Murder
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 theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
G5408 is a Greek noun for murder, unlawful killing, or murderous violence. Matthew 15:19 includes murder among the evils that come from the human heart, locating lethal harm within moral agency rather than ritual contamination.
Reader summary
Full entry for φόνος (G5408) · Open the biblical lexicon
G5408 is a Greek noun for murder, unlawful killing, or murderous violence. Matthew 15:19 includes murder among the evils that come from the human heart, locating lethal harm within moral agency rather than ritual contamination.
The BSB source-word alignment has 9 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include murder (6), - (1), for murder (1), murderous (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 15:19. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (2), Mark (2), Acts (1), Hebrews (1).
G5408 is a Greek noun for murder, unlawful killing, or murderous violence. Matthew 15:19 includes murder among the evils that come from the human heart, locating lethal harm within moral agency rather than ritual contamination. Acts 9:1 portrays Saul breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples before he is confronted by Jesus, showing violence already present in intimidation and active pursuit.
Luke 23:25 says Pilate released the man imprisoned for insurrection and murder and handed Jesus over to the crowd's will, exposing political expediency and distorted judgment. Other uses list murder with theft and sexual immorality or describe killings connected to rebellion. G5408 opens the protection of life, violent intent, state and crowd responsibility, repentance, and justice.
It corrects rhetoric that trivializes murder through casual metaphor and teaching that treats thoughts, anger, negligence, self-defense, war, execution, and intentional homicide as automatically identical legal or lexical categories.
G5408 names murder or lethal violence and can also characterize murderous intent or threat. The passages address unlawful killing and the disposition that produces it, while moral, pastoral, and legal application still requires careful distinctions among forms of death and responsibility.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
Jesus includes murder among the evils proceeding from the heart, shifting attention from external purity to moral agency.
Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord. He approached the high priest
Saul's campaign against the disciples is characterized by murderous threats before the risen Jesus interrupts his violence.
As they had requested, he released the one imprisoned for insurrection and murder, and he handed Jesus over to their will.
Pilate releases a man imprisoned for insurrection and murder while handing the innocent Jesus over to the crowd's will.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Unlawful killing by human agency, distinguished from natural death or divine judgment
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
10 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
murder, slaughter
Read versemurder, slaughter
Read versemurder, slaughter
Read versemurder, slaughter
Read versemurder, slaughter
Read versemurder, slaughter
Read versemurder, slaughter
Read versemurder, slaughter
Read versemurder, slaughter
Read versemurder, slaughter
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.
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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 9 lexical occurrence verses.
φόνος is from an obsolete root - no further derivation.
G5408 demands moral clarity about lethal violence. Jesus teaches that murder is not made clean by external religious practice, because the human heart can generate the intent that destroys a neighbor. Saul's threats show that violence has a social path: dehumanizing conviction becomes intimidation, official permission, pursuit, and planned harm. Christ's interruption leads to radical change, but Saul's conversion does not make murderous persecution harmless or require threatened disciples to abandon caution.
The passion narrative also reveals compromised institutions and crowds participating in distorted judgment while a known murderer is released. Churches confronting threats or homicide must prioritize emergency safety, lawful reporting, truthful records, trauma care, and support for grieving families. Forgiveness cannot be demanded on a timetable or substituted for public justice.
At the same time, the word should not be stretched until every angry thought, policy disagreement, medical tragedy, accident, or contested use of force is lexically identical. Serious ethical analysis requires evidence, intent, circumstance, and appropriate expertise.
Acts.9.1
G5408 is a masculine noun meaning murder or slaughter and appears in singular and plural forms. Its close contexts concern intentional lethal violence, murderous threat, or killings within rebellion, while broader ethical comparisons should not erase differences in agency and circumstance.
The prohibition of murder rests within Scripture's protection of life and concern for truthful judgment. Jesus traces violence toward the heart and commands reconciliation, while the apostolic witness shows a persecutor transformed and communities still exercising prudent protection.