Word Study for G327 (ἀναζητέω)

anazētéō /an-ad-zay-teh'-o/ Ask about this word

Numbers 3203 through 3302 were not used.

Word Study

In depth

A plain-language study of anazētéō — the range of meaning it carries, how Scripture actually uses it, and where it points. Written for readers who don’t know the original language.

Core Meaning & Semantic Range

The Greek word anazētéō, represented by G327, means to seek or to search for. Though it appears only 2 times in 2 unique verses, its usage points to a deliberate and purposeful search for a specific person.

Biblical Occurrences & Contextual Analysis

In the biblical narrative, G327 is used in two key moments. It describes the actions of Jesus' parents, who, after traveling for a day, sought him among their relatives and acquaintances, believing him to have been in their company Luke 2:44. It is also used to describe how Barnabas departed for Tarsus specifically for to seek Saul, highlighting a journey undertaken with a clear objective Acts 11:25.

Related Words & Concepts

Several related words help clarify the context of this search:

G4923 synodía (companionship on a journey, i.e. (by implication), a caravan): This term defines the group in which Jesus's parents presumed he was traveling before they began to seek him Luke 2:44.
G2064 érchomai (to come or go): This word is used to describe the journey that preceded the search for Jesus, as his parents went a day's journey before realizing he was missing Luke 2:44.

Theological Significance

The significance of G327 is found in the subjects of the search.

A Purposeful Quest: Both uses of the word involve an intentional search. Barnabas travels to another city specifically to find Saul, a pivotal moment for the early church Acts 11:25.
Locating Foundational Figures: The word is exclusively used in the context of searching for two of Christianity's most central figures: Jesus as a child Luke 2:44 and Saul of Tarsus, who would become the Apostle Paul.

Summary

In summary, G327 is a specific term for a focused search. While rare, its two appearances in Scripture are significant, marking the determined efforts to find Jesus by his family and the intentional mission by Barnabas to find Saul. The word underscores the idea of a deliberate and important quest.

Grammatical Forms

Morphology

In the Greek New Testament, this word appears as a verb across 3 occurrences, inflected in 3 grammatical forms — each row is one form, and the bar is how often it is that form.

Aorist Active Infinitive 1×
Imperfect Active Indicative 3rd Plural 1×
Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine 1×

Nominative: The subject of the verb.
Plural: More than one.
Masculine: Masculine grammatical gender.
3rd: Third person — the one spoken about ("he"/"they").
Present: Action in progress or repeated — happening now or continually.
Imperfect: Ongoing or repeated action in the past — "was doing".
Aorist: Action viewed as a single whole — usually a simple past event.
Active: The subject performs the action.
Indicative: A plain statement of fact.
Infinitive: The verb as a noun — "to do".
Participle: A verbal adjective — describes while carrying the verb's action.

Theographic Context

Context

The people, places, and span of history the verses containing this word touch on — drawn from the theographic tagging of Scripture. Select any name to isolate its verses in the occurrence list.

Biblical Distribution

Distribution

Appears in 2 verses across 2 of the 27 books. Most frequent in Luke and Acts (1 verse each); never once in the other 25.

Luke

Acts

Every Occurrence

Concordance

Every verse where the word is tagged in the King James text. Filter by book, by the English word the translators chose, or search within the verses.

Sources. Definition and numbering: James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890). Morphology: STEPBible / Tyndale House (CC BY). Verse tagging: the King James text keyed to Strong’s numbers. Every count on this page is computed from the tagged corpus, not estimated.