ἐπισκέπτομαι
to look after
Full lexicon entry — Thayer's Greek Lexicon
From Thayer's Greek Lexicon
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Tense
- Aorist
- Action viewed as a simple whole, without regard to duration — often past (perfective aspect).
- Present
- Ongoing or general action in present time (imperfective aspect).
Voice
- Middle deponent
- Middle in form but active in meaning.
- Middle or Passive deponent
- Middle/passive in form but active in meaning.
Mood
- Indicative
- States a fact or asks a factual question (the mood of reality).
- Imperative
- Expresses a command or request.
- Infinitive
- A verbal noun (“to write”), unmarked for person or number.
- Subjunctive
- Expresses probability, purpose, or possibility (the mood of contingency).
Person
- 3rd person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 2nd person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 1st person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one.
Every verse where G1980 appears in the Book of Matthew — 2 distinct verses. 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
- Matthew 25:36 ἐπεσκέψασθέ aor mid.dep ind 2pl naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.'
- Matthew 25:43 ἐπεσκέψασθέ aor mid.dep ind 2pl I was a stranger, and you didn't take me in; naked, and you didn't clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'
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, επισκεπτομαι (episképtomai) means “to look after.” First canonically at Matthew 25:36, it enters the text early. It appears 11 verses across 5 books of the Greek New Testament, among its uncommon vocabulary. The word gravitates to Acts (36%), then Luke and Matthew. It shares a root with επι, επαγγελλω and επαγω. Dig into 11-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's G1980 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 →
- 11
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 11 distinct verses.
- 5 / 27
- NT books
- The word appears in 5 of 27 New Testament books.
- #978
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Greek words (rank 978 of 5,347 Greek words by occurrence).
View all 11 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 11 distinct verses.
- Lukan (Luke–Acts) 7 verses · 64%
- Gospels 5 verses · 45%
- Hebrews 1 verse · 9%
- General (Catholic) Epistles 1 verse · 9%
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: Visit 3×, Hath visited 2×, Ye visited 2×
- American Standard Version: Visit 3×, Ye visited 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Visit 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Care 1×, Choose 1×, Has visited 1×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders G1980 across 11 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 4 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders G1980 across 10 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 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 G1980 across 11 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 9 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders G1980 across 13 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings.
Senses in Thayer's
The 1 sense 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 look upon or after, to inspect, examine with the eyes
Word origin
Derived from επι (epí) (G1909) — upon.
Forms in the corpus
The 7 distinct written forms G1980 takes in the Greek New Testament, most frequent first — each parse links to that tense’s occurrences in the concordance.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| ἐπεσκέψατο epesképsato | Verb, Aorist, Middle deponent, Indicative, 3rd person, Singular | Luke 1:68 | 4 |
| ἐπεσκέψασθέ epesképsasthé | Verb, Aorist, Middle deponent, Indicative, 2nd person, Plural | Matthew 25:36 | 2 |
| ἐπισκέπτεσθαι episképtesthai | Verb, Present, Middle or Passive deponent, Infinitive | James 1:27 | 1 |
| ἐπισκέπτῃ episképtē | Verb, Present, Middle or Passive deponent, Indicative, 2nd person, Singular | Hebrews 2:6 | 1 |
| ἐπισκέψασθαι episképsasthai | Verb, Aorist, Middle deponent, Infinitive | Acts 7:23 | 1 |
| ἐπισκέψασθε episképsasthe | Verb, Aorist, Middle deponent, Imperative, 2nd person, Plural | Acts 6:3 | 1 |
| ἐπισκεψώμεθα episkepsṓmetha | Verb, Aorist, Middle deponent, Subjunctive, 1st person, Plural | Acts 15:36 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other Thayer's entries built from the same root as G1980, 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
- επαγγελλω epangéllō G1861 to announce
- επαγω epágō G1863 to bring upon
- επαγωνιζομαι epagōnízomai G1864 to contend
- επαθροιζω epathroízō G1865 to gather together
- επαινεω epainéō G1867 to approve
- επαινος épainos G1868 approval
- επαιρω epaírō G1869 to lift up
- επαισχυνομαι epaischýnomai G1870 to be ashamed
- επαιτεω epaitéō G1871 to ask repeatedly
- επακουω epakoúō G1873 to give ear to
- επακροαομαι epakroáomai G1874 to listen to
- επαν epán G1875 after
- επαναγκες epánankes G1876 necessarily
- επαναγω epanágō G1877 to lead back
- επαναμιμνησκω epanamimnḗskō G1878 to remind
- επαναπαυομαι epanapaúomai G1879 to rest upon
- επανερχομαι epanérchomai G1880 to return
- επανισταμαι epanístamai G1881 to raise up against
- επανορθωσις epanórthōsis G1882 correction
- επανω epánō G1883 above
- επαρκεω eparkéō G1884 to avail
- επαρχια eparchía G1885 office of governor
- επαυλις épaulis G1886 farm
- επαυριον epaúrion G1887 the next day
+110 more words share this root (not shown).
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 138 — not the complete family. 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint usage
The same Greek word επισκεπτομαι appears 143 times in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), across 130 verses in 23 books.
- 143
- LXX occurrences
- Tagged occurrences of this Greek word in the Septuagint.
- 130
- verses
- Distinct Septuagint verses containing this word.
- 23 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 23 of the 39 Old Testament books.
Sample Septuagint occurrences
- Genesis 21:1 ἐπισκέπτω
- Exodus 3:16 ἐπισκέπτω
- Leviticus 13:36 ἐπισκέπτομαι
- Numbers 1:3 ἐπισκέπτω
- Joshua 8:10 ἐπισκέπτομαι
- Judges 15:1 ἐπισκέπτομαι
- Ruth 1:6 ἐπισκέπτομαι
- 1 Samuel 2:21 ἐπισκέπτομαι
- 2 Samuel 2:30 ἐπισκέπτομαι
- 1 Kings 21:15 ἐπισκέπτομαι
- 2 Kings 3:6 ἐπισκέπτομαι
- 1 Chronicles 26:31 ἐπισκέπτομαι
Septuagint occurrences (same lexeme)
Every verse where the same Strong’s number (G1980) appears in the Greek Septuagint — showing the first 50 of 130. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context; the Greek form is the matched word — the English is not keyword-highlighted.
- Genesis 21:1 ἐπισκέπτω Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as he had spoken.
- Genesis 50:24 ἐπισκέπτομαι Joseph said to his brothers, "I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."
- Genesis 50:25 ἐπισκέπτομαι Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here."
- Exodus 3:16 ἐπισκέπτω Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, 'Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt;
- Exodus 4:31 ἐπισκέπτω The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
- Exodus 13:19 ἐπισκέπτω Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel swear, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from here with you."
- Exodus 32:34 ἐπισκέπτω Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin."
- Exodus 39:2 ἐπισκέπτω He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen.
- Leviticus 13:36 ἐπισκέπτομαι then the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest shall not look for the yellow hair; he is unclean.
- Numbers 1:3 ἐπισκέπτω from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their divisions.
- Numbers 1:19 ἐπισκέπτω As Yahweh commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.
- Numbers 1:44 ἐπισκέπτω These are those who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men: they were each one for his fathers' house.
- Numbers 1:47 ἐπισκέπτω But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.
- Numbers 1:49 ἐπισκέπτομαι "Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, neither shall you take a census of them among the children of Israel;
- Numbers 2:4 ἐπισκέπτω His division, and those who were numbered of them, were seventy-four thousand six hundred.
- Numbers 2:6 ἐπισκέπτω His division, and those who were numbered of it, were fifty-four thousand four hundred.
- Numbers 2:8 ἐπισκέπτω His division, and those who were numbered of it, were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.
- Numbers 2:9 ἐπισκέπτω All who were numbered of the camp of Judah were one hundred eighty-six thousand four hundred, according to their divisions. They shall set out first.
- Numbers 2:11 ἐπισκέπτω His division, and those who were numbered of it, were forty-six thousand five hundred.
- Numbers 2:13 ἐπισκέπτω His division, and those who were numbered of them, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
- Numbers 2:15 ἐπισκέπτω His division, and those who were numbered of them, were forty-five thousand six hundred fifty.
- Numbers 2:16 ἐπισκέπτω "All who were numbered of the camp of Reuben were one hundred fifty-one thousand four hundred fifty, according to their hosts. They shall set out second.
- Numbers 2:19 ἐπισκέπτω His division, and those who were numbered of them, were forty thousand five hundred.
- Numbers 2:21 ἐπισκέπτω His division, and those who were numbered of them, were thirty-two thousand two hundred.
- Numbers 2:23 ἐπισκέπτω His host, and those who were numbered of them, were thirty-five thousand four hundred.
- Numbers 2:24 ἐπισκέπτω "All who were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were one hundred eight thousand one hundred, according to their divisions. They shall set out third.
- Numbers 2:26 ἐπισκέπτω His division, and those who were numbered of them, were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.
- Numbers 2:28 ἐπισκέπτω His division, and those who were numbered of them, were forty-one thousand and five hundred.
- Numbers 2:30 ἐπισκέπτω His division, and those who were numbered of them, were fifty-three thousand four hundred.
- Numbers 2:31 ἐπισκέπτω "All who were numbered of the camp of Dan were one hundred fifty-seven thousand six hundred. They shall set out last by their standards."
- Numbers 2:33 ἐπισκέπτομαι But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
- Numbers 3:15 ἐπισκέπτω "Number the children of Levi by their fathers' houses, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shall you number."
- Numbers 3:16 ἐπισκέπτω Moses numbered them according to the word of Yahweh, as he was commanded.
- Numbers 3:39 ἐπισκέπτω All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of Yahweh, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty-two thousand.
- Numbers 3:40 ἐπισκέπτω Yahweh said to Moses, "Number all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
- Numbers 3:42 ἐπισκέπτω Moses numbered, as Yahweh commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel.
- Numbers 4:23 ἐπισκέπτω from thirty years old and upward until fifty years old shall you number them; all who enter in to wait on the service, to do the work in the Tent of Meeting.
- Numbers 4:27 ἐπισκέπτω At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden, and in all their service; and you shall appoint to them in charge all their burden.
- Numbers 4:29 ἐπισκέπτω "As for the sons of Merari, you shall number them by their families, by their fathers' houses;
- Numbers 4:30 ἐπισκέπτω from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old shall you number them, everyone who enters on the service, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting.
- Numbers 4:32 ἐπισκέπτω and the pillars of the court around it, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, with all their instruments, and with all their service: and by name you shall appoint the instruments of the charge of their burden.
- Numbers 4:34 ἐπισκέπτω Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by their fathers' houses,
- Numbers 4:37 ἐπισκέπτω These are those who were numbered of the families of the Kohathites, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.
- Numbers 4:38 ἐπισκέπτω Those who were numbered of the sons of Gershon, their families, and by their fathers' houses,
- Numbers 4:41 ἐπισκέπτω These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh.
- Numbers 4:42 ἐπισκέπτω Those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
- Numbers 4:45 ἐπισκέπτω These are those who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.
- Numbers 4:46 ἐπισκέπτω All those who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, by their families, and by their fathers' houses,
- Numbers 4:48 ἐπισκέπτω even those who were numbered of them, were eight thousand five hundred eighty.
- Numbers 4:49 ἐπισκέπτω According to the commandment of Yahweh they were numbered by Moses, everyone according to his service, and according to his burden. Thus were they numbered by him, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
These are occurrences of the same Greek lexeme (G1980) 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.
