Greek word · G5584

ψηλαφάω

psēlaphaō

to touch

To touch, feel or handle. It is often used of feeling something out, or of groping like someone blind or in the dark. It means more than brushing against something: the hands examine it.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

ψηλαφάω, -ῶ

(ψάω, to touch), [in LXX for מוּשׁ, מָשַׁשׁ pi., etc. ;]

1. to feel or grope about; with accusative, to feel about for, search after: metaphorically, of seeking God, Acts 17:27.

2. to feel, touch, handle: with accusative of person(s), Luke 24:39, 1 John 1:1; προσεληλύθατε ψηλαφωμένῳ (ὄρει ?), Hebrews 12:18 (R, txt., a mount that might be touched; mg., a palpable and kindled fire; see Westc., in l).†

(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 John 1:1

Range of meaning: To touch, feel or handle. It is often used of feeling something out, or of groping like someone blind or in the dark. It means more than brushing against something: the hands examine it.
Against the English: KJV and YLT 'handled' keep the sense of examining something with the hands. 'Touched' (BSB, WEB, NIV) is accurate but lighter: it can suggest a passing contact.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the Septuagint, blind Isaac feels Jacob's arms to check who he is (Gen 27:12, 21-22). Blind Samson feels for the pillars (Judg 16:26). Israel will 'grope at noon as the blind grope' (Deut 28:29). In the NT, the risen Jesus says 'handle (psēlaphēsate) me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have' (Luke 24:39). People 'might feel after' God (Acts 17:27). Hebrews 12:18 speaks of the mountain 'that can be touched'.

From the study of Hebrews 12:18

Range of meaning: To touch or handle. It is often used for feeling or groping one's way, as a blind person does. From this comes "palpable, tangible, physical."
Against the English: "That can be touched" / "that might be touched" is accurate word for word. It can still puzzle readers, because Sinai was precisely the mountain no one was allowed to touch (Exod 19:12–13, which v. 20 quotes). NLT's "a physical mountain" brings out the intended sense.
How it drifted: In English, "touchable" can suggest "approachable" or "accessible." The Greek point is materiality: the thing belongs to the world of the senses.
Used elsewhere in the period: Gen 27:12, 21–22 in the Greek Old Testament (blind Isaac feeling Jacob). Deut 28:29 (groping at noon like the blind in darkness). Exod 10:21 ("darkness that can be felt", psēlaphēton skotos). In the NT: Luke 24:39 ("touch me and see"), Acts 17:27 ("grope for" God), 1 John 1:1.

From the study of Acts 17:27

Range of meaning: To touch or handle something physically. Above all, to feel one's way by touch when one cannot see: to grope, to fumble about. It can be a deliberate handling, as in checking whether something is real, or the blind searching of someone in the dark.
Against the English: The KJV and YLT have "feel after", which is close. The NASB has "grope for", which is exact. The ESV has "feel their way toward", which is good. The BSB, NIV and WEB have "reach out for", which turns a blind, tentative fumbling into a purposeful, confident reach, and loses the picture of darkness.
How it drifted: Modern versions chose "reach out" because it sounds warmer and more natural. "Reach out" now also carries a sense of relational outreach, as in "reach out to someone". That pushes the reading further from the Greek picture of groping blindly.
Used elsewhere in the period: In Homer (Odyssey 9.416) the blinded Cyclops gropes with his hands at the cave mouth. In Plato (Phaedo 99b) people trying to find true causes are "groping as in the dark". The Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint, LXX) uses it for the blind groping at noon (Deut 28:29), for groping along a wall like the blind (Isa 59:10), for blind Samson feeling for the pillars (Judg 16:26), and for blind Isaac feeling Jacob's arms (Gen 27:12, 21–22). In the NT it means handling a real body: the risen Jesus says "touch me" (Luke 24:39), and 1 John 1:1 speaks of what "our hands have touched".

Where it appears

Luke · 1

Luke 24:39 ψηλαφήσατέ do touch

Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself. Touch Me and see—for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

Here: An aorist command: 'feel me!' This is not a light touch. It is the word for feeling something over with your hands, the way a blind person feels a face, in order to find out what it is.

Acts · 1

Acts 17:27 ψηλαφήσειαν they would touch

God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

Here: "They might grope for", the way a blind person or someone in the dark feels around with the hands. The verb is in the optative, a rare Greek mood for remote possibility. Paul pictures earnest but fumbling, unsure contact, not a confident reach.

Hebrews · 1

Hebrews 12:18 ψηλαφωμένῳ [that] being touched

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm;

Here: "Something being touched", meaning something tangible that the senses can grasp. The point is that Sinai belonged to the physical, earthly order. It does not mean Sinai was open to approach, since touching it was forbidden on pain of death (Exod 19:12).

1 John · 1

1 John 1:1 ἐψηλάφησαν handled

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life.

Here: To feel with the hands, to handle or probe. The risen Jesus uses this verb in Luke 24:39: 'handle me and see'. It is the most physical word in the list and its high point.

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