And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God”) or Matthew 4:4 (“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”), which are paraphrases of Deuteronomy 8:3. The Middle English translation in Wycliffe’s Bible is a man lyveth not in breed aloon.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: لَيْسَ بِٱلْخُبْزِ وَحْدَهُ يَحْيَا ٱلْإِنْسَانُ (laysa bi-l-ḵubzi waḥdahu yaḥyā l-ʔinsānu) — Translations
  • Finnish: ei ihminen elä ainoastaan leivästä — Translations
  • Hungarian: nemcsak kenyérrel él az ember — Translations
  • Italian: non di solo pane vive l'uomo — Translations
  • Japanese: 人はパンのみにて生くる者に非ず (hito wa pan nomi ni te ikuru mono ni arazu) — Translations
  • Latin: nōn in sōlō pāne vīvit homō — Translations
  • Polish: nie samym chlebem żyje człowiek — Translations
  • Portuguese: nem só de pão viverá o homem — Translations
  • Russian: не хле́бом еди́ным жив челове́к (ne xlébom jedínym živ čelovék) — Translations
  • Spanish: no sólo de pan vive el hombre — Translations