What does φιλοτιμέομαι (philotiméomai) mean in the Bible?
φιλοτιμέομαι (philotiméomai): Ambitious striving for honor or reputation, often directed toward spiritual rather than worldly status
Greek · G5389
φιλοτιμέομαι
To aspire
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
φιλοτιμέομαι G5389
Pronunciation philotiméomai
What does φιλοτιμέομαι (philotiméomai) mean in the Bible?
φιλοτιμέομαι (philotiméomai): Ambitious striving for honor or reputation, often directed toward spiritual rather than worldly status
Full entry for φιλοτιμέομαι (G5389) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5389?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include I have aspired (1), to aspire (1), we aspire (1).
Where does φιλοτιμέομαι (philotiméomai) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Romans 15:20. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Thessalonians (1), 2 Corinthians (1), Romans (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 I have aspired 1× Romans 15:20
to aspire 1× 1 Thessalonians 4:11
we aspire 1× 2 Corinthians 5:9
Show sample aligned rows
Romans 15:20 φιλοτιμούμενον to I have aspired Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Masculine Singular 2 Corinthians 5:9 φιλοτιμούμεθα to we aspire Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Plural 1 Thessalonians 4:11 φιλοτιμεῖσθαι to to aspire Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Romans 15:20
Aligned rows 3
Books represented 3
Romans 1 2 Corinthians 1 1 Thessalonians 1
Source forms
φιλοτιμεῖσθαι 1x philotimeisthai 1 Thessalonians 4:11
φιλοτιμούμεθα 1x philotimoumetha 2 Corinthians 5:9
φιλοτιμούμενον 1x philotimoumenon Romans 15:20
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Indicative Middle or Passive - 1st Person Plural 1x 2 Corinthians 5:9
Verb - Present Infinitive Middle or Passive 1x 1 Thessalonians 4:11
Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Accusative Masculine Singular 1x Romans 15:20
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Ambitious striving for honor or reputation, often directed toward spiritual rather than worldly status
Strong's G5389
Lexical occurrences 3 verses Greek text appearances 3 times Word forms 3 forms 3 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Romans 15:14-21 Source Gloss
to aspire
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Ambitious striving for honor or reputation, often directed toward spiritual rather than worldly status
(φίλος, τιμή), [in LXX: 4Ma.1:35 A ;] to love or seek after honour, hence, to be ambitious, emulous (Plat., Plut., al.): with inf., Rom.15:20, 2Co.5:9, 1Th.4:11.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Romans 15:20 Verb Present Middle or Passive Deponent Participle Accusative Singular Masculine
φιλοτιμούμενον filotimoumenon
I desire very strongly
Read verse 2 Corinthians 5:9 Verb First Person Plural Present Middle or Passive Deponent Indicative
φιλοτιμούμεθα, filotimoumeqa
I desire very strongly
Read verse 1 Thessalonians 4:11 Verb Present Middle or Passive Deponent Infinitive
φιλοτιμεῖσθαι filotimeisqai
I desire very strongly
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 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.
Form groups 3 Aligned forms 3 Tenses Present Voices Middle
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 1×
Present Middle Rom 15:20 1×
Indicative states a fact or reality 1×
Present Middle 2 Cor 5:9 1×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 1×
Present Middle 1 Thess 4:11 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 3 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 3
Voice
middle 3
Mood
infinitive 1 indicative 1 participle 1
NT Occurrences
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)
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
To aspire eagerly, make it one’s ambition.
Showing 1 selected witness from 3 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
φιλοτιμέομαι is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
Expresses intentional mission to unreached regions. Romans 15:14-21
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