Kissing earnestly describes a physical gesture whose relationship and purpose the account must explain. The father in Jesus' parable runs to his returning son with compassion, embraces him and kisses him.
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Full entry for καταφιλέω (G2705) · Open the biblical lexicon
Kissing earnestly describes a physical gesture whose relationship and purpose the account must explain. The father in Jesus' parable runs to his returning son with compassion, embraces him and kisses him.
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include kissed (3), [and] kissed (1), kissing (1), she kissed (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 26:49. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (3), Acts (1), Mark (1), Matthew (1).
Kissing earnestly describes a physical gesture whose relationship and purpose the account must explain. The father in Jesus' parable runs to his returning son with compassion, embraces him and kisses him. The woman in Luke kisses Jesus' feet as she weeps, and Jesus contrasts her continued action with His host's omitted greeting. The Ephesian elders kiss Paul while grieving their farewell.
Yet Judas uses a kiss as the agreed signal for Jesus' arrest. The same verb therefore cannot certify that every gesture is sincere love or trustworthy welcome. Read the actor, recipient and surrounding action rather than assigning a hidden motive from intensity alone. The woman's action must not be used to invent her identity, and the farewells must not become a command for unwanted physical contact.
Affection can be received and expressed with attention to consent, safety and the actual relationship.
All six Greek witnesses include the father's welcome, the woman's continued kisses, grieving farewell and Judas' arrest signal. Their different relationships and outcomes keep the gesture from carrying one moral verdict by itself.
So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
The father sees the returning son and is filled with compassion before running, embracing and kissing him, within the parable's stated welcome.
As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. Then she kissed His feet and anointed them with the perfume.
The unnamed woman weeps, wipes Jesus' feet, kisses them and anoints them; the following exchange interprets her action without giving her a personal name.
Going directly to Jesus, he said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.
Judas' kiss follows the explicitly arranged arrest signal and precedes seizure, so its external warmth cannot be detached from its betrayal purpose.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. to kiss earnestly
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I kiss affectionately
Read verseI kiss affectionately
Read verseI kiss affectionately
Read verseI kiss affectionately
Read verseI kiss affectionately
Read verseI kiss affectionately
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 6 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
The gesture's force cannot replace its narrative context. Luke names the father's compassion before the embrace and kiss, then follows with confession and welcome. In the meal account, the woman is unnamed, and Jesus points to her continued kissing in contrast with the host's actions while speaking about forgiveness, love and faith. Acts presents tears and a farewell that explains the elders' grief.
Matthew and Mark instead identify Judas' kiss as a prearranged signal leading to arrest. A teacher must keep these distinctions even when one Greek verb describes the motion. Celebrate the welcome and affection the accounts actually name, and retain betrayal where the text explicitly supplies it. Do not assume inward safety from a warm gesture, turn physical intensity into a payment for forgiveness, or require a person to accept touch as evidence of spiritual openness.
Luke.15.20
The licensed Greek evidence supports fervent or emphatic kissing. Context determines whether the gesture expresses welcome, continued affection, farewell or betrayal; the verb's force does not guarantee sincerity, specify a modern greeting custom or identify the unnamed woman.
Genesis 45:14-15 describes Joseph weeping, embracing Benjamin and kissing his brothers before they talk together. This separate Hebrew account provides another named family encounter, not the same lexical identity or a rule that every estranged relationship must repeat that contact. Each narrative supplies its own people, history and action, with safety and willingness left to responsible application.