ἔφθασεν
phthánō
attain
To arrive at, to reach; to come before or precede someone or something in time or sequence. In some contexts, it conveys the sense of arriving earlier than another, or anticipating by preceding action or presence. The primary sense is of reaching a particular point or state, often with the nuance of doing so ahead of others.
Romans 9:31 · Word #9
Lexicon G5348
| Lemma | φθάνω |
| Transliteration | phthánō |
| Strong's | G5348 |
| Definition | To arrive at, to reach; to come before or precede someone or something in time or sequence. In some contexts, it conveys the sense of arriving earlier than another, or anticipating by preceding action or presence. The primary sense is of reaching a particular point or state, often with the nuance of doing so ahead of others. |
Morphology V AOR ACT IND 3P SG
All morphology codes
| Part of Speech | V — Verb — An action or state of being |
| Tense | AOR — Aorist — Simple occurrence, often past |
| Voice | ACT — Active — The subject performs the action |
| Mood | IND — Indicative — States a fact or reality |
| Person | 3P — 3rd person — The one spoken about ("he/she/it/they") |
| Number | SG — Singular — One |
Common Translation
| Phrase | attain |
| Literal | attained-reached |
Lexical Info
| Lemma | φθάνω |
| Strong's | G5348 |
SIBI-P1 Translation G5348-02
came before
| Morphological Notes | Verb; aorist tense (simple past), active voice, indicative mood, 3rd person singular. |
| Rendering Rationale | The aorist active indicative third singular expresses a simple completed action in the past. "Came before" preserves the core idea of reaching or arriving ahead of another, maintaining the root sense of precedence. |
View full lexicon entry for G5348 →
SILEX v2
SIBI-P2 (Context-Aware)
attained
| Same as P1 | No — adjusted for context |
| Rationale | 'Came before' is not contextually appropriate; the Greek ἔφθασεν here means 'attained' in the sense of reaching an intended goal. SILEX notes this sense, so 'attained' better fits the result of pursuing. |