Greek word · G5395

φλόξ

phlox

flame

Phlox: a flame, a blaze. Puros (genitive of pur, fire) names what the flame is made of. In Scripture fire often marks God's presence and holiness (the burning bush, Sinai, the pillar of fire), and it also marks heavenly beings.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

φλόξ genitive, φλογός,

[in LXX chiefly for לַהַב, לֶהָבָה ;]

a flame: Luke 16:24; φ, πυρός, Acts 7:30, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, Hebrews 1:7" (LXX), Revelation 1:14 2:18 19:12.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Hebrews 1:7

Range of meaning

Phlox: a flame, a blaze. Puros (genitive of pur, fire) names what the flame is made of. In Scripture fire often marks God's presence and holiness (the burning bush, Sinai, the pillar of fire), and it also marks heavenly beings.

Against the English

KJV/ESV/NASB/WEB: “a flame of fire” (singular, as in the Greek). BSB/NIV: “flames of fire” (plural, smoothed to match “servants”). The singular may picture the whole company of servants as one blaze.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 3:2 LXX: the angel of the Lord appeared “in a flame of fire” (en phlogi puros). Other links: the seraphim, whose name means “burning ones” (Isaiah 6); Ezekiel 1; Daniel 7:9–10; 2 Kings 6:17; Judges 13:20 (the angel goes up in the altar flame). 4 Ezra 8:21–22 describes the angelic hosts as changed at God's word into wind and fire. Genesis Rabbah 21:9 reads the “turning” flaming sword of Genesis 3:24 as angels who change form: sometimes men, sometimes women, sometimes spirits.

From the study of Revelation 2:18

Range of meaning

Phlox means a flame or blaze. 'Flame of fire' is a Hebrew-style phrase (compare Hebrew lahab esh / labbat esh, Exod 3:2; Isa 29:6). In biblical imagery fire goes with God's presence (the burning bush), with testing and refining, and with judgment.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, ESV and NASB keep 'flame of fire'. BSB and NIV smooth it to 'blazing fire'. That is clear English, but it loses the image of a single darting flame and the echo of the Hebrew phrase.

Used elsewhere in the period

Dan 10:6 describes a heavenly figure: 'his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of burnished bronze'. Rev 1:14 brings this image to the risen Christ. 1 Enoch 14 and 4Q heavenly-vision texts link fire with God's throne.

From the study of Revelation 19:12

Range of meaning

Phlox means a flame, the visible, leaping part of a fire. With pyr ('fire') it forms the stock biblical phrase 'flame of fire'. In the Greek Old Testament this phrase is tied to God appearing (theophany) and to God's judgment.

Against the English

BSB's 'blazing fire' and NIV's similar wording keep the intensity. KJV, ESV and YLT give the literal 'flame of fire'. All are accurate. The loss is only that a modern reader may not hear the Old Testament scenes the phrase calls up.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Old Testament (LXX) uses it at Exod 3:2 (the angel of the LORD 'in a flame of fire' in the bush), Isa 66:15 (the LORD comes with fire to repay 'with flames of fire'), and Dan 7:9 (the Ancient of Days' throne 'flames of fire'). Dan 10:6 gives the heavenly figure 'eyes like torches of fire'. Within Revelation the phrase was already used for the Son of Man (1:14), and it heads the letter to Thyatira (2:18), where it is explained: 'I am he who searches minds and hearts' (2:23).

Where it appears

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 16:24 φλογὶ flame

    So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’

    Here: A blazing flame. Earlier Jewish texts linked fire with the place of judgment (Gehenna, the furnace), and here the image appears inside Hades.

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 7:30 φλογὶ a flame

    After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.

    Here: A blaze or tongue of flame, the visible flickering part of a fire.

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 1:7 φλόγα· a flame;

    Now about the angels He says: “He makes His angels winds, His servants flames of fire.”

    Here: A single blazing flame: brilliant and powerful, but flickering and short-lived. It is what God makes his servants into.

Revelation · 3

  1. Revelation 1:14 φλὸξ a flame

    The hair of His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like a blazing fire.

    Here: A single living, flickering flame, not a general blaze. The image is of bright, moving light that looks out and burns through.

  2. Revelation 2:18 φλόγα a flame

    To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.

    Here: A blazing, moving flame. The picture is of piercing brightness that nothing can hide from.

  3. Revelation 19:12 φλὸξ a flame

    He has eyes like blazing fire, and many royal crowns on His head. He has a name written on Him that only He Himself knows.

    Here: A blazing flame: fire that is burning and giving light, not embers. It suggests intensity, brightness and the power to burn.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.