to look intently: to fix the eyes on someone or something with concentrated, deliberate attention
This verb describes a locked, deliberate gaze: not a passing glance but the eyes fixed on a single object with concentrated attention. It is built on a root meaning to stretch or strain, so the picture is of the eyes strained toward whatever holds them.
It is almost a signature word of Luke. Twelve of its fourteen occurrences fall in Luke and Acts, where Luke keeps using it to mark a charged moment, the instant before something decisive happens:
- the whole synagogue fixing its eyes on Jesus as he sits down to teach (Luke 4:20)
- the disciples gazing into the sky as Jesus is taken up (Acts 1:10)
- Peter fastening his eyes on a lame man just before healing him (Acts 3:4)
- Stephen gazing into heaven and seeing the glory of God (Acts 7:55)
The object of the gaze varies, and with it the mood: awe before heaven or an angel, hard scrutiny of an opponent, sudden recognition of a face. What stays constant is the intensity. Compared with a direct look that simply meets its object (ἐμβλέπω) or with watching a scene unfold over time (θεωρέω), this word isolates the fixed, strained concentration of the eyes.