φυλή
phylḗ · G5443 · Greek · 31 occurrences
Meanings
-
tribe
A subgroup of a nation which is regarded as being more closely related biologically than the entire nation
ExamplesMatthew 19:28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Luke 2:36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage,
Luke 22:30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
-
nation, people
A relatively large unit of people who constitute a sociopolitical group, sharing a presumed biological descent (in many contexts πατριά and φυλή are very similar in meaning to ἔθνος)
ExamplesMatthew 24:30 “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.
Revelation 1:7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
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all God’s people
(A set phrase, literally: the twelve tribes, but used in a figurative sense) All of the people of God as a possible reference to the new Israel
ExamplesJames 1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
Revelation 21:12 It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
How it’s used In 9 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
23 occurrences in 15 groups
- ΒενιαμίνBenjamin 4
- Other words · 14 groups that occur once or twice (19) 19
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
5 occurrences in 2 groups
- δώδεκαtwelve 4
- ἕτεροςother, another, different 1
Named alongside itApposition
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- διασποράregion in which people are scattered 1
- λέωνlion 1
What it doesIt is the subject
3 occurrences in 2 groups
- κόπτωto mourn, to cut 2
- βλέπωto see 1
What is done to itIt is the object
4 occurrences in 3 groups
- κρίνωto judge 2
- μετέχωto share in 1
- ἀγοράζωto buy 1
It is given or told toIndirect object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- χαίρωto rejoice 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ὅςwho, which, that 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
21 occurrences in 2 groups
- ἐκfrom 22
- ἐπίon 3
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- σπέρμαseed, descendants 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
In the other Testament 2 words
- מַטֶּה maṭṭeh · H4294 · branch, staff, rod
- מַטֶּה (maṭṭeh, H4294) denotes the physical 'rod' or 'staff' that became the symbolic/metonymic term for 'tribe' in Hebrew usage, making it the standard Hebrew lexical equivalent for Greek φυλή's 'tribe/clan' sense, particularly in genealogical and tribal organizational contexts throughout the LXX.
- שֵׁבֶט shêbeṭ · H7626 · stick, rod, staff
- Hebrew שֵׁבֶט (shêbeṭ, H7626) denotes a tribe as a social-political unit or rod/staff (with semantic range extending to implements of authority), while Greek φυλή (phylḗ, G5443) focuses specifically on the genealogical/ethnic dimension of tribal identity as an offshoot or race; the LXX regularly renders שֵׁבֶט as φυλή when tribal organization is in view (e.g. the twelve tribes of Israel), establishing this as a standard translation equivalent for the 'tribe' sense despite שֵׁבֶט's broader polysemy.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Tribe10.2
- Acts 13:21 says God gave the people “Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years”.
- All God’s people11.15
- Revelation 7:4 hears the number of those sealed, “from every tribe of the sons of Israel”.
- Nation, people11.56
- Revelation 5:9 praises the Lamb, “for You were slain, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation”.
Word family 18 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Also from the root φύω
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon φυλῆς, ἡ (from φύω), from Pindar and Herodotus down; 1. a tribe; in the N. T. all the…
1. a tribe; in the N. T. all the persons descended from one of the twelve sons of the patriarch Jacob (the Sept. for מַטֵּה and שֵׁבֶט; also for מִשְׁפָּחָה, see πατριά, 2): Heb 7:13f; with the addition of the genitives Ασηρ, Βενιαμίν, etc., Lk 2:36; Acts 13:21; Rom 11:1; Phm 3:5; Rev 5:5; Rev 7:5-8; δώδεκα φυλάς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, Mt 19:28; Lk 22:30; Jas 1:1; Rev 21:12; (πᾶσα φυλή υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ, Rev 7:4).
2. a race, nation, people: Mt 24:30; Rev. (); Rev 5:9; ; (); Rev 13:7; .
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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