What does φρίσσω (phríssō) mean in the Bible?
φρίσσω (phríssō): Physical manifestation of fear or awe; the body's involuntary response to dread or reverence.
Greek · G5425
φρίσσω
To shudder
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φρίσσω G5425
Pronunciation phríssō
What does φρίσσω (phríssō) mean in the Bible?
φρίσσω (phríssō): Physical manifestation of fear or awe; the body's involuntary response to dread or reverence.
Full entry for φρίσσω (G5425) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5425?
The BSB source-word alignment has 1 aligned row for this entry. Common renderings include shudder (1).
Where does φρίσσω (phríssō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at James 2:19. Its strongest book concentrations include James (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 shudder 1× James 2:19
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row James 2:19
Aligned rows 1
Books represented 1
James 1
Source forms
φρίσσουσιν 1x phrissousin James 2:19
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x James 2:19
Evidence Summary
FaithRevelation
Greek word. Physical manifestation of fear or awe; the body's involuntary response to dread or reverence.
Strong's G5425
Lexical occurrences 1 verse Greek text appearances 1 time Word forms 1 form 1 reference Verse guides 0 guides
Study link James 2:18–20 Source Gloss
to shudder
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Physical manifestation of fear or awe; the body's involuntary response to dread or reverence.
(Att.. -ττω, and so 4Ma.14:9 4Mac 17:7) [in LXX: Job.4:15 ( pi.), etc. ;]
1to be rough, bristle.
2to shiver, shudder, tremble, from fear: Jas.2:19 (see Hort, in l).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
1 Greek text appearance shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
James 2:19 Verb Third Person Plural Present Active Indicative
φρίσσουσι. frissousin
I shudder
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 1 Aligned forms 1 Tenses Present Voices Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 1×
Present Active Jas 2:19 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 1 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 1
Voice
active 1
Mood
indicative 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)
Sampled Scripture Occurrences
Representative Scripture witnesses for this entry: passage, original form, and sense in context.
New Testament Witnesses
shudder, tremble
Additional Occurrences
they shudder, tremble
Word Origins
φρίσσω is a primary verb - no further derivation.
Why This Word Matters
Shows that emotional response to truth does not equal saving faith. James 2:18–20
Canonical Themes
Faith Revelation
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