φοβεῖσθε (phobeisthe) in Matthew 28:5: Verb Second Person Plural Present Middle or Passive Deponent Imperative
φοβεῖσθε (phobeisthe) in Matthew 28:5
Textual Witness
The witness reads φοβεῖσθε in Matthew 28:5 after Μὴ in the angel's address to the women.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
The negative imperative moves the women from fear toward hearing the resurrection news.
How To Communicate It
Use this form to show how the angel's command prepares the women for the announcement about Jesus.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Do not turn the command into a blanket rebuke of every human fear.
- Do not use deponent voice to imply passivity where the context addresses fearing.
- Do not detach the comfort from the resurrection explanation that follows.
What Does The Label Mean?
Verb: the form names an action or state and functions as a finite verbal form in its clause.
Present: often views the action as in progress, customary, or presently in view. Context decides the exact force.
Middle or passive deponent: the form is middle or passive in shape but functions with the sense of fearing in this context.
Imperative: presents the verbal idea as a command or directive.
Second person: the hearers are grammatically addressed by the verbal form.
Not applicable: this finite verb form is not using noun case to mark its clause role.
Plural: the command addresses more than one woman in the scene.
Not applicable: this finite verb form does not use grammatical gender.
What The Form Does In This Verse
Μὴ and ὑμεῖς
The imperative is part of the angel's direct speech to the women at the tomb.
It tells the women not to fear before the angel explains that Jesus, the crucified one they seek, has been raised.
It is not a denial that the scene is weighty or startling, and it does not make fearlessness a generic command detached from the resurrection announcement.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The command shapes the hearers' response at the empty tomb.
Negative imperative in direct speech. prohibits fear before the resurrection announcement. Attached to Μὴ. Governed by the angel's address in Matthew 28:5. The command should be read with the reason that follows, not as a detached slogan.
What response does the angel command? The women are told not to fear.
Direct: The form directly supports a rendering such as "do not fear."
The imperative is pastoral in context, but the reason for comfort comes from the resurrection announcement.
Do not fear means fear is always sinful in every setting: This occurrence addresses the women at the tomb and anchors comfort in the news that Jesus has been raised.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
The witness reads φοβεῖσθε in Matthew 28:5 after Μὴ in the angel's address to the women.
The lemma φοβέομαι means to fear or be afraid, so the form addresses the women's fear in the scene.
The second person plural imperative addresses the women directly, and Μὴ marks the prohibition.
The angel's command not to fear prepares the women to hear the resurrection announcement.
The form fits biblical resurrection and divine-message scenes where fear is answered by God's revelatory word.
In teaching, tie the prohibition to the reason given in the context: the crucified Jesus has been raised.
Do not use this imperative to shame all fear in every setting or detach comfort from the resurrection announcement that follows.