What does φθάνω (phthánō) mean in the Bible?
G5348 describes reaching, arriving, attaining, or coming upon a point. Its seven governed forms do not all picture the same kind of movement.
Greek · G5348
φθάνω
To precede/arrive
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
φθάνω G5348
Pronunciation phthánō
What does φθάνω (phthánō) mean in the Bible?
G5348 describes reaching, arriving, attaining, or coming upon a point. Its seven governed forms do not all picture the same kind of movement.
Reader summary
Full entry for φθάνω (G5348) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5348?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include has come (3), has not attained (1), we have already attained (1), we were the first to reach (1), will by no means precede (1).
Where does φθάνω (phthánō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 12:28. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Thessalonians (2), 2 Corinthians (1), Luke (1), Matthew (1).
What This Word Actually Means
G5348 describes reaching, arriving, attaining, or coming upon a point. Its seven governed forms do not all picture the same kind of movement. In Matthew 12:28 and Luke 11:20, Jesus says God's kingdom has come upon his hearers through his Spirit-empowered work. Romans 9:31 describes Israel not attaining the pursued law of righteousness. In 1 Thessalonians, wrath comes upon opponents while living believers do not precede those who have died.
Paul also speaks of reaching Corinth with the gospel and living consistently with what believers have attained. The verb therefore marks arrival at a person, place, condition, or point in an argument. Teachers must name the grammatical subject and destination each time. The wrath text cannot authorize contempt for Jewish people, the kingdom texts cannot support triumphal claims detached from Jesus, and attained progress cannot become a hierarchy of spiritual worth.
How the Bible Uses It
Seven forms of G5348 describe the kingdom coming upon hearers, a pursued goal not being attained, wrath arriving, the living not preceding the dead, gospel workers reaching Corinth, and believers living by what they have attained.
- 1Thess.2.16
Hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:16, wrath has come upon opponents within Paul's account of resisted mission. This judgment statement cannot be extended into ethnic contempt or collective blame.
- 2Cor.10.14
We are not overstepping our bounds, as if we had not come to you. Indeed, we were the first to reach you with the gospel of Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 10:14, Paul says his coworkers reached Corinth with Christ's gospel. The movement concerns actual missionary reach and accountable limits.
- Php.3.16
Nevertheless, we must live up to what we have already attained.
Philippians 3:16 calls believers to walk consistently with what they have attained, without turning present maturity into perfection or rank.
Passage contextBook context
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 has come 3× Matthew 12:28, Luke 11:20, 1 Thessalonians 2:16
has not attained 1× Romans 9:31
we have already attained 1× Philippians 3:16
we were the first to reach 1× 2 Corinthians 10:14
will by no means precede 1× 1 Thessalonians 4:15
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 12:28 ἔφθασεν to has come Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 11:20 ἔφθασεν to has come Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Romans 9:31 ἔφθασεν to has not attained Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 2 Corinthians 10:14 ἐφθάσαμεν to we were the first to reach Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural Philippians 3:16 ἐφθάσαμεν to we have already attained Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural 1 Thessalonians 2:16 ἔφθασεν to has come Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1 Thessalonians 4:15 φθάσωμεν to will by no means precede Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 1st Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 12:28
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 6
Matthew 1 Luke 1 Romans 1 2 Corinthians 1 Philippians 1 1 Thessalonians 2
Source forms
ἔφθασεν 4x ephthasen Matthew 12:28, Luke 11:20, Romans 9:31, 1 Thessalonians 2:16
ἐφθάσαμεν 2x ephthasamen 2 Corinthians 10:14, Philippians 3:16
φθάσωμεν 1x phthasōmen 1 Thessalonians 4:15
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 4x Matthew 12:28, Luke 11:20, Romans 9:31, 1 Thessalonians 2:16
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural 2x 2 Corinthians 10:14, Philippians 3:16
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 1st Person Plural 1x 1 Thessalonians 4:15
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Let Matthew 12:28 ground the kingdom-arrival use in Jesus' Spirit-empowered work.
- Keep the wrath and Israel texts inside Paul's arguments and refuse ethnic blame, contempt, or Gentile boasting.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim the kingdom-arrival wording grants present believers unrestricted power or exempts ministry claims from testing.
- Do not claim living believers outrank those who died, or that attained progress establishes a hierarchy of spiritual worth.
Passage contextPastoral applicationBook context
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To arrive or come before; in NT often means the kingdom of God reaching/arriving upon people.
Strong's G5348
Lexical occurrences 7 verses Greek text appearances 7 times Word forms 2 forms 7 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
to precede/arrive
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To arrive or come before; in NT often means the kingdom of God reaching/arriving upon people.
1to come before another, anticipate (cl.): with accusative of person(s), 1Th.4:15.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 12:28 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔφθασεν efqasen
I anticipate, precede, arrive
Read verse Luke 11:20 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔφθασεν efqasen
I anticipate, precede, arrive
Read verse Romans 9:31 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔφθασε. efqasen
I anticipate, precede, arrive
Read verse 2 Corinthians 10:14 Verb First Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἐφθάσαμεν efqasamen
I anticipate, precede, arrive
Read verse Philippians 3:16 Verb First Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἐφθάσαμεν, efqasamen
I anticipate, precede, arrive
Read verse 1 Thessalonians 2:16 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔφθασε efqasen
I anticipate, precede, arrive
Read verse 1 Thessalonians 4:15 Verb First Person Plural Aorist Active Subjunctive
φθάσωμεν fqaswmen
I anticipate, precede, arrive
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 2 Aligned forms 7 Tenses Aorist 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 6×
Aorist Active Matt 12:28 · Luke 11:20 · Rom 9:31 · 1 Thess 2:16 · 2 Cor 10:14 · Phil 3:16 6×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 1×
Aorist Active 1 Thess 4:15 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 7
Voice
active 7
Mood
indicative 6 subjunctive 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 12:28 ἔφθασεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 11:20 ἔφθασεν aorist active indicative completed Romans 9:31 ἔφθασεν aorist active indicative completed 2 Corinthians 10:14 ἐφθάσαμεν aorist active indicative completed Philippians 3:16 ἐφθάσαμεν aorist active indicative completed 1 Thessalonians 2:16 ἔφθασεν aorist active indicative completed 1 Thessalonians 4:15 φθάσωμεν aorist active subjunctive subjunctive
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 Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Witnesses
Luke 11:14–23 ἐφθασεν phthánō
Has come upon, overtaken
Showing 1 selected witness from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
φθάνω is a primary verb - no further derivation.
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
G5348 invites teachers to ask what reaches whom or what point has been attained. The kingdom comes upon Jesus' hearers as his works expose the arrival of God's reign. Israel's pursuit in Romans fails to reach its goal within Paul's larger argument about righteousness and mercy. Wrath comes upon opponents in a text that must never become ethnic contempt. Living believers do not precede those who died when the Lord returns, which protects grieving Christians from fears of disadvantage.
Paul and his coworkers reach Corinth with the gospel, and believers are called to walk in line with what they have attained. These are related movements, not interchangeable slogans. Application should follow the subject, destination, and local argument, preserving comfort, warning, mission, and growth without triumphalism or status ranking.
Anchor passage
Matthew.12.28
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew.12.28 and Luke.11.20 - the kingdom has come upon hearers through Jesus' defeat of demonic power.
- Romans.9.31 - Israel did not attain the pursued law of righteousness within Paul's argument.
- 1Thessalonians.2.16 - wrath has come upon opponents; the text does not authorize ethnic blame or contempt.
- 1Thessalonians.4.15 - living believers will not precede those who died at the Lord's coming.
- 2Corinthians.10.14 - Paul and his coworkers reached Corinth with the gospel without claiming another worker's field.
- Philippians.3.16 - believers are to live consistently with what they have attained.
The seven governed active forms comprise four aorist third-person singulars, two aorist first-person plurals, and one aorist subjunctive first-person plural. English renderings vary with the subject and complement: come upon, attain, reach, or precede.
From Old to New Testament
Kingdom arrival, failed pursuit, judgment, resurrection order, missionary reach, and faithful progress meet larger biblical themes at different points. Jesus' kingdom claim, Paul's mercy argument, and the resurrection promise must retain their own controlling contexts.
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