Greek word · G5437
φυγή
phygē
flight
Flight, running away; escape; in classical Greek also exile or banishment.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
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 Matthew 24:20
- Range of meaning
Flight, running away; escape; in classical Greek also exile or banishment.
- Against the English
'Flight' is the right word, but it is a little old-fashioned. The sense is a desperate escape on foot, like a refugee's, not an orderly departure.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Common in classical and Septuagint Greek for fleeing an enemy (e.g. the cognate verb φεύγω for fleeing in battle). In the New Testament the noun appears securely only here. The matching verb appears in v. 16 ('let them flee').
Where it appears
Matthew · 1
-
Matthew 24:20 φυγὴ flight
Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath.
Here: The act of running away from danger. This is the only place in the New Testament where the noun is securely attested. It looks back to the urgent, drop-everything escape of vv. 16–18.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.