Greek word · G5237

ὑπερείδω

hypereidō

to overlook

To look over or beyond something; to disregard, take no notice of, overlook; sometimes to neglect or disdain. It always involves deliberately not acting on what one could act on.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ὑπερ-εῖδον, aor.

[in LXX for עָלַם hi., מַעַל, etc. ;]

to overlook: with accusative of thing(s), Acts 17:30

(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 Acts 17:30

Range of meaning

To look over or beyond something; to disregard, take no notice of, overlook; sometimes to neglect or disdain. It always involves deliberately not acting on what one could act on.

Against the English

'Overlooked' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NIV) is accurate if it means 'chose not to act upon', but it can sound like 'failed to notice'. KJV 'winked at' meant in 1611 'shut one's eyes to, let pass'. A modern reader may hear a knowing, approving wink.

How it drifted

In early modern English, 'wink' mainly meant to close the eyes. 'Wink at' was an idiom for 'deliberately not see, let pass'. The modern sense of a playful, complicit wink has largely taken over.

Used elsewhere in the period

The LXX uses the verb for refusing to look away from a duty: 'you shall not ignore (hyperidēs) your brother's ox going astray' (Deut 22:1–4). In Psalm 55:1 (LXX 54:2) the psalmist asks, 'do not disregard my plea'. Wisdom 19:22: God 'did not overlook' his people. Close parallels in thought: Acts 14:16 (God 'allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways') and Rom 3:25 (God's 'passing over' of former sins 'in his forbearance').

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 17:30 ὑπεριδὼν having overlooked

    Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.

    Here: Literally 'having looked over/beyond'. God chose not to act on that ignorance with judgment. It does not mean God approved of it. The aorist participle sums up the whole past as one completed attitude, set against the present command.

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