Greek word · G4017

περιβλέπω

periblepō

to look around

To look around, look about at; in the middle voice (as here), to look around for oneself, survey a group. It is an ordinary word for a sweeping glance or deliberate gaze.

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

περι-βλέπω

[in LXX for שׁוּר, etc. ;]

to look around (at). Mid., to look about one (at) : absol., Mark 9:8 10:23; with inf., Mark 5:32; with accusative of person(s), Mark 3:5, 34, Luke 6:10; πάντα, Mark 11:11.†

(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 Mark 10:23

Range of meaning: To look around, look about at; in the middle voice (as here), to look around for oneself, survey a group. It is an ordinary word for a sweeping glance or deliberate gaze.
Against the English: 'Looked around' (BSB, WEB) and 'looked round about' (KJV) are accurate. What English readers may miss is that this is a deliberate pause that Mark keeps repeating, not just scene-setting.
Used elsewhere in the period: Six of the seven New Testament uses are in Mark: 3:5 (looking around in anger at the synagogue), 3:34 (looking at those seated around him: 'here are my mother and brothers'), 5:32 (looking for the woman who touched him), 9:8, 10:23, and 11:11 (inspecting the temple). The other is Luke 6:10, which comes from Mark 3:5. In the Greek Old Testament it appears for surveying a scene (e.g., Exod 2:12; Gen 19:17).

From the study of Mark 3:34

Range of meaning: "To look around," almost always in the middle voice (the grammatical form showing the subject acting with its own interest involved): to survey one's surroundings, to look about at a group, to look round for something.
Against the English: KJV "looked round about on" and YLT "looked round in a circle" keep the sweeping movement. BSB and NIV "looking at" / "looked at" lose the "around" part of the verb, although their "in a circle" partly makes up for it. ESV and NASB "looking about" keep it.
Used elsewhere in the period: Of its seven New Testament uses, six are in Mark: 3:5, 3:34, 5:32, 9:8, 10:23 and 11:11. The seventh, Luke 6:10, takes over Mark 3:5. It is a Markan habit: Jesus' look around a room usually comes just before a decisive word, whether in anger (3:5), searching for someone (5:32), before a hard saying (10:23), or taking stock of the temple (11:11). In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) it is used for scanning one's surroundings, as in Exod 2:12, where Moses looks this way and that.

Where it appears

Mark · 6

Mark 3:5 περιβλεψάμενος having looked around on

Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.

Here: A single sweeping look around the whole room, taking in each of the silent watchers. The tense presents it as one completed act, and the look is a favourite detail of Mark's (3:34; 5:32; 10:23; 11:11).
Mark 3:34 περιβλεψάμενος having looked around on

Looking at those seated in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!

Here: "Having looked all around at." It describes a slow, sweeping look that takes in the whole circle, one face after another. Mark often notes this searching gaze of Jesus, and here the look itself is part of the answer: before he says a word, his eyes point to the people who belong to him.
Mark 5:32 περιεβλέπετο He was looking around

But He kept looking around to see who had done this.
Mark 9:8 περιβλεψάμενοι having looked around

Suddenly, when they looked around, they saw no one with them except Jesus.
Mark 10:23 περιβλεψάμενος having looked around

Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

Here: 'Having looked around.' Jesus slowly looks over the circle of people around him before he speaks. Mark uses this verb for Jesus again and again, and it marks a weighty moment.
Mark 11:11 περιβλεψάμενος having looked around on

Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Luke · 1

Luke 6:10 περιβλεψάμενος having looked around

And after looking around at all of them, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and it was restored.

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