pherō · carry, bring

What it means

pherō (φέρω) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “carry, bring”.

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 carry or bring something or someone.
2. For a plant to bear fruit, and so also a life.
3. To bear patiently something heavy or hard.
4. To be borne along, like by wind or the Spirit.

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

Word study

To carry, bring, bear something; also to produce (fruit) and to endure. In the passive, to be carried along, by the wind or by the Spirit. Many compounds come from this verb, such as προσφέρω (offer, G4374).

• Bringing someone to Jesus Mark 2:3Mark 9:19
• Bearing a load: the cross, the reproach Luke 23:26Hebrews 13:13
• Bearing fruit John 15:5Mark 4:8
• Being carried along by the Spirit or driven by the wind 2 Peter 1:21Acts 27:15
• Sustaining all things Hebrews 1:3

How we translate it

It varies with the object: “bring” 20 times, “brought” 12, “bringing” 7 in most cases; “bear” 6 and “bears” 3, also with fruit (John 15:5); “carried along” by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21) and “were driven along” for the ship the wind sweeps away (Acts 27:15); “sustaining” in Hebrews 1:3. No single English verb covers all these uses.

How it is translated

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

• bring ×20
• brought ×12
• bringing ×7
• bear ×6
• bears ×3
• bearing ×2
• borne ×2
• were driven along ×2
• be established ×1
• carried along ×1
• others ×10

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Matthew×4
• Mark×15
• Luke×4
• John×17
• Acts×10
• Romans×1
• 2 Timothy×1
• Hebrews×5
• 1 Peter×1
• 2 Peter×5
• 2 John×1
• Revelation×2

• Matthew 14:11

  And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

• Matthew 14:18

  And he said, “Bring them here to me.”

• Matthew 17:17

  And Jesus answered and said, “O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I put up with you? Bring him here to me.”

• Mark 1:32

  When evening came, when the sun set, they were bringing to him all who were ill and those who were possessed by demons.

• Mark 2:3

  And they come, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four men.

• Mark 4:8

  And other seeds fell into the good soil and were giving fruit, growing up and increasing, and were bearing, one thirty, and one sixty, and one a hundred.”

• Mark 6:27

  And at once the king sent an executioner and ordered him to bring his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison

• Mark 6:28

  and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.

• Mark 7:32

  And they bring to him a deaf man who could hardly speak, and they beg him to lay his hand on him.

• Mark 8:22

  And they come to Bethsaida. And they bring him a blind man and beg him to touch him.

• Mark 9:17

  And one of the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, who has a mute spirit;

• Mark 9:19

  And he answered them and says, “O unbelieving generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I put up with you? Bring him to me.”

• Mark 9:20

  And they brought him to him. And when the spirit saw him, at once it convulsed the boy, and falling on the ground he was rolling about, foaming.

• Mark 11:2

  and says to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and at once, as you enter into it, you will find a colt tied, on which no person has ever yet sat; untie it and bring it.

• Mark 11:7

  And they bring the colt to Jesus and throw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it.

• Mark 12:15

  But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius so that I may see it.”

• Mark 12:16

  And they brought one. And he says to them, “Whose is this image and inscription?” And they said to him, “Caesar’s.”

• Mark 15:22

  And they bring him to the place Golgotha, which is translated Place of a Skull.

• Luke 5:18

  And look, men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were trying to bring him in and lay him before him.

• Luke 15:23

  and bring the fattened calf, slaughter it, and let us eat and celebrate,

• Luke 23:26

  And as they led him away, they seized a certain Simon, a Cyrenian, coming from the country, and put the cross on him to carry it behind Jesus.

• Luke 24:1

  But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices that they had prepared.

• John 2:8

  And he says to them, “Draw some now and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.

• John 4:33

  So the disciples were saying to one another, “Surely no one has brought him anything to eat?”

• John 12:24

  Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

• John 15:2

  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit.

• John 15:4

  Remain in me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.

• John 15:5

  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.

• John 15:8

  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

• John 15:16

  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you may go and bear fruit, and that your fruit may remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you.

• John 18:29

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

• John 19:39

  And Nicodemus also came, the one who had first come to him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litras.

• John 20:27

  Then he says to Thomas, “Bring your finger here and see my hands; and bring your hand and put it into my side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

• John 21:10

  Jesus says to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have caught now.”

• John 21:18

  Truly, truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”

• Acts 2:2

  And suddenly there came from heaven a roar like that of a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

• Acts 4:34

  For there was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses were selling them and bringing the proceeds of what was sold

• Acts 4:37

  since he had a field, sold it, brought the money and laid it at the feet of the apostles.

• Acts 5:2

  and he kept back part of the price, his wife also knowing it, and bringing a certain part, he laid it at the feet of the apostles.

• Acts 5:16

  And the multitude from the cities around Jerusalem also were coming together, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, who all were being healed.

And 26 more times.