adjective
fronimos
Strong’sG5429
intelligent, prudent
stem fronim-14 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books6 of 26 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Sensible, prudent, practically wise — showing good judgment in practical matters 124. This sense is often set against being foolish or senseless: the word is used in contrast to foolish (μωρός) and to being without sense (ἄφρων) 13. It can also describe a person who is wise about, or has sagacity or discernment in, a particular matter 3.
Strong's also notes a bad-sense use, meaning conceited, self-satisfied in one's own wisdom 2; Abbott-Smith similarly records the phrase "wise in one's own conceit" applied to this word 1.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
φρόνιμος, -ον
(< φρονέω), [in LXX for נָבוֺן, חָכָם etc.;]
SYN.: v.s. σοφός
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G5429 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidfron'-ee-mos
thoughtful, i.e. sagacious or discreet (implying a cautious character; while G4680 denotes practical skill or acumen; and G4908 indicates rather intelligence or mental acquirement); in a bad sense conceited (also in the comparative)
Fromfrom G5424;
King Jameswise(-r).
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
also η, ον Refs 1st c.AD+:— in one's right mind, in one's senses, Refs 5th c.BC+
II showing presence of mind, ἐν τοῖς δεινοῖς Refs 5th c.BC+presence of mind, Refs
III sensible, prudent, opposed to ἄφρων, Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to ἀνόητος, Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸν φρόνιμον ζητοῦντας.. ὥσπερ ἀποδεδρακότα Refs 4th c.BC+; φ. περί τινος possessing sagacity or discernment in a thing, Refs 5th c.BC+; περί τι Refs 5th c.BC+; εἴς τι Refs 5th c.BC+
III.2 of thoughts, acts, and the like, φ. τι ἐργάσασθαι Refs 5th c.BC+
III.3 of birds as giving omens, τοὺς ἄνωθεν φρονιμωτάτους οἰωνούς Refs 5th c.BC+
III.3.b sagacious, of animals, Refs 5th c.BC+
III.4 τὸ φ. practical wisdom, prudence, Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to τὸ ἄφρον, Refs 5th c.BC+ helpless in point of wisdom, Refs 5th c.BC+
III.5 adverb -μωςRefs 5th c.BC+; opposed to ἀλόγως, Refs 5th c.BC+: comparative φρονιμώτερον, διακεῖσθαι τῶν ἄλλων Refs; -ωτέρως Refs: superlative -ώτατα, λέγειν Refs 5th c.BC+
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
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | fronimos2×φρόνιμος | fronimas | fronimem | fronimois5×φρόνιμοι | fronimais3×φρόνιμοι | fronimeim |
| object accusative | fronimon | froniman | fronimoin | fronimain | ||
| direct address vocative | fronimor | fronimar | fronimoir | fronimair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | fronimou | fronimau | fronimeu | fronimoiu | fronimaiu | fronimeiu |
| to, for dative | fronimo1×φρονίμῳ | fronima | fronime | fronimoi1×φρονίμοις | fronimai1×φρονίμοις | fronimei |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
fronim 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.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
fronimos“wise”subjectnominative singular2×
Matthew 24:45… ara atō tos pistos doulos kai fronimos hon katastēata tos kurios epi tau …Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put …
Luke 12:42… ara atō tos pistos oikonomos, tos fronimos, hon katastēati tos kurios epi tau …… Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in …
fronimo“wise”to, fordative singular1×
Matthew 7:24… houtoin kai poiatō autoin, homoiiti andro fronimo, hotinos oikodomata autou tan oikian epi …… acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on …
fronimois“wise”subjectnominative plural5×
Matthew 10:16“wise”… probateim en mese lukoiu; genovōr oun fronimois hōs tois ofiois kai akeraiois hōs …… out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
Romans 11:25“wise”… mustēriem houtem, hina mē aveiō heautoi fronimois, hoti pōrōsias apo mereu to Israēl …… ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the …
Romans 12:16“wise”… alla toi tapeinoi sunapagorōntois. mē genovōr fronimois para heautoi.Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited.
1 Corinthians 4:10nis mōrois dia Christon, vis de fronimois en Christo; nis asthenois, vis de …… fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but …
2 Corinthians 11:19hēdeōs gar anechovō toiu afronoiu fronimois arōntois;… with fools, since you are so wise.
fronimoi“sensible”to, fordative plural1×
1 Corinthians 10:15“sensible”hōs fronimoi legamō; krinavar vis hem fēamō.I speak to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say.
fronimais“wise”subjectnominative plural3×
Matthew 25:2… ek autaiu ale mōrais kai pente fronimais.… them were foolish, and five were wise.
Matthew 25:4tais de fronimais labala elaiem en tei angeiei meta …But the wise ones took oil in flasks along …
Matthew 25:9apokrinila de tais fronimais legarōntais; Mēpote ouk mē arkateia ni …‘No,’ said the wise ones, ‘or there may not be …
fronimai“wise”to, fordative plural1×
Matthew 25:8tais de mōrais tai fronimai legala; Dōavar ni ek teu elaieu …The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil …
fronimoterois1×
Luke 16:8… hoti tois huiois tou aiōnou houtou fronimoterois huper toin huioin teu fōteu eis …… sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind …