Exploring the Meaning of Dapane in Greek

δαπάνη expresses the idea of “cost” and appears in a teaching illustration about planning before beginning a building project. In its lone New Testament setting, it functions as a concrete term within an everyday scene meant to sharpen judgment about what a chosen course will require.

Occurrences

“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28)

Here δαπάνη names what must be “count[ed]” before construction begins. The verse frames a plausible scenario—someone “desiring to build a tower”—and then presses a question that assumes a reasonable process: the builder “first sit[s] down,” then “count[s] the cost,” and does so with a specific aim, “to see if he has enough to complete it.” Within this sequence, δαπάνη is not an abstract reflection but an item of calculation. It is something that can be assessed, measured, and set against available resources (“if he has enough”).

The surrounding verbs and clauses give δαπάνη a practical profile. It is tied to deliberation (“sit down”), to arithmetic evaluation (“count”), and to feasibility (“to see”). The tower project provides the imagined setting, but the key action is the deliberate estimation that comes before visible progress. δαπάνη, therefore, is the focal object of prudence in the sentence: it is what stands between desire (“desiring to build”) and completion (“to complete it”). The word marks the point where intention must face the demands inherent in the intended work.

Even within this single line, δαπάνη is presented as something forward-looking. The counting happens before building proceeds, and the evaluation looks ahead to the end-state of the project—completion. The “cost” is not treated as a mere record afterward but as a decisive factor in choosing whether and how to proceed. In that sense, δαπάνη functions as a criterion: it is what the builder must bring into view to determine sufficiency for the whole undertaking.

Sense and Usage

In Luke 14:28, “cost” is pictured as a definable requirement attached to a contemplated action. δαπάνη is the thing counted in order to test whether resources match intentions. The verse does not dwell on what form the cost takes; instead it emphasizes cost as an evaluative total—something that can be “enough” or not enough in relation to finishing the work. This makes the term especially suited to the question’s logic, because it enables a comparison between two quantities: what the project demands and what the builder possesses.

The immediate context in the sentence shows that δαπάνη is not merely an idea but an element of decision-making. “Count the cost” implies a process that is deliberate and sober. The builder does not merely guess or hope; he “first” performs an assessment. δαπάνη, therefore, carries the sense of a reality that must be acknowledged early. In the structure of the sentence, the order matters: sitting down and counting precede the attempt to build, implying that a serious aim calls for an accounting of its demands.

Because the verse places δαπάνη in a conditional evaluation (“to see if he has enough”), it gains a practical edge: it is what exposes whether desire is matched by capacity. “Cost” is the test that makes the future outcome intelligible before the effort is spent. In this way, δαπάνη does not describe the builder’s desire or skill; it describes what the project requires, regardless of the builder’s wishes. The tower may be wanted, but the cost must be faced.

The image of “count[ing]” aligns δαπάνη with careful reckoning rather than vague awareness. Counting suggests more than acknowledging that something will be required; it suggests bringing the requirement into focus in a way that can guide action. The builder’s goal is not the counting itself but what the counting reveals: whether there are sufficient means “to complete it.” δαπάνη thus stands at the intersection of planning and completion, linking the beginning of a chosen task with the reality of carrying it through.

Within the verse’s illustration, δαπάνη is also inherently bounded by the notion of a whole project. The inquiry is not about incremental expenses alone; it is about having enough to finish. That horizon—completion—frames cost as an all-the-way-through requirement. The term serves the verse by clarifying that initiating an undertaking is not the same as finishing it; the question assumes that what matters is whether the cost of the entire path has been faced at the outset.

Imagery

Luke 14:28 ties δαπάνη to a quiet scene of preparation: the would-be builder “sit[s] down” before a tower rises. The word belongs to the moment when the project exists only as intention and plan, and yet its demands already press for recognition. Cost, in this imagery, is the invisible weight of a future structure brought into present calculation—what must be faced before the first stone is set, so that the end (“to complete it”) remains a real possibility.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).