StrongerBible

epizēteō

ἐπιζητέω

GreekG1934“seek, seek after, ...”

Appears 13 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 6:32Mat 12:39Mat 16:4Luk 4:42Luk 12:30Act 12:19Act 13:7Act 19:39Rom 11:7Php 4:17 (2×)Heb 11:14Heb 13:14
Compound of
epiἐπίupon/to/against909G1909
zēteōζητέωto seek119G2212
Word studyResearch-gradeep-ih-ZAY-teh-ohverb

What epizēteō means

to seek a definite thing: to go after some particular person, thing, or answer that one wants, has lost, or has a claim to

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

This is the everyday Greek verb for seeking, ζητέω, with a prefix attached. Older commentaries and popular word studies took that prefix to turn up the heat, so the word was glossed "seek diligently" or "crave." Most scholars now read it differently: the prefix points rather than intensifies. The seeking has a definite target in view, and otherwise the word sits very close to the plain verb for seeking.

Because the target can be almost anything, one word covers a wide spread of situations:

  • looking for a person who has slipped away or is wanted by the authorities
  • wanting something badly enough to chase after it
  • reaching for a homeland and a city not yet arrived at
  • pressing a demand for proof
  • asking that a matter be taken up and settled in the proper assembly

Everyday paperwork from Roman Egypt shows officials using this verb for requiring a document, wanting a criminal, or calling for a ship to be unloaded, so it is at home in the language of business and law. The ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament also used it for seeking the Lord and inquiring of him through a prophet, and that older echo stands behind the letter to the Hebrews, where the faithful are people who keep seeking a city still to come.

Where a verse feels urgent, the urgency usually comes from the scene rather than from the word. The crowds hunting Jesus down are pictured as keeping at it, the nations chasing food and clothing are surrounded by anxious talk, and Paul in Romans pairs this verb with a matching one for hitting the mark, so that Israel seeks and yet does not land on what it sought.

Nuances

1ato look for someone who is missing or wanted, whether by a searching crowd or by an official manhunt
TranslatabilityDirect
Luk 4:42Act 12:19
1bto want something and go after it, setting the heart on getting it
Mat 6:32Luk 12:30Act 13:7Rom 11:7Php 4:17 (2×)
1cto reach out for a place not yet arrived at, a homeland or city still promised
Heb 11:14Heb 13:14
1dto demand something, pressing for it as though it were owed
TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyContested
Mat 12:39Mat 16:4
Mat 12:39

Whether Matthew's compound ἐπιζητεῖ in the sign demand carries a sharpened sense of insistent demand, given that the Markan parallel (Mark 8:12) has the simplex ζητεῖ.

  • majorityThe substitution is a deliberate Matthean strengthening: the generation demands, insists on a sign, which suits the polemical framing of an evil and adulterous generation.; W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, Matthew, ICC, vol. 2 (1991), on Matt 12:39; D. A. Hagner, Matthew 1-13, WBC 33A (1993), on Matt 12:39; J. Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, NIGTC (2005), on Matt 12:39; BDAG, s.v. ἐπιζητέω, sense 2
  • minorityThe substitution reflects Matthean style rather than a semantic upgrade, so the verb means no more than "seek."; U. Luz, Matthew 8-20, Hermeneia (2001), on Matt 12:39
1eto raise a matter formally, asking for it to be taken up and settled
TranslatabilityPartial
Act 19:39

What scholars say about epizēteō

The compound is ζητέω prefixed with ἐπί. Moulton and Milligan, citing P.Tebt. II 411.7 (ὁ γὰρ κράτιστος ἐπιστράτηγος ἱκανῶς σε ἐπεζήτησε), judge that "the directive rather than the intensive force of the compound is well seen" there, and Thayer agrees; BDF (sections 116, 148, 202) warns that Koine prepositional compounds have often lost their distinctness from the simplex, and Greeven (TDNT 2:892-96) treats ἐπιζητέω as largely a variant of ζητέω without a sharp difference of force, a caution extended by Silva (NIDNTTE, s.v. ζητέω; cf. Biblical Words and Their Meaning, 40-43). Spicq gives it no separate entry. On sense division, LSJ lists four classical uses (seek after or miss; seek besides or inquire further; passive, be under investigation; demand, require), BDAG reduces the New Testament data to two (look or search for, wish for, want; demand, request, insist, for Acts 19:39 and probably the sign texts), while Louw and Nida distribute it across domains 25, 27, and 33. The documentary papyri supply the administrative and legal usage that best explains several passages: officials making inquiries, τοὺς ἐπιζητουμένους of criminals wanted by the state (P.Oxy. I 80.15), a tax officer's right to require a cargo to be unloaded (P.Oxy. I 36), reports demanded of subordinates (P.Oxy. IX 1194). Barrett, Haenchen, Fitzmyer, Bruce, Keener, Pervo, and Bock accordingly read Acts 12:19 as an investigative manhunt and Acts 19:39 as a semi-technical civic formula for raising a petition in the properly convened ἔννομος ἐκκλησία, which Sherwin-White (Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament, 83-90) shows fits known Ephesian procedure. In Matt 12:39 and 16:4 Matthew has the compound where Mark 8:12 has the simplex, read as a deliberate sharpening into "demand" by Davies and Allison, Hagner, and Nolland, but as Matthean style by Luz. In Rom 11:7 the force of ἐπιζητεῖ / ἐπέτυχεν is now generally attributed to paronomasia rather than to lexical intensity (Jewett, Dunn, Cranfield, Fitzmyer; Moo and Longenecker allow "earnestly pursues" while stressing the play). In Phil 4:17 the surrounding commercial vocabulary, including the receipt formula ἀπέχω identified by Deissmann, colors the verb without making it technical (O'Brien, Reumann, Fee, Bockmuehl, Silva). Heb 11:14 and 13:14 are widely treated as an inclusio around the letter's closing exhortation, with 12:22 as the pivot (Attridge, Lane, Ellingworth, Koester, Cockerill, Bruce, deSilva, Johnson, O'Brien); their weight comes from the Septuagint usage of ἐπιζητέω for דרש in oracular and covenantal seeking of YHWH (2 Kgs 3:11; 8:8; 22:18; 2 Chr 18:6) and בקש in eschatological return (Hos 3:5; 5:15), and from Isa 62:12, the only pre-New-Testament text where the verb governs a city (ἐπιζητουμένη πόλις). Textual note: Mark 8:12 and Luke 11:29 read the compound only in the Textus Receptus; NA28 has the simplex, so the count stands at thirteen occurrences in twelve verses.

Where scholars disagree about epizēteō

Whether the ἐπι- prefix on ἐπιζητέω is directive (pointing the seeking at a definite object) or intensive (heightening it), and consequently whether "demand, require" is a distinct lexical sense or a contextually specialized shade.

  • majorityThe prefix is directive, not intensive: the compound is largely a variant of the simplex ζητέω, and any felt urgency is supplied by tense, context, or rhetoric. The papyrological "demand, require" usage is then a specialized application of the same directive sense rather than evidence of inherent intensity.; J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, s.v. ἐπιζητέω; H. Greeven, "ζητέω κτλ.," TDNT 2:895-96; F. Blass, A. Debrunner, and R. W. Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament, sections 116, 148, 202; M. Silva, ed., NIDNTTE (2014), s.v. ζητέω
  • minorityThe compound carries genuine intensifying force, so glosses such as "seek diligently," "crave," or "earnestly desire" are lexically warranted; the clearest support is Matthew's replacement of Mark's simplex with the compound in the sign texts, read as a strengthening into "demand, insist."; W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, Matthew, ICC, vol. 2 (1991), on Matt 12:39; D. A. Hagner, Matthew 1-13, WBC 33A (1993), on Matt 12:39; A. B. Bruce, The Synoptic Gospels, in Expositor's Greek Testament, vol. 1, on Matt 12:39
  • contestedThe lexica themselves divide on whether the demanding usage is a separate sense: BDAG lists "demand, request, insist" as its own New Testament sense, and Louw and Nida spread the verb over three semantic domains, while TDNT declines a sharp lexical split.; BDAG, s.v. ἐπιζητέω, senses 1-2; J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, domains 25, 27, 33; H. Greeven, "ζητέω κτλ.," TDNT 2:895-96
In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • BDAG, s.v. ἐπιζητέωlexicon
  • LSJ, s.v. ἐπιζητέωlexicon
  • J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, 2nd ed. (1989), domains 25, 27, 33lexicon
  • J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri, s.v. ἐπιζητέωlexicon
  • T. Muraoka, A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint (Peeters, 2009), s.v. ἐπιζητέωlexicon
  • H. Greeven, "ζητέω κτλ.," TDNT 2:892-96dictionary
  • M. Silva, ed., NIDNTTE (2014), s.v. ζητέωdictionary
  • F. Blass, A. Debrunner, and R. W. Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, sections 116, 148, 202grammar
  • W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, Matthew, ICC, vol. 2 (1991), on Matt 12:39commentary
  • U. Luz, Matthew 8-20, Hermeneia (2001), on Matt 12:39commentary
  • C. K. Barrett, The Acts of the Apostles, ICC (1994, 1998), on Acts 12:19 and 19:39commentary
  • A. N. Sherwin-White, Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament (Oxford, 1963), 83-90monograph
  • R. Jewett, Romans, Hermeneia (2007), 656-57commentary
  • P. T. O'Brien, The Epistle to the Philippians, NIGTC (1991), 536-38commentary
  • H. W. Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Hermeneia (1989), 331-32, 398-99commentary
  • P. Ellingworth, The Epistle to the Hebrews, NIGTC (1993), 597-98, 719-20commentary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of ἐπιζητέω

present active indicative 3p

ἐπιζητοῦσιν

Mat 6:32, Luk 12:30, Heb 11:14

present active indicative 3s

ἐπιζητεῖ

Mat 12:39, Mat 16:4, Rom 11:7

present active indicative 1s

ἐπιζητῶ

Php 4:17, Php 4:17

aorist active indicative 3s

ἐπεζήτησεν

Act 13:7

aorist active participle nominative m s

ἐπιζητήσας

Act 12:19

imperfect active indicative 3p

ἐπεζήτουν

Luk 4:42

present active indicative 1p

ἐπιζητοῦμεν

Heb 13:14

present active indicative 2p

ἐπιζητεῖτε

Act 19:39