ἐπισκέπτ-ομαι G1980
Visit with care or concern (God visiting his people, believers visiting the sick); select by inspection.
The Greek verb episkeptomai (related to episkopos, 'overseer') means to look upon someone with purposeful care. In most occurrences, God or humans visit those in need: God 'visited and redeemed his people' (Luke 1:68), the crowds recognize that 'God has visited his people' (Luke 7:16), and the Son of Man judges based on who visited the sick and imprisoned (Matt 25:36, 43). Spanish visitar, French visiter, and German besuchen all cluster around this pastoral sense. But in Acts 6:3 the word pivots to mean 'select' — the apostles tell the community to 'look over and choose' seven men for service, drawing on the root meaning of careful inspection that underlies both senses.
2. select, choose (by looking over) — To look over carefully and select suitable persons for a task — choosing by inspection rather than visiting in compassion. Only 1 clear occurrence: Acts 6:3, where the apostles instruct the congregation to 'select from among you seven men of good reputation.' Spanish buscad ('seek out') and the underlying Greek epi-skep- ('look upon carefully') both highlight the inspection element. This sense preserves the etymological core of the verb — careful looking — but redirects it from pastoral care toward administrative discernment, connecting naturally to the cognate noun episkopos ('overseer'), one who looks over and manages. 1×
AR["اُنْظُرُوا"]·ben["বাছাই-কর"]·DE["besucht"]·EN["select"]·FR["visiter"]·heb["בַּחֲרוּ"]·HI["चुनो"]·ID["Pilihlah"]·IT["visitare"]·jav["piliha"]·KO["살펴보라"]·RU["выберите"]·ES["buscad"]·SW["chagueni"]·TR["araştırın"]·urd["چُن-لو"]
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
1. visit, look upon (with care or concern) — To visit someone with gracious concern, care, or redemptive purpose — used both of God's salvific intervention and of human acts of mercy toward the suffering. This dominant sense (10 occurrences) is theologically loaded: Zechariah praises God who 'has visited and redeemed his people' (Luke 1:68), the rising dawn 'shall visit us from on high' (Luke 1:78), and the crowds at Nain glorify God saying 'He has visited his people' (Luke 7:16). On the human side, Jesus makes visiting the sick and imprisoned a criterion of final judgment (Matt 25:36, 43), and James calls visiting orphans and widows the essence of pure religion (James 1:27). Spanish visitar, French visiter, German besuchen, and Hindi all converge on care-oriented visitation vocabulary. The Hebrew Bible background of God 'visiting' (paqad) his people in both blessing and judgment enriches every NT use. 10×
AR["افتَقَدَ","افتِقادُ","افْتَقَدَ","تَزُورُونِي","تَفْتَقِدُهُ","زُرْتُمُونِي","سَيَفْتَقِدُنَا","نَفتَقِدُ","يَفْتَقِدَ"]·ben["দেখতে-এসেছ","দেখা-করতে","দেখা-করি","দেখা-দিয়েছেন","দেখাশুনা-করলেন","দেখাশোনা-কর","দেখাশোনা-করবে","দেখাশোনা-করা","দেখাশোনা-করেছেন"]·DE["besuchen","besucht"]·EN["Has-visited","he-visited","let-us-visit","to-visit","visited","will-visit","you-visit","you-visited"]·FR["visiter"]·heb["יִפְקְדֵנוּ","לִפְקֹד","לָקַחַת","נִפְקֹד","פְּקַדְתֶּם-אוֹתִי","פָּקַד","תִּפְקֹד"]·HI["कृपादृष्टि-की","देखने-आए","देखने-को","देखभाल-करता-है","देखभाल-करना","देखभाल-करेगा","देखभाल-की","देखें","भेंट-की"]·ID["Dia-telah-mengunjungi","Engkau-mengunjunginya","Telah-mengunjungi","akan-mengunjungi","kamu-mengunjungi","kita-mengunjungi","mengunjungi"]·IT["episkeptesthai","episkeptē","visitare"]·jav["Ngrawuhi","Panjenengan-mirsani","badhé-nuwèni","kita-nuwèni","nilik","nliti","nuwèni","panjenengan-tilik","sampun-nuwèni"]·KO["돌밤으셨다","돌보는-것","돌보셨다","돌보시나이까","돌보았다","돌아보셨다","돌아보실-것이다","방문하는-것","방문하자"]·PT["Visitou","o-visitas","visitar","visitará","visitastes","visitemos","visitou","visitou,"]·RU["Посетил","вы-посетили","посетил","посетим","посетит","посетить","посещаешь","посещать"]·ES["me-visitasteis","nos-visitará","visitar","visitas","visitemos","visitó"]·SW["Amewajia","alitembelea","amewatembelea","atatujia","kuwatembelea","mlinitembelea","nitembelea","tuwatembelee","umtembelee"]·TR["Ziyaret-etti","ziyaret-edecek","ziyaret-edelim","ziyaret-ediyorsun","ziyaret-etmek","ziyaret-etti","ziyaret-ettiniz"]·urd["خیال-رکھتا-ہے","دیکھا","دیکھا-تم-نے","دیکھیں","ملاقات-کرنا","ملاقات-کرے-گا","ملاقات-کی","ملنا","نظر-کی"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἐπισκέπτ-ομαι, ={ἐπισκοπέω}, Refs 5th c.BC+ __2. pass in review: hence, number a host, LXX