ἐφοβοῦντο

ephobounto

they feared

from φόβος; to frighten, i.e. (passively) to be alarmed; by analogy, to be in awe of, i.e. revere:--be (+ sore) afraid, fear (exceedingly), reverence.

G5399

John 9:22 · Word #7

Lexicon G5399

Lemmaφοβέω
Transliterationphobéō
Strong'sG5399
In-contextthey feared
Literalthey-were-fearing

Morphology V IMPF MID IND 3P PL All morphology codes

Part of Speech V — Verb — An action or state of being
Tense IMPF — Imperfect — Continuous or repeated past action
Voice MID — Middle — The subject acts on itself or in its own interest
Mood IND — Indicative — States a fact or reality
Person 3P — 3rd person — The one spoken about ("he/she/it/they")
Number PL — Plural — More than one

Lexical Info

Lemmaφοβέω
Strong'sG5399

SIBI-P1 G5399-05

they were fearing (for themselves)

Morphological NotesVerb; imperfect tense (past ongoing), indicative mood, middle voice; third person plural. The middle form highlights personal participation or inward response to fear.
Rendering RationaleThe imperfect tense conveys ongoing or repeated past action, rendered as "were fearing." The middle voice reflects personal involvement or self-regarding response, hence "for themselves," preserving the reflexive nuance inherent in the form. This keeps the connection to the root idea of fear (φόβος) while accurately reflecting third person plural.

View full lexicon entry for G5399 →

AI-generated (openai/gpt-5.2-chat-latest)

Words from Root φοβέω (to fear, to frighten, to be alarmed, to stand in awe, to revere)

SILEX Code Transliteration SIBI-P1
G5399-01 ephobeito he/she was fearing for himself/herself
G5399-02 ephobethe he was fear-struck
G5399-03 ephobethesan they were struck with fear

Word Usage (95 occurrences of G5399)

Location Form Transliteration Meaning
Matthew 1:20 φοβηθῇς phobethes fear
Matthew 2:22 ἐφοβήθη ephobethe he was afraid
Matthew 9:8 ἐφοβήθησαν ephobethesan
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