Strong’s G5406 · Greek

φονεύς
phoneús

Definition

a murderer (always of criminal (or at least intentional) homicide; which G443 (ἀνθρωποκτόνος) does not necessarily imply; while G4607 (σικάριος) is a special term for a public bandit)

Etymology

from G5408 (φόνος);

Where the KJV renders it

  • murderer

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Greek term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.