What does φίλημα (phílēma) mean in the Bible?
φίλημα (phílēma): A kiss expressing Christian affection and brotherhood, distinguished from a casual greeting by spiritual significance.
Greek · G5370
φίλημα
A kiss
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φίλημα G5370
Pronunciation phílēma
What does φίλημα (phílēma) mean in the Bible?
φίλημα (phílēma): A kiss expressing Christian affection and brotherhood, distinguished from a casual greeting by spiritual significance.
Full entry for φίλημα (G5370) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5370?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include kiss (4), with a kiss (2), a kiss (1).
Where does φίλημα (phílēma) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 7:45. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (2), 1 Corinthians (1), 1 Peter (1), 1 Thessalonians (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It kiss 4× Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26
with a kiss 2× Luke 7:45, Luke 22:48
a kiss 1× 1 Peter 5:14
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 7:45 φίλημά to with a kiss Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular Luke 22:48 φιλήματι to with a kiss Noun - Dative Neuter Singular Romans 16:16 φιλήματι to kiss Noun - Dative Neuter Singular 1 Corinthians 16:20 φιλήματι to kiss Noun - Dative Neuter Singular 2 Corinthians 13:12 φιλήματι to kiss Noun - Dative Neuter Singular 1 Thessalonians 5:26 φιλήματι to kiss Noun - Dative Neuter Singular 1 Peter 5:14 φιλήματι to a kiss Noun - Dative Neuter Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 7:45
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 6
Luke 2 Romans 1 1 Corinthians 1 2 Corinthians 1 1 Thessalonians 1 1 Peter 1
Source forms
φιλήματι 6x philēmati Luke 22:48, Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12
φίλημά 1x philēma Luke 7:45
Parsing patterns
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular 6x Luke 22:48, Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular 1x Luke 7:45
Evidence Summary
Greek word. A kiss expressing Christian affection and brotherhood, distinguished from a casual greeting by spiritual significance.
Strong's G5370
Lexical occurrences 7 verses Greek text appearances 7 times Word forms 2 forms 7 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
a kiss
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
A kiss expressing Christian affection and brotherhood, distinguished from a casual greeting by spiritual significance.
(φιλέω), [in LXX: Pro.27:6, Sng.1:2 (נְשִׁיקָה) * ;] a kiss: Luk.7:45 22:48; as a token of Christian brotherhood, φ. ἅγιον, Rom.16:16, 1Co.16:20, 2Co.13:12, 1Th.5:26; φ. ἀγάπης, 1Pe.5:14 (see Lft., Notes, 90; DB, DCA, see word "Kiss").
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 7:45 Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
φίλημά filhma
a kiss
Read verse Luke 22:48 Noun Dative Singular Neuter
φιλήματι filhmati
a kiss
Read verse Romans 16:16 Noun Dative Singular Neuter
φιλήματι filhmati
a kiss
Read verse 1 Corinthians 16:20 Noun Dative Singular Neuter
φιλήματι filhmati
a kiss
Read verse 2 Corinthians 13:12 Noun Dative Singular Neuter
φιλήματι. filhmati
a kiss
Read verse 1 Thessalonians 5:26 Noun Dative Singular Neuter
φιλήματι filhmati
a kiss
Read verse 1 Peter 5:14 Noun Dative Singular Neuter
φιλήματι filhmati
a kiss
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.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 2 Aligned forms 7 Case pattern Dative (6) Number pattern Singular (7)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Dative · Singular · Neuter Luke 22:48 · Rom 16:16 · 1 Cor 16:20 · 2 Cor 13:12 · 1 Thess 5:26 · 1 Pet 5:14 6×
Accusative · Singular · Neuter Luke 7:45 1×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
Luke 22:47–53 φιλήματι phílēma
Kiss
Showing 1 selected witness from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
φίλημα is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain