Tribe
φυλήStrong’s G5443phulē
Appears in 23 verses of the New Testament
In short
Phulē is the Greek word usually translated “tribe” and “tribes”. It appears in 23 verses of the New Testament.
“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Meaning
Usually translated “tribe” and “tribes”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.
How it's translated
- tribe 19
- tribes 8
- of tribe 2
- to a tribe 1
- a tribe 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Revelation 13
- Matthew 2
- Luke 2
- Hebrews 2
- Acts 1
- Romans 1
8 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Matthew 24:30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
- Luke 2:36And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
- Luke 22:30That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
- Acts 13:21And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.
- Romans 11:1I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
- Philippians 3:5Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Greek dictionary
φυλή phulē · tribe
φυλή, ῆς, ἡ [in LXX chiefly for; מַטֶּה, also for שֵׁבֶט, מִשְׁפָּחָה, etc. ;] 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.† (AS)
From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “tribe” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
TRIBE, noun
[Latin tribus.]
- A family, race or series of generations, descending from the same progenitor and kept distinct, as in the case of the twelve tribes of Israel, descended from the twelve sons of Jacob.
- A division, class or distinct portion of people, from whatever cause that distinction may have originated.
- A number of things having certain characters or resemblances, in common; as a tribe of plants; a tribe of animals.
- A division; a number considered collectively.
All definitions and other forms of “tribe”
- A nation of savages; a body of rude people united under one leader or government; as the tribes of the six nations; the Seneca tribe in America.
- A number of persons of any character or profession; in contempt; as the scribbling tribe
TRIBE, verb transitive
To distribute into tribes or classes. [Not much used.]
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.