Greek word · G4013

περιάγω

periagō

to take/go around

Intransitive: to go around, travel about (Matt 4:23, "Jesus went about all Galilee"). Transitive: to lead someone around, to take them along with one.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

περι-άγω

[in LXX: Amos 2:10 (הָלַךְ hi.); Isaiah 28:27, Ezekiel 47:2 (סָבַב hi., ho.); Ezekiel 37:2 (עָבַר hi), 2Ma.4:38 2Mac 6:10 * ;]

1. to lead about or around: with accusative of person(s), 1 Corinthians 9:5.

2. Intrans., to go about: Acts 13:11; before ἐν, Matthew 4:23; with accusative loc. (governed by the περι-, not so in cl., see Bl., § 34, 1; 53, 1), Matthew 9:35 23:15, Mark 6:6.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Corinthians 9:5

Range of meaning

Intransitive: to go around, travel about (Matt 4:23, "Jesus went about all Galilee"). Transitive: to lead someone around, to take them along with one.

Against the English

KJV "lead about" is literal but now sounds like leading someone on a leash. BSB, WEB, NIV and ESV "take along" gives the sense well.

How it drifted

"Lead about" has dropped out of use and now suggests control. The Greek describes a travelling companion.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used of travelling preachers: Jesus "went around" teaching (Matt 4:23; 9:35; Mark 6:6). Teachers who moved from town to town, and the hospitality given to them, were well known in the Greco-Roman world (Didache 11–13 sets rules for hosting travelling apostles and prophets).

From the study of Mark 6:6

Range of meaning

Literally 'lead around'. Used without an object, as here, it means 'go around, travel about'. The idea is moving in a round or circuit through a region.

Against the English

KJV 'went round about', BSB/NLT 'from village to village', NASB 'was going around'. 'From village to village' is natural English but drops the word κύκλῳ ('in a circle'). YLT keeps both the ongoing tense and 'in a circle'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Matthew uses the same verb for Jesus' teaching tours of Galilee (Matt 4:23; 9:35, 'went around all the cities and villages, teaching'). Matthew 23:15 uses it for traveling around sea and land to make a convert. Mark's paired adverb κύκλῳ appears again at 6:36 ('the surrounding farms and villages') and in Paul's 'from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum' (Rom 15:19).

Where it appears

Matthew · 3

  1. Matthew 4:23 περιῆγεν He was going

    Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

    Here: The tense pictures ongoing, repeated activity: 'he kept going around'. It describes a travelling ministry from village to village, not one trip.

  2. Matthew 9:35 περιῆγεν was going throughout

    Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness.

    Here: The imperfect tense pictures repeated, ongoing activity: Jesus 'kept going around' on a circuit. It describes a pattern, not one trip.

  3. Matthew 23:15 περιάγετε you traverse

    Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

    Here: Present tense, describing something done over and over: 'you keep going round'. It pictures tireless, roaming effort.

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 6:6 περιῆγεν He was going

    And He was amazed at their unbelief. And He went around from village to village, teaching the people.

    Here: 'He was going around, making the rounds'. The past tense describes a repeated tour rather than one trip. Being rejected at home does not stop him. It sends him outward.

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 13:11 περιάγων going about

    Now look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and for a time you will be blind and unable to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

    Here: Moving around, turning this way and that. Here it pictures a blind man groping about with no sense of direction.

1 Corinthians · 1

  1. 1 Corinthians 9:5 περιάγειν to take about

    Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?

    Here: To take someone along on one's travels. The picture is itinerant mission, with the wife travelling with the preacher from town to town, and, as vv.4 and 6 make clear, being housed and fed by the churches along with him.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.