What does φίλημα (phílēma) mean in the Bible?
Philema is a Greek noun for a kiss. In the New Testament it can express welcome, grateful devotion, communal affection, or treacherous identification.
Greek · G5370
φίλημα
Philema is a Greek noun for a kiss. In the New Testament it can express welcome, grateful devotion, communal affection, or treacherous identification.
Reading a lexicon entry
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φίλημαG5370
Pronunciationphílēma
What does φίλημα (phílēma) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
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).
What This Word Actually Means
Philema is a Greek noun for a kiss. In the New Testament it can express welcome, grateful devotion, communal affection, or treacherous identification. Jesus notes that His host gave Him no greeting kiss while a forgiven woman continued kissing His feet. Judas uses a kiss to identify Jesus to those arresting Him, turning a sign of closeness into betrayal. Several letters call believers to greet one another with a holy kiss or a kiss of love, language of sincere family-like fellowship within particular social settings.
The noun does not make physical contact holy by itself, require one greeting custom in every culture, or cancel another person's boundaries. A kiss can communicate love only when the relationship, intention, setting, and willing participation support that meaning. Churches should embody warm, impartial welcome while offering non-contact greetings and honoring a person's no without embarrassment or spiritual pressure.
Survivors of abuse, children, disabled people, and anyone uncomfortable with touch must not be made to prove Christian love through physical affection.
How the Bible Uses It
Philema names a kiss whose meaning ranges from welcome and loving fellowship to betrayal; relationship, intention, culture, and consent determine what the gesture communicates.
- Luke.7.45
You did not greet Me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing My feet since I arrived.
Jesus contrasts the host's omitted welcome with the woman's sustained act of grateful devotion inside the parable of forgiveness and love.
- Luke.22.48
But Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Judas turns a familiar sign of affection into the identifying signal for arrest, exposing intimacy used as a cover for betrayal.
- Rom.16.16
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send you greetings.
Paul directs the Roman believers toward sincere holy welcome within an extended network of named coworkers and diverse house churches.
- 1Pet.5.14
Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Peter closes a letter to suffering communities with embodied affection and peace, marking family-like solidarity among those in Christ.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itkiss4×Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26
with a kiss2×Luke 7:45, Luke 22:48
a kiss1×1 Peter 5:14
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 7:45φίλημάtowith a kissNoun - Accusative Neuter SingularLuke 22:48φιλήματιtowith a kissNoun - Dative Neuter SingularRomans 16:16φιλήματιtokissNoun - Dative Neuter Singular1 Corinthians 16:20φιλήματιtokissNoun - Dative Neuter Singular2 Corinthians 13:12φιλήματιtokissNoun - Dative Neuter Singular1 Thessalonians 5:26φιλήματιtokissNoun - Dative Neuter Singular1 Peter 5:14φιλήματιtoa kissNoun - Dative Neuter Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowLuke 7:45
Aligned rows7
Books represented6
Luke2Romans11 Corinthians12 Corinthians11 Thessalonians11 Peter1
Source forms
φιλήματι6xphilēmatiLuke 22:48, Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12
φίλημά1xphilēmaLuke 7:45
Parsing patterns
Noun - Dative Neuter Singular6xLuke 22:48, Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular1xLuke 7:45
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Always honor a person's refusal or preference for a non-contact greeting without questions, teasing, pressure, or reduced belonging.
- Church safeguarding should set clear touch boundaries for leaders, children, counselees, and vulnerable adults.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that G5370 requires Christians in every culture and circumstance to greet by kissing.
- Do not claim that a religious setting, affectionate intention, or leadership role makes unwanted touch acceptable.
- Do not claim that outward warmth proves inward love, since Judas used a kiss to betray Jesus.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. A kiss expressing Christian affection and brotherhood, distinguished from a casual greeting by spiritual significance.
Strong'sG5370
Lexical occurrences7 versesGreek text appearances7 timesWord forms2 forms7 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
a kiss
Extended definitionSource: 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 corpusGreek 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 7:45Noun Accusative Singular Neuter
φίλημάfilhma
a kiss
Read verseLuke 22:48Noun Dative Singular Neuter
φιλήματιfilhmati
a kiss
Read verseRomans 16:16Noun Dative Singular Neuter
φιλήματιfilhmati
a kiss
Read verse1 Corinthians 16:20Noun Dative Singular Neuter
φιλήματιfilhmati
a kiss
Read verse2 Corinthians 13:12Noun Dative Singular Neuter
φιλήματι.filhmati
a kiss
Read verse1 Thessalonians 5:26Noun Dative Singular Neuter
φιλήματιfilhmati
a kiss
Read verse1 Peter 5:14Noun Dative Singular Neuter
φιλήματιfilhmati
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 patterns2Aligned forms7Case patternDative (6)Number patternSingular (7)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Dative · Singular · NeuterLuke 22:48 · Rom 16:16 · 1 Cor 16:20 · 2 Cor 13:12 · 1 Thess 5:26 · 1 Pet 5:146×
Accusative · Singular · NeuterLuke 7:451×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
Luke 22:47–53φιλήματιphílēma
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.
For the Preacher and Teacher
A kiss does not interpret itself. In Luke 7 it expresses grateful devotion in contrast to a host's neglected welcome. In Luke 22 the same kind of recognizable closeness becomes a tool of betrayal. Paul and Peter call Christian communities to holy, loving greeting, not to perform affection while concealing rivalry, exclusion, or harm. The church should therefore cultivate warmth that is truthful and safe.
Cultural forms may include a kiss, embrace, handshake, bow, spoken greeting, or other respectful sign. The ethical center is sincere family-like welcome shaped by holiness and love. No leader or member should demand touch, surprise another person with physical contact, shame a refusal, or treat discomfort as spiritual deficiency. Consent does not weaken Christian fellowship; it helps affection tell the truth.
Communities also need practices for receiving newcomers, poor people, isolated people, and survivors without forcing intimacy. Christlike welcome honors the whole person, keeps boundaries trustworthy, and refuses to use closeness as camouflage for manipulation or betrayal.
Anchor passage
Luke.22.48
Doctrinal connections
- Luke 7 connects the woman's kiss with grateful love arising from forgiveness, not with payment for forgiveness.
- Luke 22 exposes betrayal that weaponizes a familiar gesture of closeness against the Son of Man.
- Romans 16 places holy greeting within a diverse network of coworkers, households, women, men, Jews, and Gentiles.
- First Peter 5 joins a kiss of love with peace, humility, watchfulness, suffering, and God's restoring grace.
- John 13 identifies self-giving love as the mark of Jesus' disciples rather than prescribing one cultural greeting form.
- James 2 requires welcome without status favoritism, giving communal affection a concrete test in how poor people are received.
The noun simply names a kiss. Modifiers such as holy or of love and the narrative setting supply its moral and communal meaning; the lexical form alone does not establish romance, consent, sincerity, or betrayal.
From Old to New Testament
Old Testament narratives and poetry also use kisses for family affection, covenant loyalty, romance, reconciliation, deception, and betrayal. This wider pattern confirms the gesture's contextual range without making every Hebrew kissing verb or noun identical to G5370.