phēmi · say

What it means

phēmi (φημί) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “say”.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To say something aloud; to state it.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

To say, affirm. It is a short verb used above all to introduce what someone says, often set inside the quotation. It is a synonym of λέγω, which is more frequent.

• Introducing what someone says Luke 15:17Matthew 4:7Matthew 22:37
• Set inside the quotation: “he says” Acts 25:5Acts 25:22
• “What then am I saying?”: in an argument 1 Corinthians 10:191 Corinthians 7:29
• What someone says 2 Corinthians 10:10

How we translate it

“Said” 43 times, “says” 17, “I say” 3. When the Greek places it in the middle of the quoted sentence, it is kept there (“Tomorrow,” he says, “you will hear him.”, Acts 25:22). In Romans 3:8, where it is what others maintain, “claim”. In English it is not set apart from λέγω, because both verbs say the same; the difference is one of style, and φημί abounds in Luke and Acts.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• said ×43
• says ×17
• I say ×3
• am I saying ×1
• claim ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×16
• Mark×6
• Luke×8
• John×3
• Acts×24
• Romans×1
• 1 Corinthians×5
• 2 Corinthians×1
• Hebrews×1

• Matthew 4:7

  Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’”

• Matthew 8:8

  And the centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say a word, and my servant will be healed.

• Matthew 13:28

  And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ And the slaves say to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’

• Matthew 13:29

  But he says, ‘No, so that while gathering the darnel you do not uproot the wheat along with them.

• Matthew 14:8

  And she, prompted by her mother, says, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Immerser.”

• Matthew 17:26

  And when he said, “From strangers,” Jesus said to him, “Then indeed the sons are free.

• Matthew 19:21

  Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give them to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

• Matthew 21:27

  And they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

• Matthew 22:37

  And he said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

• Matthew 25:21

  His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful over a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

• Matthew 25:23

  His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful over a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

• Matthew 26:34

  Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you that on this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”

• Matthew 26:61

  and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the sanctuary of God and in three days to build it.’”

• Matthew 27:11

  Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said, “You say so.”

• Matthew 27:23

  And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Let him be crucified!”

• Matthew 27:65

  Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it secure as you know how.”

• Mark 9:12

  And he said to them, “Elijah does come first and restores all things. And how is it written about the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?

• Mark 9:38

  John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”

• Mark 10:20

  And he said to him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”

• Mark 10:29

  Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for the sake of me and for the sake of the good news

• Mark 12:24

  Jesus said to them, “Is it not for this reason that you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God?

• Mark 14:29

  But Peter said to him, “Even if all fall away, yet not I.”

• Luke 7:40

  And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he says, “Teacher, say it.”

• Luke 7:44

  And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

• Luke 15:17

  But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have more than enough bread, but I am perishing here with hunger!

• Luke 22:58

  And after a little while another saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.”

• Luke 22:70

  And they all said, “Are you, then, the Son of God?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.”

• Luke 23:3

  And Pilate asked him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him and said, “You say so.”

• Luke 23:40

  But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same condemnation?

• John 1:23

  He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

• John 9:38

  And he said, “I believe, Lord!” And he bowed down before him.

• John 18:29

  So Pilate went outside to them and says, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”

• Acts 7:2

  And he said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

• Acts 8:36

  And as they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch says, “Look, water! What prevents me from being immersed?”

• Acts 10:28

  And he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner; but to me God showed that I should call no person profane or unclean.

• Acts 10:30

  And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, up to this hour, I was praying at the ninth hour in my house; and look, a man stood before me in shining clothing,

• Acts 10:31

  and he says, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms have been remembered before God.

• Acts 16:30

  And bringing them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

• Acts 16:37

  But Paul said to them, “They beat us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Romans, and threw us into prison, and now are they throwing us out secretly? No indeed! Rather, let them come themselves and bring us out.”

• Acts 17:22

  So Paul, standing in the middle of the Areopagus, said, “Men of Athens, I see how very religious you are in every way.

And 25 more times.