What does φονεύς (phoneús) mean in the Bible?
φονεύς (phoneús): One who unlawfully kills another person; distinct from lawful execution or warfare.
Greek · G5406
φονεύς
Murderer
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.
φονεύς G5406
Pronunciation phoneús
What does φονεύς (phoneús) mean in the Bible?
φονεύς (phoneús): One who unlawfully kills another person; distinct from lawful execution or warfare.
Full entry for φονεύς (G5406) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5406?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include murderers (4), a murderer (3).
Where does φονεύς (phoneús) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 22:7. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (3), Revelation (2), 1 Peter (1), Matthew (1).
Are there verse guides for φονεύς (phoneús)?
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
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 murderers 4× Matthew 22:7, Acts 7:52, Revelation 21:8, Revelation 22:15
a murderer 3× Acts 3:14, Acts 28:4, 1 Peter 4:15
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 22:7 φονεῖς to murderers Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural Acts 3:14 φονέα to a murderer Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular Acts 7:52 φονεῖς to murderers Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural Acts 28:4 φονεύς to a murderer Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 1 Peter 4:15 φονεὺς to a murderer Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular Revelation 21:8 φονεῦσιν to murderers Noun - Dative Masculine Plural Revelation 22:15 φονεῖς to murderers Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 22:7
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 4
Matthew 1 Acts 3 1 Peter 1 Revelation 2
Source forms
φονεῖς 3x phoneis Matthew 22:7, Acts 7:52, Revelation 22:15
φονέα 1x phonea Acts 3:14
φονεύς 1x phoneus Acts 28:4
φονεὺς 1x phoneus 1 Peter 4:15
φονεῦσιν 1x phoneusin Revelation 21:8
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural 2x Acts 7:52, Revelation 22:15
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular 2x Acts 28:4, 1 Peter 4:15
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural 1x Matthew 22:7
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular 1x Acts 3:14
Noun - Dative Masculine Plural 1x Revelation 21:8
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.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. One who unlawfully kills another person; distinct from lawful execution or warfare.
Source Gloss
murderer
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.
Matthew 22:7 Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
φονεῖς foneiv
a murderer
Read verse Acts 3:14 Noun Accusative Singular Masculine
φονέα fonea
a murderer
Read verse Acts 7:52 Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
φονεῖς foneiv
a murderer
Read verse Acts 28:4 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
φονεύς foneuv
a murderer
Read verse 1 Peter 4:15 Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
φονεύς, foneuv
a murderer
Read verse Revelation 21:8 Noun Dative Plural Masculine
φονεῦσι foneusin
a murderer
Read verse foneiv
a murderer
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 7 Case pattern Nominative (4) Number pattern Plural (4)
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Acts 28:4 · 1 Pet 4:15 2×
Dative · Plural · Masculine Rev 21:8 1×
Accusative · Plural · Masculine Matt 22:7 1×
Accusative · Singular · Masculine Acts 3:14 1×
Word Origins
φονεύς is built from this root:
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