To reason
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φρονέω comes from phren (the mind, the seat of understanding) and means to think, to have an opinion, to be oriented toward, to set the mind on. It is not merely intellectual reflection but the fundamental orientation and inclination of the mind — the direction that one's thinking habitually takes, the basic frame through which one processes reality.
Reader summary
Full entry for φρονέω (G5426) · Open the biblical lexicon
φρονέω comes from phren (the mind, the seat of understanding) and means to think, to have an opinion, to be oriented toward, to set the mind on. It is not merely intellectual reflection but the fundamental orientation and inclination of the mind — the direction that one's thinking habitually takes, the basic frame through which one processes reality.
The BSB source-word alignment has 26 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include you do not have in mind (2), - (1), . . . (1), [does so] (1), by being like-minded (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 16:23. Its strongest book concentrations include Philippians (10), Romans (9), 1 Corinthians (1), 2 Corinthians (1).
φρονέω comes from phren (the mind, the seat of understanding) and means to think, to have an opinion, to be oriented toward, to set the mind on. It is not merely intellectual reflection but the fundamental orientation and inclination of the mind — the direction that one's thinking habitually takes, the basic frame through which one processes reality. The local Greek artifact indexes about 26 NT occurrences, with Philippians especially prominent where Paul makes the transformation of the mind and its orientation a central concern.
Philippians 2:5 is the central NT phroneo text: 'Have this mind (touto phroneite) among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.' The verb is imperative — this is a command, not a suggestion. The mind that the community is to have is then described in the kenosis passage (2:6-11): the mind of the one who was in the form of God and chose to empty Himself, take the form of a servant, and humble Himself to death on a cross. The phroneo is the orientation, the basic disposition of consciousness that shapes how one evaluates everything else. To have the mind of Christ is to evaluate status, honor, and service from within Christ's own logic.
Philippians 4:8 gives the positive content that phroneo should be oriented toward: 'Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about (logizomai) these things.' The mind shaped by Christ is then directed toward the true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable — not as a list of topics to think about but as the quality of reality the renewed mind inhabits.
Romans 8:5-7 gives the sharpest contrast: 'Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on (phronousin) the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on (phronema) the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.' The direction of the mind's habitual orientation — toward flesh or toward Spirit — is the diagnostic indicator of which power governs the person's life.
For the preacher, φρονέω is the word that names the formation of the mind as a primary arena of Christian discipleship. Transformation is not merely behavioral; it begins with the reorientation of what the mind habitually tends toward.
φρονέω is indexed at about 26 NT occurrences in the local Greek artifact, with Philippians and Romans especially prominent. In Philippians, it describes the community's shared orientation — having the same mind, thinking in the same way about Christ's humility. In Romans, it names the diagnostic distinction between flesh-oriented and Spirit-oriented minds. In the Gospels (Mat 16:23; Mk 8:33), Jesus uses it in the rebuke of Peter: 'you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.'
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:
The imperative of mind-formation: 'have this mind' (phroneite — present imperative, continuous action). The Greek is terse and powerful: touto phroneite en hymin ho kai en Christo Iesou — 'this think among you, which also in Christ Jesus.' The kenosis passage that follows (2:6-11) is the content of the mind the community is to share. The mind of Christ is not primarily an attitude of humility as a personality trait but a specific orientation toward status, service, and others that is shaped by what Christ actually did.
But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
The sharpest use of phroneo in the Gospels: the contrast between ta tou theou (the things of God) and ta ton anthropon (the things of men). Peter's well-intentioned rebuke of Jesus — 'God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you' — reveals a mind-set oriented toward human conceptions of what a Messiah should be. Jesus names this as the orientation of the adversary (Satan) because it is the fundamental opposition: a mind set on human patterns of power versus a mind set on God's pattern, which runs through the cross.
Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
The diagnostic function of phroneo: what the mind habitually moves toward reveals which power governs the life. The phronema (the mind-set, the orientation) of the flesh is death; the phronema of the Spirit is life and peace (v. 6). This is not about thinking certain approved thoughts; it is about the deep orientation of the mind that shapes what one naturally values, desires, and pursues.
The person whose mind is set on the Spirit is not someone who concentrates very hard on spiritual topics; they are someone whose habitual, natural inclination moves toward what God values.
I urge Euodia and Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.
Phroneo applied to community conflict: two women in the Philippian community are called to 'think the same way' (to auto phronein). The call is not to agree on every point but to share the same fundamental orientation — the same mind in the Lord — so that the community's unity is restored. Phroneo is therefore not only an individual spiritual discipline but a community practice: the shared orientation of the mind in Christ is what makes community possible when disagreement threatens division.
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
The directional command: ano phronein (to think-toward the above), not the earthly. The 'above' in Colossians is where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God (v. 1) — so the call to set the mind on the above is the call to orient the mind around the risen Christ and His reality, not around the patterns and values of the present age. This is practical rather than escapist: the mind set on where Christ is evaluates earthly circumstances differently — from above rather than from within.
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. To be minded or disposed toward something; to set one's orientation on specific priorities.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 29 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I think, judge, observe
Read verseI think, judge, observe
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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 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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 26 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
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 passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 26 lexical occurrence verses.
φρονέω is built from this root:
Reveals alignment of thinking. Mark 8:31–33
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
φρονέω is the NT's word for the fundamental orientation of the mind — not what you happen to be thinking about in a given moment but the deep direction that your thinking habitually takes. Romans 12:2 commands the renewing of the mind (nous); phroneo names what that renewal produces: a mind that naturally moves toward what God values rather than what the flesh and the present age value.
The preacher who takes phroneo seriously will recognize that discipleship is fundamentally a matter of mind-formation, not just behavior modification. People do what their minds are oriented toward; change the orientation of the mind, and behavior follows. Philippians 2:5 frames the entire kenosis passage as an instruction about phroneo: 'have this mind among yourselves.'
The call to humble yourself and serve others is not first a behavioral demand but an instruction about what to think about — specifically, to think the way Christ thinks, which leads naturally to the self-emptying service He modeled. The battle for the Christian life is largely fought in the mind: not in the abstract realm of theology but in the concrete daily question of what the mind naturally moves toward when it has a free moment, under pressure, in decision-making, and in evaluating others.
Php.2.5
φρονέω is derived from phren (the mind, in ancient Greek thought the seat of understanding, emotion, and will — located in the diaphragm or chest). The phren-family of words in the NT is extensive: phronesis (practical wisdom), phronimos (wise, prudent), phronema (mindset, orientation — used in Romans 8:6-7), sophrosyne (soundness of mind, self-control), tapeinophrosyne (lowliness of mind — G5012).
Phroneo itself is beautifully concentrated in Philippians: Paul uses it repeatedly across four chapters, creating a sustained meditation on what it means to have the right orientation of mind in community. The to auto phronein (thinking the same thing) refrain in Philippians (2:2; 4:2) calls not for uniformity of opinion but for unity of fundamental orientation — all looking in the same direction, toward Christ.
The OT background for phroneo runs through the heart (leb/lebab) language of the Hebrew scriptures, which carries the same broad meaning as phren — the center of thinking, willing, and feeling. Proverbs is the OT's most sustained attention to what the mind moves toward: 'Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life' (Prov 4:23). The heart's orientation shapes the whole life, and the wisdom literature is essentially a school for the formation of the mind toward what is true, good, and God-aligned.
The Psalms are the liturgical form of this mind-formation: they train the mind to return to God as the fundamental orientation — even in lament, the mind is being reoriented toward the God who can be addressed. Isaiah 55:7-9 provides a prophetic frame: 'let the wicked forsake his thoughts... for my thoughts are not your thoughts, says the Lord.' The gap between divine and human thinking is the OT's version of what the NT names as the difference between the mind set on the flesh and the mind set on the Spirit.
The NT's phroneo instruction — think as Christ thinks, set your mind on the above — is the NT's form of what Isaiah called for: the forsaking of human thought-patterns and the taking on of divine ones.
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