ἐγγίζω
to approach
‘to approach’ is one of 2 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Thayer's Greek Lexicon
From Thayer's Greek Lexicon
Where this word appears
See every Aorist-tense verb in the Greek New Testament →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Tense
- Perfect
- A completed past action with continuing present results.
- Aorist
- Action viewed as a simple whole, without regard to duration — often past (perfective aspect).
- Imperfect
- Continuous or repeated action in past time (“was writing”).
- Present
- Ongoing or general action in present time (imperfective aspect).
- Future
- Action expected in future time.
Voice
- Active
- The subject performs the action.
Mood
- Indicative
- States a fact or asks a factual question (the mood of reality).
- Participle
- A verbal adjective (“writing,” “having written”).
- Infinitive
- A verbal noun (“to write”), unmarked for person or number.
- Imperative
- Expresses a command or request.
Case
- Nominative
- The case of the subject (and the predicate nominative).
- Genitive
- The case of source, possession, or “of” — answers “whose / from what.”
- Accusative
- The case of the direct object and of extent.
- Dative
- The case of the indirect object, means, or location — “to / for / with / in.”
Person
- 3rd person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 1st person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one.
Grammatical forms 18 distinct
- Verb, Perfect, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Singular 13 times (31%)
- Verb, Aorist, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Singular 8 times (19%)
- Verb, Aorist, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Plural 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Aorist, Active, Participle, Nominative, Singular, Masculine 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Imperfect, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Singular 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Present, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Singular 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Present, Active, Infinitive 2 times (5%)
- Verb, Aorist, Active, Imperative, 2nd person, Plural 1 time (2%)
+10 more forms (10 occurrences)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (Robinson–Tischendorf, public domain), counted across 42 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where G1448 appears — 41 distinct verses across 9 books. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Greek form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Greek New Testament; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences of this word are not indexed here.
Matthew 7 verses
- Matthew 3:2 ἤγγικεν perf act ind 3sg "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!"
- Matthew 4:17 ἤγγικεν perf act ind 3sg From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, "Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."
- Matthew 10:7 ἤγγικεν perf act ind 3sg As you go, preach, saying, 'The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!'
- Matthew 21:1 ἤγγισαν aor act ind 3pl When they drew near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
- Matthew 21:34 ἤγγισεν aor act ind 3sg When the season for the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit.
- Matthew 26:45 ἤγγικεν perf act ind 3sg Then he came to his disciples, and said to them, "Sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
- Matthew 26:46 ἤγγικεν perf act ind 3sg Arise, let's be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand."
Mark 3 verses
- Mark 1:15 ἤγγικεν perf act ind 3sg and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Gospel."
- Mark 11:1 ἐγγίζουσιν pres act ind 3pl When they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethsphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
- Mark 14:42 ἤγγισεν aor act ind 3sg Arise, let us be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand."
Luke 18 verses
- Luke 7:12 ἤγγισεν aor act ind 3sg Now when he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, one who was dead was carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. Many people of the city were with her.
- Luke 10:9 ἤγγικεν perf act ind 3sg Heal the sick who are therein, and tell them, 'The Kingdom of God has come near to you.'
- Luke 10:11 ἤγγικεν perf act ind 3sg 'Even the dust from your city that clings to us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the Kingdom of God has come near to you.'
- Luke 12:33 ἐγγίζει pres act ind 3sg Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don't grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn't fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys.
- Luke 15:1 ἐγγίζοντες pres act ptcp nom pl masc Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him.
- Luke 15:25 ἤγγισεν aor act ind 3sg "Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
- Luke 18:35 ἐγγίζειν pres act inf It happened, as he came near Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the road, begging.
- Luke 18:40 ἐγγίσαντος aor act ptcp gen sg masc Standing still, Jesus commanded him to be brought to him. When he had come near, he asked him,
- Luke 19:29 ἤγγισεν aor act ind 3sg It happened, when he drew near to Bethsphage and Bethany, at the mountain that is called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples,
- Luke 19:37 ἐγγίζοντος pres act ptcp gen sg masc As he was now getting near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works which they had seen,
- Luke 19:41 ἤγγισεν aor act ind 3sg When he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it,
- Luke 21:8 ἤγγικεν perf act ind 3sg He said, "Watch out that you don't get led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I AM,' and, 'The time is at hand.' Therefore don't follow them.
- Luke 21:20 ἤγγικεν perf act ind 3sg "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand.
- Luke 21:28 ἐγγίζει pres act ind 3sg But when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near."
- Luke 22:1 Ἤγγιζεν impf act ind 3sg Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover, drew near.
- Luke 22:47 ἤγγισεν aor act ind 3sg While he was still speaking, behold, a multitude, and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He came near to Jesus to kiss him.
- Luke 24:15 ἐγγίσας aor act ptcp nom sg masc It happened, while they talked and questioned together, that Jesus himself came near, and went with them.
- Luke 24:28 ἤγγισαν aor act ind 3pl They drew near to the village, where they were going, and he acted like he would go further.
Acts 6 verses
- Acts 7:17 ἤγγιζεν impf act ind 3sg "But as the time of the promise came close which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
- Acts 9:3 ἐγγίζειν pres act inf As he traveled, it happened that he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him.
- Acts 10:9 ἐγγιζόντων pres act ptcp gen pl masc Now on the next day as they were on their journey, and got close to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon.
- Acts 21:33 ἐγγίσας aor act ptcp nom sg masc Then the commanding officer came near, arrested him, commanded him to be bound with two chains, and inquired who he was and what he had done.
- Acts 22:6 ἐγγίζοντι pres act ptcp dat sg masc It happened that, as I made my journey, and came close to Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shone from the sky a great light around me.
- Acts 23:15 ἐγγίσαι aor act inf Now therefore, you with the council inform the commanding officer that he should bring him down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to judge his case more exactly. We are ready to kill him before he comes near."
Romans 1 verse
Philippians 1 verse
Hebrews 2 verses
- Hebrews 7:19 ἐγγίζομεν pres act ind 1pl (for the law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
- Hebrews 10:25 ἐγγίζουσαν pres act ptcp acc sg fem not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.
James 2 verses
- James 4:8 ἐγγίσατε ἐγγιεῖ aor act impv 2pl fut act ind 3sg Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- James 5:8 ἤγγικεν perf act ind 3sg You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
1 Peter 1 verse
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
At its core, εγγιζω (engízō) means “to approach.” Translators differ — “is at hand” in the King James Version, then “is near” (Berean Standard Bible) and “has come near” (unfoldingWord Literal Text), as the renderings breakdown shows. It turns up in 41 verses across 9 books, a moderately common footprint. The word gravitates to Luke (44%), then Matthew and Acts. Ranging over 2 senses, it is not a single-sense word. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's G1448 catalogs a Greek word from the Greek New Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Greek New Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 41
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 41 distinct verses.
- 9 / 27
- NT books
- The word appears in 9 of 27 New Testament books.
- #356
- by frequency
- Top 500 most frequent Greek words (rank 356 of 5,347 Greek words by occurrence).
View all 41 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the New Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Some books belong to more than one corpus (Luke is in both the Gospels and the Lukan corpus, and so on), so these shares overlap and need not total 100%. Each figure is a share of the word’s 41 distinct verses.
- Gospels 28 verses · 68%
- Lukan (Luke–Acts) 24 verses · 59%
- General (Catholic) Epistles 3 verses · 7%
- Pauline corpus 2 verses · 5%
- Hebrews 2 verses · 5%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Is at hand 8×, Drew nigh 4×, Draweth nigh 3×
- American Standard Version: Is at hand 10×, Drew nigh 6×, Drawing nigh 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Is near 11×, Drew near 4×, He approached 3×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Has come near 11×, Approaching 4×, Came near 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders G1448 across 42 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 17 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders G1448 across 42 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 16 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders G1448 across 40 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 11 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 2 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders G1448 across 45 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 15 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in Thayer's
The 2 senses Thayer's distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency or importance). The full entry — with sub-senses — is in the Lexicon Entry tab.
- to bring near, to join one thing to another
- to draw or come near to, to approach
Word origin
Derived from εγγυς (engýs) (G1451) — near.
From G1451 ; to make near that is (reflexively) approach : - approach be at hand come (draw) near be (come draw) nigh.
— Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (1890), public domain.
Forms in the corpus
The 19 distinct written forms G1448 takes in the Greek New Testament, most frequent first — each parse links to that tense’s occurrences in the concordance.
Same root — word family
Other Thayer's entries built from the same root as G1448, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Compare all same-root words → They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint usage
The same Greek word εγγιζω appears 128 times in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), across 124 verses in 27 books.
- 128
- LXX occurrences
- Tagged occurrences of this Greek word in the Septuagint.
- 124
- verses
- Distinct Septuagint verses containing this word.
- 27 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 27 of the 39 Old Testament books.
Sample Septuagint occurrences
- Genesis 12:11 ἐγγίζω
- Exodus 3:5 ἐγγίζω
- Leviticus 10:3 ἐγγίζω
- Numbers 24:17 ἐγγίζω
- Deuteronomy 4:7 ἐγγίζω
- Judges 9:52 ἐγγίζω
- Ruth 2:20 ἐγγίζω
- 2 Samuel 11:20 ἐγγίζω
- 1 Kings 2:1 ἐγγίζω
- 2 Kings 2:5 ἐγγίζω
- 2 Chronicles 18:23 ἐγγίζω
- Ezra 4:2 ἐγγίζω
Septuagint occurrences (same lexeme)
Every verse where the same Strong’s number (G1448) appears in the Greek Septuagint — showing the first 50 of 124. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context; the Greek form is the matched word — the English is not keyword-highlighted.
- Genesis 12:11 ἐγγίζω It happened, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look on.
- Genesis 18:23 ἐγγίζω Abraham drew near, and said, "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?
- Genesis 19:9 ἐγγίζω They said, "Stand back!" They said, "This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now will we deal worse with you, than with them!" They pressed hard on the man, even Lot, and drew near to break the door.
- Genesis 27:21 ἐγγίζω Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."
- Genesis 27:22 ἐγγίζω Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau."
- Genesis 27:26 ἐγγίζω His father Isaac said to him, "Come near now, and kiss me, my son."
- Genesis 27:27 ἐγγίζω He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, "Behold, the smell of my son Is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.
- Genesis 27:41 ἐγγίζω Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob."
- Genesis 33:3 ἐγγίζω He himself passed over in front of them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
- Genesis 35:16 ἐγγίζω They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor.
- Genesis 37:18 ἐγγίζω They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.
- Genesis 44:18 ἐγγίζω Then Judah came near to him, and said, "Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and don't let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh.
- Genesis 45:4 ἐγγίζω Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." They came near. "He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
- Genesis 47:29 ἐγγίζω The time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don't bury me in Egypt,
- Genesis 48:7 ἐγγίζω As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem)."
- Genesis 48:10 ἐγγίζω Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn't see. He brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
- Genesis 48:13 ἐγγίζω Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near to him.
- Exodus 3:5 ἐγγίζω He said, "Don't come close. Take off your sandals from off your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground."
- Exodus 19:21 ἐγγίζω Yahweh said to Moses, "Go down, charge the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to gaze, and many of them perish.
- Exodus 19:22 ἐγγίζω Let the priests also, who come near to Yahweh, sanctify themselves, lest Yahweh break forth on them."
- Exodus 24:2 ἐγγίζω Moses alone shall come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near, neither shall the people go up with him."
- Exodus 32:19 ἐγγίζω It happened, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.
- Exodus 34:30 ἐγγίζω When Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come near him.
- Leviticus 10:3 ἐγγίζω Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what Yahweh spoke of, saying, "'I will show myself holy to those who come near me, And before all the people I will be glorified.'" Aaron held his peace.
- Leviticus 21:3 ἐγγίζω and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.
- Leviticus 21:21 ἐγγίζω no man of the seed of Aaron the priest, who has a blemish, shall come near to offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Since has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.
- Leviticus 21:23 ἐγγίζω He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a blemish; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.'"
- Leviticus 25:25 ἐγγίζω "'If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold.
- Numbers 24:17 ἐγγίζω I see him, but not now; I see him, but not near: There shall come forth a star out of Jacob, A scepter shall rise out of Israel, Shall strike through the corners of Moab, Break down all the sons of tumult.
- Deuteronomy 4:7 ἐγγίζω For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him?
- Deuteronomy 13:8 ἐγγίζω you shall not consent to him, nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him:
- Deuteronomy 15:9 ἐγγίζω Beware that there not be a base thought in your heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you.
- Deuteronomy 20:2 ἐγγίζω It shall be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak to the people,
- Deuteronomy 21:3 ἐγγίζω and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn't been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke;
- Deuteronomy 21:6 ἐγγίζω All the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;
- Deuteronomy 22:2 ἐγγίζω If your brother isn't near to you, or if you don't know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seek after it, and you shall restore it to him.
- Deuteronomy 25:5 ἐγγίζω If brothers dwell together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in to her, and take her to him as wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her.
- Deuteronomy 31:14 ἐγγίζω Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, your days approach that you must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may give him a charge. Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of meeting.
- Judges 9:52 ἐγγίζω Abimelech came to the tower, and fought against it, and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.
- Judges 19:13 ἐγγίζω He said to his servant, Come and let us draw near to one of these places; and we will lodge in Gibeah, or in Ramah.
- Judges 20:23 ἐγγίζω The children of Israel went up and wept before Yahweh until even; and they asked of Yahweh, saying, Shall I again draw near to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? Yahweh said, Go up against him.
- Ruth 2:20 ἐγγίζω Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, Blessed be he of Yahweh, who has not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. Naomi said to her, The man is a close relative to us, one of our near kinsmen.
- 2 Samuel 11:20 ἐγγίζω it shall be that, if the king's wrath arise, and he tells you, 'Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Didn't you know that they would shoot from the wall?
- 2 Samuel 15:5 ἐγγίζω It was so, that when any man came near to do him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and took hold of him, and kissed him.
- 2 Samuel 18:25 ἐγγίζω The watchman cried, and told the king. The king said, If he be alone, there is news in his mouth. He came apace, and drew near.
- 2 Samuel 19:43 ἐγγίζω The men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more [right] in David than you: why then did you despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? The words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
- 2 Samuel 20:16 ἐγγίζω Then cried a wise woman out of the city, "Hear, hear! Please say to Joab, 'Come near here, that I may speak with you.'"
- 1 Kings 2:1 ἐγγίζω Now the days of David drew near that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,
- 1 Kings 2:7 ἐγγίζω But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those who eat at your table; for so they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother.
- 1 Kings 8:59 ἐγγίζω Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before Yahweh, be near to Yahweh our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall require;
These are occurrences of the same Greek lexeme (G1448) in the Septuagint — not a translation of any one Hebrew word. The store carries no word-level Hebrew↔Greek alignment, so no Hebrew original is asserted here. Counts come from the recovered LXX Strong's tagging — high-frequency vocabulary is well covered, while rare or late forms may be untagged — so they reflect tagged occurrences and may slightly undercount.
