noun · feminine
fulas
Strong’sG5443
a tribe, race
stem ful-31 times in the New Testamentin 8 of 27 books6 of 10 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
Tribe or clan — a group of people united by common descent or kinship, or sometimes by shared habitation 13. The word is used of the twelve tribes of Israel 1, and also, more broadly, of the tribes, races, or peoples of the earth as a whole 1. Strong's and Dodson give the same sense with the words race, kindred, tribe 24.
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
φυλή, ῆς, ἡ
[in LXX chiefly for; מַטֶּה, also for שֵׁבֶט, מִשְׁפָּחָה, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G5443 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
(φύω) properly, like{φῦλον}, a race, tribe; but accusative to Refs 4th c.BC+ a union formed in an organized community (whether πόλις or ἔθνος): hence, tribe, i.e.
I a body of men united
I.1 by supposed ties of blood and descent, clan, such as the three Dorian tribes, Rhetra cited in Refs 5th c.BC+; of the four Ionic tribes, Refs 5th c.BC+; of the Laconian, Refs 5th c.BC+; of the old Roman, Refs 1st c.BC+; of the Persian, Refs 5th c.BC+; of the Jewish, LXX (but also of subdivisions of the tribe (σκῆπτρον),LXX+NT
I.2 by local habitation, such as the ten local tribes at Athens formed by Cleisthenes, Refs 5th c.BC+; or those formed by Servius at Rome, φ. τοπικαί, opposed to γενικαί, Refs 5th c.BC+
I.3 subdivision of the priests in each Egyptian temple, Refs 3rd c.BC+
II military contingent furnished by a tribe, among the Athenians, Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 representatives of a tribe, on political bodies, φυλῆς πρυτανευούσης, προεδρευούσης, Refs 2nd c.BC+
III of things, ={γένος}, kind, species, κατὰ φυλὰς διεκρίνομεν τὰ ἔπιπλα 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 | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | fulas | fulais2×φυλαὶ |
| object accusative | fulan3×φυλὴν | fulain2×φυλὰς |
| direct address vocative | fular | fulair |
| of, belonging to genitive | fulau20×φυλῆς | fulaiu3×φυλῶν |
| to, for dative | fula | fulai1×φυλαῖς |
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
fula 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.
31 occurrences, every one of them listed
fulan“tribe”objectaccusative singular3×
Hebrews 7:14… anatellatē tos kurios nu, eis han fulan peri hierevoiu oudenem Mōusos lalata.… our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing …
Revelation 13:7… kai dōita aute exousias epi pantan fulan kai laon kai glōssan kai ethnem.… it was given authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.
Revelation 14:6… gēau kai epi pantem ethnem kai fulan kai glōssan kai laon,… the earth — to every nation and tribe and tongue and people.
fulau“tribe”of, belonging togenitive singular20×
Luke 2:36… ate Hannas profētias, thugatras Fanouēl, ek fulau Asēr houtas probainarēntas en hēmerai pollai, …… the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was well along …
Acts 13:21… ton Saoul huion Kis, andron ek fulau Beniamin, eteim tesserakonta;… Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.
Romans 11:1… mis Israēlitos amō, ek spermeu Abraam, fulau Beniamin.… a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
Philippians 3:5peritoma oktaēmeros, ek geneu Israēl, fulau Beniamin, Hebraios ek Hebraioiu, kata nomon …… the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews …
Hebrews 7:13epi hon gar legotō houteim fulau heterau metechatē, apo hau oudenos prosechatē …… are said belonged to a different tribe, from which no one has ever …
Revelation 5:5… nikata tos leontos tos ek tau fulau Ioudou, tas rizas David, anoigara tem …… weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David …
Revelation 5:9… en te haime su ek pantau fulau kai glōssau kai laou kai ethneu,… purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
Revelation 7:4“tribe”… tesserakonta tessares chiliadais, sfragizorēntois ek pantau fulau huioiu Israēl;… who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel:
Revelation 7:5ek fulau Ioudou dōdeka chiliadais sfragizorēntois, ek fulau …From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the …
Revelation 7:5… fulau Ioudou dōdeka chiliadais sfragizorēntois, ek fulau Roubēn dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Gad …… of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of …
Revelation 7:5… ek fulau Roubēn dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Gad dōdeka chiliadais,… the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
Revelation 7:6ek fulau Asēr dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Nefthalim …from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of …
Revelation 7:6ek fulau Asēr dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Nefthalim dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Manassou …… the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of …
Revelation 7:6… ek fulau Nefthalim dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Manassou dōdeka chiliadais,… the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
Revelation 7:7ek fulau Sumeōn dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Leviou …from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of …
Revelation 7:7ek fulau Sumeōn dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Leviou dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Issachar …… the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of …
Revelation 7:7… ek fulau Leviou dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Issachar dōdeka chiliadais,… the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
Revelation 7:8ek fulau Zaboulōn dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Iōsēf …from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of …
Revelation 7:8ek fulau Zaboulōn dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Iōsēf dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Beniamin …… the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, and from the tribe …
Revelation 7:8… ek fulau Iōsēf dōdeka chiliadais, ek fulau Beniamin dōdeka chiliadais sfragizorēntois.… tribe of Joseph 12,000, and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
fulais“tribes”subjectnominative plural2×
Matthew 24:30… ourano, kai tote kopteli pantais tais fulais tau gēau kai horeli ton huion …… appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They …
Revelation 1:7… kai kopteli epi auton pantais tais fulais tau gēau. nai, amēn.… who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because …
fulain“tribes”objectaccusative plural2×
Matthew 19:28… epi dōdeka thronoin krinarōntois tain dōdeka fulain tou Israēl.… on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Luke 22:30… kai kathevi epi thronoiu tain dōdeka fulain krinarōntois tou Israēl.… sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
fulaiu“tribes”of, belonging togenitive plural3×
Revelation 7:9“tribes”… oudenos dunote, ek panteu ethneu kai fulaiu kai laoiu kai glōssaiu, stēarēntois enōpion …… to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne …
Revelation 11:9kai blepalō ek toiu laoiu kai fulaiu kai glōssaiu kai ethneiu tem ptōmem …… a half days all peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will view …
Revelation 21:12… onomeim epigraforēnteim heim atō taiu dōdeka fulaiu huioiu Israēl;… with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at …
fulai“tribes”to, fordative plural1×
James 1:1… kuriou Iēsu Christou doulos tai dōdeka fulai tai en ta diaspora chairarō.… Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.