What does Φίλιππος (Phílippos) mean in the Bible?
G5376 names Philip, one of Jesus' disciples in John, and his scenes show called witness, practical limitation, access-seeking, and corrected understanding. Jesus finds Philip and says, Follow Me.
Greek · G5376
Φίλιππος
Fond of horses; Philippus, the name of four Israelites
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Φίλιππος G5376
Pronunciation Phílippos
What does Φίλιππος (Phílippos) mean in the Bible?
G5376 names Philip, one of Jesus' disciples in John, and his scenes show called witness, practical limitation, access-seeking, and corrected understanding. Jesus finds Philip and says, Follow Me.
Reader summary
Full entry for Φίλιππος (G5376) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5376?
The BSB source-word alignment has 36 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Philip (24), Philip’s (2), Philippi (2), to Philip (2), - (1).
Where does Φίλιππος (Phílippos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 10:3. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (16), John (12), Mark (3), Matthew (3).
Are there verse guides for Φίλιππος (Phílippos)?
This entry includes 5 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
What This Word Actually Means
G5376 names Philip, one of Jesus' disciples in John, and his scenes show called witness, practical limitation, access-seeking, and corrected understanding. Jesus finds Philip and says, Follow Me. Philip then finds Nathanael and bears witness that Jesus is the One Moses and the prophets wrote about. Later Philip calculates the feeding problem, receives the request of Greeks who want to see Jesus, and asks Jesus to show the Father.
Jesus' answer turns Philip's request back to the central revelation of the Gospel: whoever has seen the Son has seen the Father. Philip therefore helps teachers show ordinary discipleship under Christ's patient correction and self-disclosure.
How the Bible Uses It
G5376 follows Philip from Jesus' call to witness, practical testing, mediation of a request to see Jesus, and Jesus' correction that seeing Him is seeing the Father.
- John.1.43
The next day Jesus decided to set out for Galilee. Finding Philip, He told him, “Follow Me.”
Jesus finds Philip and commands him to follow. Philip's discipleship begins with Jesus' initiative, not Philip's achievement.
- John.1.45
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Philip finds Nathanael and announces Jesus in relation to Moses and the prophets. His witness points to fulfillment.
- John.1.46
“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.
Philip answers Nathanael's skepticism with come and see. He does not win by argument alone but directs him toward Jesus.
- John.6.5
When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?”
Jesus tests Philip before the feeding sign. The question exposes limits that Jesus will answer by His abundance.
- John.12.21
They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”
Greeks come to Philip asking to see Jesus. Philip becomes part of the movement that brings their request toward Jesus' hour.
- John.14.9
Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Jesus corrects Philip: seeing Jesus is seeing the Father. The disciple's request becomes a Christological revelation.
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 Philip 24× Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 3:1, Luke 6:14
Philip’s 2× Matthew 14:3, Mark 6:17
Philippi 2× Matthew 16:13, Mark 8:27
to Philip 2× John 12:21, Acts 8:29
- 1× Acts 8:34
. . . 1× John 12:22
of Philip 1× Acts 21:8
Philip {away} 1× Acts 8:39
Philip {closely} 1× Acts 8:13
to Philip’s 1× Acts 8:6
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 10:3 Φίλιππος to Philip Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 14:3 Φιλίππου to Philip’s Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Matthew 16:13 Φιλίππου to Philippi Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Mark 3:18 Φίλιππον to Philip Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Mark 6:17 Φιλίππου to Philip’s Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Mark 8:27 Φιλίππου to Philippi Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Luke 3:1 Φιλίππου to Philip Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular Luke 6:14 Φίλιππον to Philip Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular John 1:43 Φίλιππον to Philip Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular John 1:44 Φίλιππος to Philip Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 10:3
Aligned rows 36
Books represented 5
Matthew 3 Mark 3 Luke 2 John 12 Acts 16
Source forms
Φίλιππος 14x Philippos Matthew 10:3, John 1:44, John 1:45, John 1:46
Φίλιππον 9x Philippon Mark 3:18, Luke 6:14, John 1:43, John 1:48
Φιλίππου 7x Philippou Matthew 14:3, Matthew 16:13, Mark 6:17, Mark 8:27
Φιλίππῳ 5x Philippō John 12:21, Acts 8:12, Acts 8:13, Acts 8:29
Φίλιππε 1x Philippe John 14:9
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 14x Matthew 10:3, John 1:44, John 1:45, John 1:46
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 9x Mark 3:18, Luke 6:14, John 1:43, John 1:48
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular 7x Matthew 14:3, Matthew 16:13, Mark 6:17, Mark 8:27
Noun - Dative Masculine Singular 5x John 12:21, Acts 8:12, Acts 8:13, Acts 8:29
Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular 1x John 14:9
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Point others toward Jesus with the clarity you have, while remaining teachable where your understanding is still thin.
- Let Jesus' answer to Philip guard you from seeking the Father apart from the Son.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not treat every New Testament Philip as the same person without context.
- Do not make Philip's example more central than Jesus' self-revelation as the Son who shows the Father.
Key Verse and Form Guides
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
John 1:43 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
Φίλιππον, Philippon fond of horses; Philippus, the name of four Israelites The form clarifies Philip as the direct object of the finding action, which keeps the verse's movement and address clear. Read verse guide John 1:44 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
Φίλιππος Philippos fond of horses; Philippus, the name of four Israelites The form reinforces that the verse is identifying Philip, not narrating an action by him. Read verse guide John 1:45 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
Φίλιππος Philippos fond of horses; Philippus, the name of four Israelites The form clarifies that Philip is the named subject in the action, which keeps the verse's narrative and witness pattern easy to follow. Read verse guide John 1:46 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
Φίλιππος, Philippos fond of horses; Philippus, the name of four Israelites The form strengthens reader confidence that Philip is the one replying, while the meaning remains controlled by the dialogue and command in context. Read verse guide John 1:48 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
Φίλιππον Philippon fond of horses; Philippus, the name of four Israelites The form narrows the reading to Philip as the one to be called, which supports the narrative sequence without shifting the main emphasis away from Jesus' statement. Read verse guide Evidence Summary
Greek word. fond of horses; Philippus, the name of four Israelites
Source Gloss
fond of horses; Philippus, the name of four Israelites
Extended definition
:--Philip.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 38 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 10:3 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
Φίλιππος, filippov
Philip
Read verse Matthew 14:3 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
Φιλίππου filippou
Philip
Read verse Matthew 16:13 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
Φιλίππου filippou
Philip
Read verse Mark 3:18 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
Φίλιππον, filippon
Philip
Read verse Mark 6:17 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
Φιλίππου filippou
Philip
Read verse Mark 8:27 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
Φιλίππου· filippou
Philip
Read verse Luke 3:1 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
Φιλίππου filippou
Philip
Read verse Luke 3:19 Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
Φιλίππου filippou
Philip
Read verse Luke 6:14 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
Φίλιππον filippon
Philip
Read verse filippon
Philip
Read verse filippov
Philip
Read verse filippov
Philip
Read verse filippov
Philip
Read verse filippon
Philip
Read verse John 6:5 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
Φίλιππον, filippon
Philip
Read verse John 6:7 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
Φίλιππος, filippov
Philip
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 5 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 5 Aligned forms 36 Case pattern Nominative (14) Number pattern Singular (36)
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Matt 10:3 · John 1:44 · John 1:45 · John 1:46 · John 6:7 · John 12:22 · John 14:8 · Acts 1:13 · Acts 8:5 · Acts 8:30 · Acts 8:35 · Acts 8:38 · Acts 8:40 14×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine Matt 14:3 · Matt 16:13 · Mark 6:17 · Mark 8:27 · Luke 3:1 · Acts 8:6 · Acts 21:8 7×
Dative · Singular · Masculine John 12:21 · Acts 8:12 · Acts 8:13 · Acts 8:29 · Acts 8:34 5×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Mark 3:18 · Luke 6:14 · John 1:43 · John 1:48 · John 6:5 · Acts 6:5 · Acts 8:26 · Acts 8:31 · Acts 8:39 9×
Vocative · Singular · Masculine John 14:9 1×
Word Origins
Φίλιππος is built from these roots:
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
G5376 matters because Philip is a helpful portrait of ordinary, incomplete discipleship. Jesus finds him, and Philip quickly becomes a witness to Nathanael. His invitation, come and see, is simple and fitting because the point is not Philip's skill but Jesus Himself. In John 6, Philip's calculation is inadequate before the feeding sign, yet Jesus already knows what He will do.
In John 12, Philip is connected to outsiders who want to see Jesus as the hour approaches. In John 14, his request to see the Father receives one of the Gospel's clearest answers about the Son: whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father. Philip teaches that disciples witness truly even while still needing deeper correction from Christ.
Anchor passage
John.14.9
Doctrinal connections
- G190 Follow: Philip's story begins with Jesus' command to follow Him.
- G2147 Find: Philip finds Nathanael after Jesus has first found Philip.
- G3708 See: come and see becomes an invitation to encounter Jesus rather than merely debate Him.
- G740 Bread: the feeding scene exposes Philip's limited calculation before Jesus' provision.
- G1672 Greek: the request of Greeks in John 12 connects Philip to widening witness as Jesus' hour nears.
- G3962 Father: John 14 centers Philip's correction on Jesus as the revealer of the Father.
G5376 is a personal name. John identifies this Philip by his disciple scenes, so do not merge him with every New Testament Philip without context. The theological meaning comes from Jesus' call and revelation.
From Old to New Testament
Philip says Moses and the prophets wrote about Jesus, placing his witness inside Scripture's promise. John then shows Jesus fulfilling that witness as the Son who reveals the Father.
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