What does φυλή (phylḗ) mean in the Bible?
Phylē means tribe, clan, or a people group connected by descent or recognized communal identity. Jesus promises the Twelve a role concerning Israel's twelve tribes in the renewal.
Greek · G5443
φυλή
Tribe
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φυλή G5443
Pronunciation phylḗ
What does φυλή (phylḗ) mean in the Bible?
Phylē means tribe, clan, or a people group connected by descent or recognized communal identity. Jesus promises the Twelve a role concerning Israel's twelve tribes in the renewal.
Reader summary
Full entry for φυλή (G5443) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5443?
The BSB source-word alignment has 31 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [the] tribe (14), tribes (8), tribe (6), a tribe (1), from [the] tribe (1).
Where does φυλή (phylḗ) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 19:28. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (21), Hebrews (2), Luke (2), Matthew (2).
What This Word Actually Means
Phylē means tribe, clan, or a people group connected by descent or recognized communal identity. Jesus promises the Twelve a role concerning Israel's twelve tribes in the renewal. Paul identifies himself as an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin, showing that God's people Israel are not an abstraction. Revelation names the Lion from the tribe of Judah, lists servants from Israel's tribes, and pictures the New Jerusalem's gates bearing the tribes' names.
The noun carries genealogical and covenant-historical identity but does not teach racial superiority or erase individual faith and responsibility. In Revelation it also participates in symbolic, eschatological imagery.
How the Bible Uses It
Phylē locates people within Israel's tribal history and Revelation's renewed-city vision. Benjamin identifies Paul's ancestry, Judah names the Messiah's royal line, the twelve tribes signify covenant people, and their names remain in the city's architecture.
- Matt.19.28
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Matthew 19:28 says the Twelve will sit on thrones judging Israel's twelve tribes in the renewal. The promise joins apostolic vocation to the restored people of God under the Son of Man.
- Rom.11.1
I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
Romans 11:1 says Paul is an Israelite, Abraham's descendant, from Benjamin's tribe. His own identity becomes evidence that God has not rejected His people.
- Rev.5.5
Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Revelation 5:5 announces the Lion from Judah's tribe, the Root of David, who has conquered to open the scroll. The vision immediately reveals victory through the slain Lamb.
- Rev.7.8
From the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
Revelation 7:8 includes servants sealed from named tribes of Israel. The structured list belongs to Revelation's symbolic vision and should be read alongside the innumerable multinational multitude.
- Rev.21.12
The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates.
Revelation 21:12 says the New Jerusalem's gates bear the names of Israel's twelve tribes. Israel's covenant story is honored within the city's unified people and apostolic foundations.
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 [the] tribe 14× Luke 2:36, Acts 13:21, Revelation 7:5, Revelation 7:6
tribes 8× Matthew 19:28, Matthew 24:30, Luke 22:30, James 1:1
tribe 6× Hebrews 7:13, Revelation 5:5, Revelation 5:9, Revelation 7:9
a tribe 1× Hebrews 7:14
from [the] tribe 1× Romans 11:1
of [the] tribe 1× Philippians 3:5
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 19:28 φυλὰς to tribes Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural Matthew 24:30 φυλαὶ to tribes Noun - Nominative Feminine Plural Luke 2:36 φυλῆς to [the] tribe Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Luke 22:30 φυλὰς to tribes Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural Acts 13:21 φυλῆς to [the] tribe Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Romans 11:1 φυλῆς to from [the] tribe Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Philippians 3:5 φυλῆς to of [the] tribe Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Hebrews 7:13 φυλῆς to tribe Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular Hebrews 7:14 φυλὴν to a tribe Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular James 1:1 φυλαῖς to tribes Noun - Dative Feminine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 19:28
Aligned rows 31
Books represented 8
Matthew 2 Luke 2 Acts 1 Romans 1 Philippians 1 Hebrews 2 James 1 Revelation 21
Source forms
φυλῆς 20x phylēs Luke 2:36, Acts 13:21, Romans 11:1, Philippians 3:5
φυλὴν 3x phylēn Hebrews 7:14, Revelation 13:7, Revelation 14:6
φυλῶν 3x phylōn Revelation 7:9, Revelation 11:9, Revelation 21:12
φυλαὶ 2x phylai Matthew 24:30, Revelation 1:7
φυλὰς 2x phylas Matthew 19:28, Luke 22:30
φυλαῖς 1x phylais James 1:1
Parsing patterns
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular 20x Luke 2:36, Acts 13:21, Romans 11:1, Philippians 3:5
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular 3x Hebrews 7:14, Revelation 13:7, Revelation 14:6
Noun - Genitive Feminine Plural 3x Revelation 7:9, Revelation 11:9, Revelation 21:12
Noun - Accusative Feminine Plural 2x Matthew 19:28, Luke 22:30
Noun - Nominative Feminine Plural 2x Matthew 24:30, Revelation 1:7
Noun - Dative Feminine Plural 1x James 1:1
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not use biblical tribal language to justify racial superiority, segregation, or modern ethnic hierarchies.
- Do not erase Israel's historical particularity by turning every tribal reference immediately into a generic symbol.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not use biblical tribal language to justify racial superiority, segregation, or modern ethnic hierarchies.
- Do not erase Israel's historical particularity by turning every tribal reference immediately into a generic symbol.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Ethnic kinship group; in NT, either Israel's twelve tribes or collective peoples of earth
Strong's G5443
Lexical occurrences 31 verses Greek text appearances 31 times 16 shown below Word forms 6 forms 31 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
tribe
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Ethnic kinship group; in NT, either Israel's twelve tribes or collective peoples of earth
a body of men united by kinship or habitation, a clan or tribe: of the tribes of Israel, Mat.19:28, Luk.2:36 22:30, Act.13:21, Rom.11:1, Php.3:5, Heb.7:13-14, Jas.1:1, Rev.5:5 7:4-8 21:12; of the tribes of the earth, the peoples and nations, Mat.24:30, Rev.1:7 5:9 7:9 11:9 13:7 14:6.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 31 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 19:28 Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
φυλὰς fulav
a tribe, race
Read verse Matthew 24:30 Noun Nominative Plural Feminine
φυλαὶ fulai
a tribe, race
Read verse Luke 2:36 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
φυλῆς fulhv
a tribe, race
Read verse Luke 22:30 Noun Accusative Plural Feminine
φυλὰς fulav
a tribe, race
Read verse Acts 13:21 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
φυλῆς fulhv
a tribe, race
Read verse Romans 11:1 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
φυλῆς fulhv
a tribe, race
Read verse Philippians 3:5 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
φυλῆς fulhv
a tribe, race
Read verse Hebrews 7:13 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
φυλῆς fulhv
a tribe, race
Read verse Hebrews 7:14 Noun Accusative Singular Feminine
φυλὴν fulhn
a tribe, race
Read verse James 1:1 Noun Dative Plural Feminine
φυλαῖς fulaiv
a tribe, race
Read verse Revelation 1:7 Noun Nominative Plural Feminine
φυλαὶ fulai
a tribe, race
Read verse Revelation 5:5 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
φυλῆς fulhv
a tribe, race
Read verse Revelation 5:9 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
φυλῆς fulhv
a tribe, race
Read verse Revelation 7:4 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
φυλῆς fulhv
a tribe, race
Read verse Revelation 7:5 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
φυλῆς fulhv
a tribe, race
Read verse Revelation 7:5 Noun Genitive Singular Feminine
φυλῆς fulhv
a tribe, race
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 6 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 6 Aligned forms 31 Case pattern Genitive (23) Number pattern Singular (23)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · Feminine Matt 24:30 · Rev 1:7 2×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Luke 2:36 · Acts 13:21 · Rom 11:1 · Phil 3:5 · Heb 7:13 · Rev 5:5 · Rev 5:9 · Rev 7:4 · Rev 7:5 · Rev 7:6 · Rev 7:7 · Rev 7:8 20×
Genitive · Plural · Feminine Rev 7:9 · Rev 11:9 · Rev 21:12 3×
Dative · Plural · Feminine Jas 1:1 1×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine Heb 7:14 · Rev 13:7 · Rev 14:6 3×
Accusative · Plural · Feminine Matt 19:28 · Luke 22:30 2×
Word Origins
φυλή is built from these roots:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Phylē preserves particular history inside the Bible's universal hope. Paul can name Benjamin because God's promises unfolded among real families and tribes, and his existence refutes the claim that God simply discarded Israel. Revelation identifies Jesus through Judah and David, yet the conquering Lion appears as the slain Lamb. The sealed tribal list stands near a multitude no one can number from every nation, and the city's gates honor Israel while its foundations honor the apostles.
Christian teaching should therefore resist both ethnic pride and historical amnesia. God's saving purpose in Christ fulfills covenant promises and gathers a multinational people without making ancestry a ground of boasting. Tribal language belongs to God's story, not to modern racial hierarchies or speculative charts detached from the text.
Anchor passage
Rev.5.5
Doctrinal connections
- Covenant faithfulness: God has not simply rejected Israel or forgotten His promises.
- Christology: Jesus is the royal heir from Judah and David who conquers as the slain Lamb.
- Apostolic vocation: the Twelve's role corresponds to the renewed people of God.
- Election and mercy: tribal ancestry is real but never a ground for boasting before grace.
- Eschatology: Revelation uses Israel's tribal structure within visions of sealing and the holy city.
- Mission and unity: the Lamb redeems an innumerable people from every tribe, language, people, and nation.
Phylē denotes a tribe, clan, or recognized people group, especially one connected by descent. In Revelation it appears both in Israel's tribal lists and wider formulas for human peoples; literary context controls the reference.
From Old to New Testament
Genesis and Numbers organize Israel through twelve sons and tribes, Judah carries royal promise, and Benjamin remains part of the divided kingdom's history. Prophetic restoration hopes anticipate the reunited people honored in 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