What does περιβλέπω (periblépō) mean in the Bible?
Looking around brings the surrounding people or scene into view. G4017 describes that action, but the action alone does not tell us what the observer feels or intends.
Greek · G4017
περιβλέπω
To look all around
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περιβλέπωG4017
Pronunciationperiblépō
What does περιβλέπω (periblépō) mean in the Bible?
Looking around brings the surrounding people or scene into view. G4017 describes that action, but the action alone does not tell us what the observer feels or intends.
Reader summary
Full entry for περιβλέπω (G4017) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4017?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [Jesus] looked around at (1), [when] they looked around (1), after looking around (1), He kept looking around (1), He looked around at (1).
Where does περιβλέπω (periblépō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 3:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Mark (6), Luke (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Looking around brings the surrounding people or scene into view. G4017 describes that action, but the action alone does not tell us what the observer feels or intends. Mark reports Jesus looking around in anger and grief at hardened hearts, looking at those seated around Him as He names His family, and surveying the temple before leaving for Bethany. The disciples also look around after the transfiguration. Their use of the same verb prevents us from making the word itself a claim about divine knowledge.
These brief observations help readers attend to a scene's participants. Jesus' words and actions disclose the significance of His gaze: healing amid opposition, identifying those who do God's will, or teaching disciples about wealth and God's saving power. The verb directs our attention to that surrounding account. It should not become a method for decoding people's motives from their eye movements or a promise that a particular style of looking conveys spiritual authority.
source_lexiconPassage contextPastoral application
How the Bible Uses It
The selected Gospel scenes pair looking around with healing, belonging, and difficult teaching. Other direct uses include the disciples after the transfiguration, showing that the verb names an observable action whose significance depends on its setting.
- Mark.3.5
Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.
The narrative explicitly joins Jesus' look with anger and grief over hardened hearts, followed by healing. His emotions come from the stated context, not the verb alone.
- Mark.3.34
Looking at those seated in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!
Jesus looks at the people seated around Him before identifying His family. The next verse defines the relationship by doing God's will, rather than by proximity alone.
- Mark.10.23
Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
After the wealthy man's sorrowful departure, Jesus turns His attention to the disciples and teaches about entry into God's kingdom. The ensuing exchange culminates in God's saving possibility.
- Mark.9.8
Suddenly, when they looked around, they saw no one with them except Jesus.
The disciples look around and see Jesus alone after the transfiguration. The same action word here describes their observation, not omniscience or judgment.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It[Jesus] looked around at1×Mark 3:5
[when] they looked around1×Mark 9:8
after looking around1×Luke 6:10
He kept looking around1×Mark 5:32
He looked around at1×Mark 11:11
looked around1×Mark 10:23
Looking at1×Mark 3:34
Show sample aligned rows
Mark 3:5περιβλεψάμενοςto[Jesus] looked around atVerb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine SingularMark 3:34περιβλεψάμενοςtoLooking atVerb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine SingularMark 5:32περιεβλέπετοtoHe kept looking aroundVerb - Imperfect Indicative Middle - 3rd Person SingularMark 9:8περιβλεψάμενοιto[when] they looked aroundVerb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine PluralMark 10:23περιβλεψάμενοςtolooked aroundVerb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine SingularMark 11:11περιβλεψάμενοςtoHe looked around atVerb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine SingularLuke 6:10περιβλεψάμενοςtoafter looking aroundVerb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMark 3:5
Aligned rows7
Books represented2
Mark6Luke1
Source forms
περιβλεψάμενος5xperiblepsamenosMark 3:5, Mark 3:34, Mark 10:23, Mark 11:11
περιβλεψάμενοι1xperiblepsamenoiMark 9:8
περιεβλέπετο1xperieblepetoMark 5:32
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Singular5xMark 3:5, Mark 3:34, Mark 10:23, Mark 11:11
Verb - Aorist Participle Middle - Nominative Masculine Plural1xMark 9:8
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular1xMark 5:32
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Attention to someone's face or gaze does not authorize public judgments about their motives or spiritual condition.
- When teaching the healing scene, oppose callousness without blaming a person for their disability or promising the same immediate outcome.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that this Greek verb means divine scrutiny or carries Jesus' anger in every occurrence.
- Do not present looking around a gathering as a technique for identifying hardened hearts or demonstrating prophetic insight.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Deliberate, searching look around—often depicting observation of people or surroundings in narrative moments.
Source Gloss
to look all around
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Deliberate, searching look around—often depicting observation of people or surroundings in narrative moments.
to look around (at). Mid., to look about one (at) : absol., Mrk.9:8 10:23; with inf., Mrk.5:32; with accusative of person(s), Mrk.3:5, 34, Luk.6:10; πάντα, Mrk.11:11.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Mark 3:5Verb Aorist Middle Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
περιβλεψάμενοςperibleyamenov
I look around on, survey
Read verseMark 3:34Verb Aorist Middle Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
περιβλεψάμενοςperibleyamenov
I look around on, survey
Read verseMark 5:32Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Middle Indicative
περιεβλέπετοperieblepeto
I look around on, survey
Read verseMark 9:8Verb Aorist Middle Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
περιβλεψάμενοι,peribleyamenoi
I look around on, survey
Read verseMark 10:23Verb Aorist Middle Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
περιβλεψάμενοςperibleyamenov
I look around on, survey
Read verseMark 11:11Verb Aorist Middle Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
περιβλεψάμενοςperibleyamenov
I look around on, survey
Read verseLuke 6:10Verb Aorist Middle Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
περιβλεψάμενοςperibleyamenov
I look around on, survey
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist6imperfect1
Voice
middle7
Mood
participle6indicative1
NT Occurrences
Mark 3:34περιβλεψάμενοςaorist middle participleparticipleMark 3:5περιβλεψάμενοςaorist middle participleparticipleMark 5:32περιεβλέπετοimperfect middle indicativebackgroundMark 9:8περιβλεψάμενοιaorist middle participleparticipleMark 10:23περιβλεψάμενοςaorist middle participleparticipleMark 11:11περιβλεψάμενοςaorist middle participleparticipleLuke 6:10περιβλεψάμενοςaorist middle participleparticiple
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Word Origins
περιβλέπω is built from these roots:
For the Preacher and Teacher
Mark 3:5 does not leave Jesus' gaze open to speculation. The narrator identifies anger and sorrow at hardness of heart, then records the restoration of the man's hand. Attention to the surrounding people belongs within a scene in which doing good has become controversial. Jesus refuses that distortion and acts mercifully toward the man before Him.
The teaching benefit lies in the whole movement from the question to the healing. A reader may learn to notice when religious argument obscures a person's need, but cannot claim Jesus' unique authority to pronounce the hidden condition of everyone in a room. Nor does the man's disability itself explain the opposition's wrongdoing. Their hardness is disclosed by their response to the prospect of doing good. The passage calls for accountable compassion, not a performance of penetrating looks or an assumption that strong emotion proves moral insight.
Anchor passage
Mark.3.5
Doctrinal connections
- Mark 3:4 frames the Sabbath dispute around doing good and saving life, so the following look serves an already stated moral question.
- Mark 3:34-35 locates Jesus' family description in doing God's will, preventing mere physical nearness from becoming a claim of discipleship.
- Mark 10:23-27 moves from the rich man's departure to God's saving power, rather than a technique for improving the disciples' perception.
- Mark 9:8 leaves the disciples with Jesus after the Father's command to listen to His Son; their looking serves that narrated revelation.
- G991, seeing, belongs to the broader language of observation; the surrounding context still establishes whether seeing leads to understanding or obedience.
- Psalm 34:14 connects turning from evil with doing good and pursuing peace, a thematic comparison to active goodness rather than a lexical quotation.
The comparator attests looking around, sometimes with people or things as the object. Mark's emotional descriptions must remain separate from this visual action: anger, grief, and the identity of those observed are supplied by the clause or story, not automatically by the verb.
From Old to New Testament
Psalm 34:14 calls for doing good and pursuing peace, while Mark 3 portrays Jesus doing good amid opposition. This is a thematic comparison concerning faithful action. No direct quotation or Hebrew-to-Greek lexical bridge is asserted between that psalm and G4017.
Passage contextPastoral application