Greek verb · G5368
φιλέω
phileofil-eh'-o
to love, as a friend; to kiss
25 uses in the Greek text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key
Concordance spelling: philéō
Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's G5368is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.
- 7 of 27New Testament books
- 11spellings
- 2meanings
The definition in full
Two lexicons stand behind this page, and both give the verb a range rather than one English word.
STEP Bible's Brief lexicon follows George Abbott-Smith's Greek dictionary of 1922. It lists two senses. The first is to love, which Abbott-Smith qualifies as the love of emotion and friendship and matches to the Latin amare, the ordinary verb for loving a person. The second is to kiss.
James Strong's entry of 1890 stands beside this paragraph and covers the same two senses at greater length. Strong also draws a comparison the Brief lexicon leaves alone: he assigns deliberate choice and settled duty to agapao, and assigns feeling and personal attachment to this verb. Lexicographers since have tested a comparison like that against a writer's own usage rather than against a dictionary's scheme, and the figure further down sets John's use of the two verbs side by side.
Those two works are the whole of what this block draws on. The Bauer lexicon and the Louw and Nida lexicon remain in copyright, and this site quotes neither.
Strong's key (1890) · G5368
from φίλος (G5384); to be a friend to (fond of (an individual or an object)), i.e. have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling; while ἀγαπάω (G25) is wider, embracing especially the judgment and the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety: the two thus stand related very much as θέλω (G2309) and βούλομαι (G1014), or as θυμός (G2372) and νοῦς (G3563) respectively; the former being chiefly of the heart and the latter of the head); specially, to kiss (as a mark of tenderness)
The King James renders it: kiss, love.
James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.
Summary
- The verb also names a kiss, and all three of those uses belong to Judas. He makes the kiss the sign that picks Jesus out.Matthew 26:48Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The One I kiss is the man; arrest Him.”
- The verb can name a wrong love. Revelation shuts out everyone who loves and practices falsehood.Revelation 22:15But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- Other words are built on the same stem, and the family runs from the friend to hospitality, and on to the love of money and the love of self.
The first use
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.
Matthew 6:5φιλοῦσιν
The first use, in the order of the New Testament's books. In that first use the verb names an appetite: the hypocrites love to pray where other people can watch them.
The word from Matthew to Revelation
Thirteen of the word's twenty-five uses are in John.
Paul uses it in one letter to a church and one to a man. Every other use stands in a Gospel or in Revelation.
The verb turns up in six kinds of place across the books, and each place adds something the one before it did not.
What a person wants
Jesus uses the verb of the scribes and their appetite for the best seats at a banquet.
They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues,
A friend's greeting, in the same verb
Judas comes up to Jesus to kiss him, and the tagged text writes that kiss with this verb.
While He was still speaking, a crowd arrived, led by the man called Judas, one of the Twelve. He approached Jesus to kiss Him.
The Father's own love
The Father himself loves the disciples, because they have loved the Son and believed he came from God, and this verb carries both loves.
For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.
What the Lord is owed
Paul ends a letter with a curse on anyone who has no love for the Lord, written with this verb.
If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be under a curse. Come, O Lord!
The bond between Christians
Paul asks Titus to greet the people who love him and his companions in the faith, and this verb carries that love.
All who are with me send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you.
Rebuked by the one who loves them
The risen Christ says that he rebukes and disciplines the ones he loves, and he says it with this verb.
Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
What the word means
The word carries two meanings: to love, and to kiss.
Each meaning, and the words it is translated by
| Meaning | Tagged as | Where |
|---|---|---|
| to lovewith the love of emotion and friendship | Tagged as
and 3 more, 22 uses in all | WhereMatthew 10:37Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me… |
| to kiss | Tagged as
| WhereMark 14:44Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The One I kiss is the man… |
The words built on the same word-part
Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.
| Word | Written | Meaning | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| φίλος | philos | friendly/friend | Uses27 |
| φίλημα | philema | kiss | Uses7 |
| φιλαδελφία | philadelphia | brotherly love | Uses6 |
| φιλόξενος | philoxenos | hospitable | Uses3 |
| φιλοτιμέομαι | philotimeomai | to aspire | Uses3 |
| φιλοξενία | philoxenia | hospitality | Uses2 |
| φιλάργυρος | philargyros | money-loving | Uses2 |
| φιλανθρωπία | philanthropia | benevolence | Uses2 |
| φιλία | philia | friendship | Uses1 |
| φίλαυτος | philautos | selfish | Uses1 |
| φιλόθεος | philotheos | God-loving | Uses1 |
| φιλάγαθος | philagathos | lover of good | Uses1 |
and 14 more on the stem.
One verb covers both senses, because the kiss it names is the greeting a friend gave a friend. Judas gives that greeting in all three of the kiss verses, and it becomes the mark that picks Jesus out of the dark.
How John uses it beside agapao
John gives both words to the same people.
The Father and the Son
Lazarus
the word agapao
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
- Ἠγάπαegapa, agapao
the word phileo
So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.”
- φιλεῖςphileis, phileo
Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
- ἐφίλειephilei, phileo
The disciple Jesus loved
the word agapao
One of His disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at His side.
- ἠγάπαegapa, agapao
the word phileo
So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she said, “and we do not know where they have put Him!”
- ἐφίλειephilei, phileo
Peter, asked three times
the word agapao
When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.”
- ἀγαπᾷςagapas, agapao
- φιλῶphilo, phileo
Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd My sheep.”
- ἀγαπᾷςagapas, agapao
- φιλῶphilo, phileo
the word phileo
Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.
- φιλεῖςphileis, phileo
- φιλεῖςphileis, phileo
- φιλῶphilo, phileo
Two more words move across the same three questions. A reading that grades the words for love has to say why it does not grade the verb for feeding and the noun for the flock.
One row to a question: the word Jesus asks with, the word Peter answers with, then the charge, in the order the Greek text sets them.
- First questionἀγαπᾷς agapas, love youφιλῶ philo, I dearly loveβόσκε boske, do feedἀρνία arnia, lambs
- Second questionἀγαπᾷς agapas, love youφιλῶ philo, I dearly loveποίμαινε poimaine, do shepherdπρόβατά probata, sheep
- Third questionφιλεῖς phileis, do you dearly loveφιλεῖς phileis, Do you dearly loveφιλῶ philo, I dearly loveβόσκε boske, do feedπρόβατά probata, sheep
The three askings on the shore
Jesus asks with agapao twice and with phileo the third time, and Peter answers with phileo all three times.
| The asking | The verb Jesus asks with | The verb Peter answers with |
|---|---|---|
| The first askingJohn 21:15 | The verb Jesus asks withagapaoἀγαπᾷςagapas | The verb Peter answers withphileoφιλῶphilo |
| The second askingJohn 21:16 | The verb Jesus asks withagapaoἀγαπᾷςagapas | The verb Peter answers withphileoφιλῶphilo |
| The third askingJohn 21:17 | The verb Jesus asks withphileoφιλεῖςphileis | The verb Peter answers withphileoφιλῶphilo |
Readers have taken the exchange another way for sixteen centuries, and that reading is still taught.
the older alternative
One love, said in two words
On this reading the two verbs are John's own pair for a single affection, traded back and forth the way English trades love for liking. The third question cuts Peter because it is the third, one question for each of his three denials, and not because the verb inside it has changed.
Who holds it: Augustine of Hippo argued it in the early fifth century from the Latin pair his Bible rendered the verbs by, diligis and amas. His sentences stand below.
John himself hands both verbs to the Father, to Lazarus, to the disciple Jesus loved and to Peter, so the comparison above settles neither reading on its own. A reader takes either reading from the scene on the shore, from who asks and who answers, and not from a rule about the two words.
Augustine, in Tractates on the Gospel of John 123, notes that the Lord's third question changes the word, from diligis to amas in Latin. He takes the change as proof that both words name one love, at John 21:17.
We have it also demonstrated here that love and liking are one and the same thing; for the Lord also in the last question said not Diligis me? but, Amas me? Let us, then, love not ourselves, but Him; and in feeding His sheep, let us be seeking the things which are His, not the things which are our own.
Augustine of Hippo· Tractates on John 123, early fifth century
English text from the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7 (Schaff ed., 1888), public domain.
The rest of the paragraph, on loving God rather than ourselves
For in some inexplicable way, I know not what, every one that loveth himself, and not God, loveth not himself; and whoever loveth God, and not himself, he it is that loveth himself. For he that cannot live by himself will certainly die by loving himself; he therefore loveth not himself who loves himself to his own loss of life. But when He is loved by whom life is preserved, a man by not loving himself only loveth the more, when it is for this reason that he loveth not himself [namely] that he may love Him by whom he lives.
Ambrose of Milan, writing in the Exposition of the Christian Faith, reads the three questions as the answer to the three denials, and the flock as the work Peter is given back.
It is Peter, chosen by the Lord himself to feed his flock, who merits three times to hear the words "Feed my little lambs; feed my lambs; feed my sheep." And so, by feeding well the flock of Christ with the food of faith, he effaced the sin of his former fall.
Ambrose of Milan· Exposition of the Christian Faith 5, PROLOGUE 2, late fourth century
The rest of the paragraph, on the three denials
For this reason he is admonished three times to feed the flock. He is asked three times whether he loves the Lord in order that he may confess him three times whom he had denied three times before his crucifixion.
A dictionary's line between two words of similar meaning is where a study starts. It holds only where the writer's own use of the two words holds it up.
James Barr works the rule out at length in The Semantics of Biblical Language (1961), and D. A. Carson does the same in Exegetical Fallacies, second edition (1996), chapter 1.
All 25, in canonical order
Every use, in order
Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.
11 spellings and their grammar
STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.
How it is spelled
- φιλῶ4
- φιλῶν4
- ἐφίλει3
- φιλεῖ3
- φιλεῖς3
- φιλήσω2
- φιλοῦσιν2
- πεφιλήκατε1
- φιλῆσαι1
- φιλοῦντας1
- φιλούντων1
The grammar of each form
- verb · present active, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine singular4V-PAP-NSM
- verb · imperfect active, indicative · 3rd person singular3V-IAI-3S
- verb · present active, indicative · 1st person singular3V-PAI-1S
- verb · present active, indicative · 2nd person singular3V-PAI-2S
- verb · present active, indicative · 3rd person singular3V-PAI-3S
- verb · aorist active, subjunctive · 1st person singular2V-AAS-1S
- verb · present active, indicative · 3rd person plural2V-PAI-3P
- verb · aorist active, infinitive (“to…”)1V-AAN
- verb · present active, participle · accusative (object) · masculine plural1V-PAP-APM
- verb · present active, participle · genitive (“of”) · masculine plural1V-PAP-GPM
- verb · present active, subjunctive · 1st person singular1V-PAS-1S
- verb · perfect active, indicative · 2nd person plural1V-RAI-2P
Matthew
five uses
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.
- φιλοῦσινphilousinverb · present active, indicative · 3rd person pluraltagged: they love
Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
- φιλῶνphilonverb · present active, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine singulartagged: loving
- φιλῶνphilonverb · present active, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine singulartagged: loving
They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues,
- φιλοῦσινphilousinverb · present active, indicative · 3rd person pluraltagged: They love
Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The One I kiss is the man; arrest Him.”
- φιλήσωphilesoverb · aorist active, subjunctive · 1st person singulartagged: I may kiss
Mark
one use
Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The One I kiss is the man; arrest Him and lead Him away securely.”
- φιλήσωphilesoverb · aorist active, subjunctive · 1st person singulartagged: I may kiss
Luke
two uses
“Beware of the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, and they love the greetings in the marketplaces, the chief seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets.
- φιλούντωνphilountonverb · present active, participle · genitive (“of”) · masculine pluraltagged: loving
While He was still speaking, a crowd arrived, led by the man called Judas, one of the Twelve. He approached Jesus to kiss Him.
- φιλῆσαιphilesaiverb · aorist active, infinitive (“to…”)tagged: to kiss
John
thirteen uses
The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. And to your amazement, He will show Him even greater works than these.
- φιλεῖphileiverb · present active, indicative · 3rd person singulartagged: loves
So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.”
- φιλεῖςphileisverb · present active, indicative · 2nd person singulartagged: You love
Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
- ἐφίλειephileiverb · imperfect active, indicative · 3rd person singulartagged: He was loving
Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
- φιλῶνphilonverb · present active, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine singulartagged: loving
If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.
- ἐφίλειephileiverb · imperfect active, indicative · 3rd person singulartagged: was loving
For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.
- φιλεῖphileiverb · present active, indicative · 3rd person singulartagged: loves
- πεφιλήκατεpephilekateverb · perfect active, indicative · 2nd person pluraltagged: have loved
So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she said, “and we do not know where they have put Him!”
- ἐφίλειephileiverb · imperfect active, indicative · 3rd person singulartagged: was loving
When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.”
- φιλῶphiloverb · present active, indicative · 1st person singulartagged: I dearly love
Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd My sheep.”
- φιλῶphiloverb · present active, indicative · 1st person singulartagged: I dearly love
Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.
- φιλεῖςphileisverb · present active, indicative · 2nd person singulartagged: do you dearly love
- φιλεῖςphileisverb · present active, indicative · 2nd person singulartagged: Do you dearly love
- φιλῶphiloverb · present active, indicative · 1st person singulartagged: I dearly love
1 Corinthians
one use
If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be under a curse. Come, O Lord!
- φιλεῖphileiverb · present active, indicative · 3rd person singulartagged: loves
Titus
one use
All who are with me send you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you.
- φιλοῦνταςphilountasverb · present active, participle · accusative (object) · masculine pluraltagged: loving
Revelation
two uses
Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
- φιλῶphiloverb · present active, subjunctive · 1st person singulartagged: shall love
But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- φιλῶνphilonverb · present active, participle · nominative (subject) · masculine singulartagged: is loving
Where it leads
Passage1
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Studies that open this word1
How the numbers are counted
Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.
Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.
The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.