ζητέω
zēteō
to seek
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word ζητέω (zēteō) is a verb that means "to seek." It is used 119 times in the Bible, making it a common and significant term in the New Testament. The word carries a sense of inquiry, investigation, or pursuit, often implying a desire to find or understand something. In its various occurrences, ζητέω is used in a range of contexts, from seeking knowledge or wisdom to searching for physical objects or people. It can also convey a sense of longing or yearning, as when someone seeks a relationship or a state of being. The word's meaning is often nuanced, depending on the context in which it is used. The significance of ζητέω lies in its emphasis on the importance of seeking and inquiry in human experience. It highlights the value of curiosity, exploration, and pursuit of understanding, whether in spiritual, intellectual, or practical matters. By examining the many occurrences of this word in the Bible, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the role of seeking and inquiry in shaping our lives and relationships.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
119 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
Matthew 2:20“Arise and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young child’s life are dead.”
Matthew 6:33But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 7:7“Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
Matthew 7:8For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
Matthew 12:43When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn’t find it.
Matthew 12:46While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to him.
Matthew 12:47One said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brothers stand outside, seeking to speak to you.”
Matthew 13:45“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls,
Matthew 18:12“What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?
Matthew 21:46When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.
Matthew 26:16From that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
Matthew 26:59Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death;
Matthew 28:5The angel answered the women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified.
Mark 1:37They found him and told him, “Everyone is looking for you.”
Mark 3:32A multitude was sitting around him, and they told him, “Behold, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside looking for you.”
Mark 8:11The Pharisees came out and began to question him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, and testing him.
Mark 8:12He sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Most certainly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
Mark 11:18The chief priests and the scribes heard it, and sought how they might destroy him. For they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching.
Mark 12:12They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. They left him, and went away.
Mark 14:1It was now two days before the feast of the Passover and the unleavened bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might seize him by deception, and kill him.
Mark 14:11They, when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money. He sought how he might conveniently deliver him.
Mark 14:55Now the chief priests and the whole council sought witnesses against Jesus to put him to death, and found none.
Mark 16:6He said to them, “Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him!
Luke 2:48When they saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I were anxiously looking for you.”
Luke 2:49He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
Luke 5:18Behold, men brought a paralyzed man on a cot, and they sought to bring him in to lay before Jesus.
Luke 6:19All the multitude sought to touch him, for power came out of him and healed them all.
Luke 9:9Herod said, “I beheaded John, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” He sought to see him.
Luke 11:9“I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you.
Luke 11:10For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.
Luke 11:24The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my house from which I came out.’
Luke 11:29When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet.
Luke 11:54lying in wait for him, and seeking to catch him in something he might say, that they might accuse him.
Luke 12:29Don’t seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious.
Luke 12:31But seek God’s Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you.
Luke 12:48but he who didn’t know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.
Luke 13:6He spoke this parable. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none.
Luke 13:7He said to the vine dresser, ‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down. Why does it waste the soil?’
Luke 13:24“Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in and will not be able.
Luke 15:8Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn’t light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it?
John 5:30I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me.
Luke 17:33Whoever seeks to save his life loses it, but whoever loses his life preserves it.
Luke 19:3He was trying to see who Jesus was, and couldn’t because of the crowd, because he was short.
Luke 19:10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Luke 19:47He was teaching daily in the temple, but the chief priests, the scribes, and the leading men among the people sought to destroy him.
Luke 20:19The chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him that very hour, but they feared the people—for they knew he had spoken this parable against them.
Luke 22:2The chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put him to death, for they feared the people.
Luke 22:6He consented, and sought an opportunity to deliver him to them in the absence of the multitude.
Luke 24:5Becoming terrified, they bowed their faces down to the earth. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?