verb
feidomō
Strong’sG5339
I spare, abstain
stem feid-10 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books6 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
φείδομαι
[in LXX for חמל, חוּס, חשׂךְ, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G5339 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidfi'-dom-ahee
to be chary of, i.e. (subjectively) to abstain or (objectively) to treat leniently
Fromof uncertain affinity;
King Jamesforbear, spare.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
Refs 6th c.BC+imperfect φείδοντο (without augment) even in Refs 5th c.BC+ after a diphthong at the end of the preceding line: future φείσομαι Refs 5th c.BC+, Epic dialect πεφῐδήσομαι Refs 8th c.BC+, later future passive in middle sense φ[ε]ισθήσομαι Refs 2nd c.AD+: aorist 1 ἐφεισάμην Refs 6th c.BC+, Epic dialect 3rd.pers. singular φείσατο Refs 8th c.BC+aorist 2 πεφῐδόμην, used by Refs 8th c.BC+, infinitive πεφιδέσθαι Refs: perfect participle πεφεισμένος Refs 2nd c.AD+; Epic dialect imperative πεφίδησο Refs; participle πεφιδημένος Refs 4th c.AD+:—spare:
I spare persons and things, e.g. in war, i.e. not destroy them, with genitive, Τρώων Refs 8th c.BC+ [same place]; μὴ φείσῃ βίου spare not my life, Refs 5th c.BC+: absolutely, spare, be merciful, Refs
II spare persons and things in using them, use sparingly, ἵππων φειδόμενος, i. e. taking care of them, Refs 8th c.BC+; φ. ὃν εἶχε βίον (βίον by attraction to the relative) Refs 6th c.BC+ not to spare, i. e. to use or give freely, οὐδέ νυ τοῦ περ [δέπαος] φείσατο Refs 8th c.BC+
II.2 absolutely, to be sparing, live thriftily, φείδεσθαι μὲν ἄμεινον Refs 6th c.BC+; frequently in participle φειδόμενος, η, ον, thrifty, Refs 5th c.BC+, etc.; ὄμμασι φειδομένοις with shrinking, shy eyes, Refs 2nd c.AD+; αἱ μὴ φ. (i.e. μέλισσαι) the unthrifty ones, Refs 4th c.BC+; compare πεφεισμένως, φειδομένως.
III have consideration for, τῆς τοῦ λόγου συμμετρίας Refs 1st c.AD+: with negative, pay no heed to, οὔτ᾽ ἀνθρώπων φείδεται οὔτε θεῶν Refs 4th c.BC+
IV draw back from, refrain from, θαλάσσας Refs 7th c.BC+; τοῦ λέγειν, τοῦ ἀκολουθεῖν, Refs 5th c.BC+: with infinitive, spare to do, forbear from doing, uncertain in Refs 5th c.BC+; also φ. μή τι δρᾶσαι τῶν τυραννικῶν Refs 5th c.BC+
V in Refshave mercy upon.., LXX; φ. περί τινος to keep one's hands off.., LXX spare to hurt, LXX; φ. τι ἀπό τινος keep it off, Jb.Refs; φ. τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπὸ θανάτουLXX; φειδεύμενοι (from contraction φειδέομαι) is conjecture for φιλεύμεναι in Refs 4th c.AD+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| feidomōφείδομαι | happening now · Ipresent middle or passive indicative 1st person singular | spare | 2× |
| feidemiφείσομαι | will happen · Ifuture middle indicative 1st person singular | spare | 1× |
| feidetiφείσεται | will happen · he/she/itfuture middle indicative 3rd person singular | spare | 1× |
| feidetaἐφείσατο | happened · he/she/itaorist middle indicative 3rd person singular | spare | 4× |
| feidorōntosφειδόμενος | happening now · subjectpresent middle or passive participle nominative singular masculine | spare | 1× |
| feidorōntoisφειδόμενοι | happening now · subjectpresent middle or passive participle nominative plural masculine | sparing | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 8 occurrences
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | feidomō2×φείδομαι | feidome | feidomē | feidomelē |
| you 2nd person singular | feidosō | feidose | feidosē | feidoselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | feidotō | feidote | feidotē | feidotelē |
| we 1st person plural | feidonō | feidone | feidonē | feidonelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | feidovō | feidove | feidovē | feidovelē |
| they 3rd person plural | feidolō | feidole | feidolē | feidolelē |
acts on or for itself middle voice
| Who person | will happen future | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | feidemi1×φείσομαι | feidema |
| you 2nd person singular | feidesi | feidesa |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | feideti1×φείσεται | feideta4×ἐφείσατο |
| we 1st person plural | feideni | feidena |
| ye 2nd person plural | feidevi | feideva |
| they 3rd person plural | feideli | feidela |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | feidomeiō | feidomeiē |
| you 2nd person singular | feidoseiō | feidoseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | feidoteiō | feidoteiē |
| we 1st person plural | feidoneiō | feidoneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | feidoveiō | feidoveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | feidoleiō | feidoleiē |
acts on or for itself middle voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | feidemeia |
| you 2nd person singular | feideseia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | feideteia |
| we 1st person plural | feideneia |
| ye 2nd person plural | feideveia |
| they 3rd person plural | feideleia |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | feidosōr | feidosēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | feidotōr | feidotēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | feidovōr | feidovēr |
| they 3rd person plural | feidolōr | feidolēr |
acts on or for itself middle voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | feidesar |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | feidetar |
| ye 2nd person plural | feidevar |
| they 3rd person plural | feidelar |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | feidomoiō |
| you 2nd person singular | feidosoiō |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | feidotoiō |
| we 1st person plural | feidonoiō |
| ye 2nd person plural | feidovoiō |
| they 3rd person plural | feidoloiō |
acts on or for itself middle voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | feidemoia |
| you 2nd person singular | feidesoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | feidetoia |
| we 1st person plural | feidenoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | feidevoia |
| they 3rd person plural | feideloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | feidorō | feidorē | ||
| acts on or for itself middle voice | feideri | feidera |
Used as an adjective — participle, 2 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | feidorōntos2×φειδόμενος | feidorēntos | ||
| acts on or for itself middle voice | feiderintos | feiderantos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
feid is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
10 occurrences, every one of them listed
feidomō“spare”happening now · Ipresent middle or passive indicative 1st person singular2×
1 Corinthians 7:28… echali tois toioutois, mis de vu feidomō.… this life, and I want to spare you this.
2 Corinthians 12:6… ouk emi afronos, alētheian gar legami; feidomō de, mē tinos eis min logizeteia …… be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will credit me …
feidemi“spare”will happen · Ifuture middle indicative 1st person singular1×
2 Corinthians 13:2… ean erchameia eis tem palin ouk feidemi,… If I return, I will not spare anyone,
feideti“spare”will happen · he/she/itfuture middle indicative 3rd person singular1×
Romans 11:21… fusian kladoiu ouk feideta, oude su feideti.For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly …
feideta“spare”happened · he/she/itaorist middle indicative 3rd person singular4×
Romans 8:32hos ge tou idiou huiou ouk feideta, alla huper nu pantoiu paradōata auton, …He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him …
Romans 11:21… theos toiu kata fusian kladoiu ouk feideta, oude su feideti.… natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either.
2 Peter 2:4… gar tos theos angeloiu hamartarantoiu ouk feideta, alla seirai zofou tartararantos paradōata eis …For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but …
2 Peter 2:5kai archaiou kosmou ouk feideta, alla ogdoon Nōe dikaiosunau kērukon fulassata, …if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought …
feidorōntos“spare”happening now · subjectpresent middle or passive participle nominative singular masculine1×
2 Corinthians 1:23… epikalomō epi tan ēman psuchan, hoti feidorōntos vu ouketi erchama eis Korinthan.… that it was in order to spare you that I did not return …
feidorōntois“sparing”happening now · subjectpresent middle or passive participle nominative plural masculine1×
Acts 20:29“sparing”… mu lukois baruois eis vin mē feidorōntois teu poimnieu,… that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.