What does φύλαξ (phýlax) mean in the Bible?
φύλαξ (phýlax): One assigned protective responsibility for securing persons or places against danger or escape
Greek · G5441
φύλαξ
A watcher or sentry
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Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
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φύλαξG5441
Pronunciationphýlax
What does φύλαξ (phýlax) mean in the Bible?
φύλαξ (phýlax): One assigned protective responsibility for securing persons or places against danger or escape
Full entry for φύλαξ (G5441) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5441?
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include guards (2), sentries (1).
Where does φύλαξ (phýlax) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 5:23. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (3).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itguards2×Acts 5:23, Acts 12:19
sentries1×Acts 12:6
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowActs 5:23
Aligned rows3
Books represented1
Acts3
Source forms
φύλακας2xphylakasActs 5:23, Acts 12:19
φύλακές1xphylakesActs 12:6
Parsing patterns
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural2xActs 5:23, Acts 12:19
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural1xActs 12:6
Evidence Summary
Greek word. One assigned protective responsibility for securing persons or places against danger or escape
Strong'sG5441
Lexical occurrences3 versesGreek text appearances3 timesWord forms2 forms3 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkJude 1:24–25Source Gloss
a watcher or sentry
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 5:23Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
φύλακαςfulakav
a guard, keeper, sentinel
Read verseActs 12:6Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
φύλακέςfulakev
a guard, keeper, sentinel
Read verseActs 12:19Noun Accusative Plural Masculine
φύλακας,fulakav
a guard, keeper, sentinel
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 2 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 patterns2Aligned forms3Case patternAccusative (2)Number patternPlural (3)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · MasculineActs 12:61×
Accusative · Plural · MasculineActs 5:23 · Acts 12:192×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Additional Occurrences
Jude 1:24–25φυλάξαιphýlax
to guard; preserve; keep safe
New Testament Witnesses
to guard, preserve
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 3 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
φύλαξ is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Affirms active divine preservation, balancing the command for believers to keep themselves.
Affirms active divine preservation of believers.Jude 1:24–25