What does ἐπισκιάζω (episkiázō) mean in the Bible?
Episkiazo means to overshadow or cover with shadow. Its five New Testament witnesses occur in three kinds of scene.
Greek · G1982
ἐπισκιάζω
Episkiazo means to overshadow or cover with shadow. Its five New Testament witnesses occur in three kinds of scene.
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ἐπισκιάζωG1982
Pronunciationepiskiázō
What does ἐπισκιάζω (episkiázō) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐπισκιάζω (G1982) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G1982?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include enveloped (2), [and] enveloped (1), might fall on (1), will overshadow (1).
Where does ἐπισκιάζω (episkiázō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 17:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (2), Acts (1), Mark (1), Matthew (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Episkiazo means to overshadow or cover with shadow. Its five New Testament witnesses occur in three kinds of scene. In Luke 1:35 the angel tells Mary that the power of the Most High will overshadow her, alongside the coming of the Holy Spirit and the naming of the child as the Son of God. The three accounts of the transfiguration describe a cloud enveloping the disciples, from which the voice identifies Jesus and commands them to listen to Him.
Acts 5:15 describes people bringing the sick where Peter's shadow might fall upon them. The shared verb describes overshadowing; its subjects and settings are different. It does not turn every shadow into divine revelation, explain the physical mechanism of Jesus' conception, or establish a transferable healing method associated with a minister.
How the Bible Uses It
Luke's annunciation, the three transfiguration accounts, and the people's hope concerning Peter's passing shadow supply the complete direct range. Divine identity and action are established by the words surrounding the overshadowing, not by the visual image alone.
- Luke.1.35
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
The angel joins overshadowing by the Most High's power to the Holy Spirit's coming and the holy child's identity as Son of God.
- Matt.17.5
While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
The bright cloud envelops the scene while the voice identifies the beloved Son and directs the disciples to listen to Him.
- Mark.9.7
Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him!”
Mark presents the enveloping cloud with the same decisive command to hear the Son rather than remain occupied with Peter's proposed shelters.
- Luke.9.34
While Peter was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
The disciples' fear as they enter the cloud belongs to the narrated encounter; the following voice directs attention to Jesus.
- Acts.5.15
As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.
The clause reports the people's purpose in bringing the sick, while the surrounding account attributes the apostolic signs to a larger work of healing.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itenveloped2×Matthew 17:5, Luke 9:34
[and] enveloped1×Mark 9:7
might fall on1×Acts 5:15
will overshadow1×Luke 1:35
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 17:5ἐπεσκίασενtoenvelopedVerb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person SingularMark 9:7ἐπισκιάζουσαto[and] envelopedVerb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Feminine SingularLuke 1:35ἐπισκιάσειtowill overshadowVerb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person SingularLuke 9:34ἐπεσκίαζενtoenvelopedVerb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person SingularActs 5:15ἐπισκιάσῃtomight fall onVerb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 17:5
Aligned rows5
Books represented4
Matthew1Mark1Luke2Acts1
Source forms
ἐπεσκίαζεν1xepeskiazenLuke 9:34
ἐπεσκίασεν1xepeskiasenMatthew 17:5
ἐπισκιάζουσα1xepiskiazousaMark 9:7
ἐπισκιάσει1xepiskiaseiLuke 1:35
ἐπισκιάσῃ1xepiskiasēActs 5:15
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular1xMatthew 17:5
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular1xActs 5:15
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular1xLuke 1:35
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular1xLuke 9:34
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Feminine Singular1xMark 9:7
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Readers facing illness should not be pressured to seek contact with a minister as a condition of healing.
- Reverence for God's mystery should not excuse speculative claims about conception or spiritual experiences.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim every shadow signifies God's presence, because this verb also describes the people's hope about Peter's shadow.
- Do not claim the word explains a biological mechanism, because Luke identifies divine action and the child without providing those details.
Evidence Summary
Presence
Greek word. Divine presence manifesting through protective shadowing, often accompanied by luminous cloud or Spirit.
Strong'sG1982
Lexical occurrences5 versesGreek text appearances5 timesWord forms3 forms5 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkLuke 1:26–38Source Gloss
to overshadow
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Divine presence manifesting through protective shadowing, often accompanied by luminous cloud or Spirit.
to throw a shadow upon, overshadow: with dative, Act.5:15; of a shining (Mt, l.with, and cf. Exo.40:29, 35, 2Ma.2:8) cloud, with dative, Mrk.9:7; with accusative, Mat.17:5, Luk.9:34; metaphorically (cf. Pss, Pr, ll.with), of the Holy Spirit, Luk.1:35.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 17:5Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπεσκίασενepeskiasen
I overshadow, envelop
Read verseMark 9:7Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Singular Feminine
ἐπισκιάζουσαepiskiazousa
I overshadow, envelop
Read verseLuke 1:35Verb Third Person Singular Future Active Indicative
ἐπισκιάσειepiskiasei
I overshadow, envelop
Read verseLuke 9:34Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἐπεσκίασενepeskiasen
I overshadow, envelop
Read verseActs 5:15Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Subjunctive
ἐπισκιάσῃepiskiash
I overshadow, envelop
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups3Aligned forms5TensesAorist, Present, Future, ImperfectVoicesActive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicativestates a fact or reality3×
Aorist ActiveMatt 17:51×
Future ActiveLuke 1:351×
Imperfect ActiveLuke 9:341×
Participleverbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality1×
Present ActiveMark 9:71×
Subjunctivepossibility, probability, or purpose1×
Aorist ActiveActs 5:151×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 5 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist2future1imperfect1present1
Voice
active5
Mood
indicative3subjunctive1participle1
NT Occurrences
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
will overshadow
Additional Occurrences
Luke 1:26–38ἐπισκιάσειepiskiázō
Will overshadow
Luke 9:28–36ἐπισκιάζωepiskiázō
Overshadow
Mark 9:2–8ἐπισκιάζωepiskiázō
to overshadow
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἐπισκιάζω is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
Connects incarnation to divine glory presence imagery.Luke 1:26–38
Canonical Themes
Presence
For the Preacher and Teacher
The most important words in the transfiguration are spoken from the cloud: Jesus is the beloved Son, and the disciples are to listen to Him. Overshadowing serves that encounter but cannot replace its message. Luke's annunciation similarly gives an explicit explanation of divine action and the child's identity, without inviting a physical reconstruction of how the conception occurs.
Acts reports a different setting, including the people's hope that Peter's shadow might reach the sick. Combining these scenes into one technique for producing spiritual experiences would ignore their different subjects and purposes. A teacher can honor the mystery and authority of God's work while directing hearers toward the revealed Son and refusing to attach guaranteed healing to a modern leader's shadow.
Anchor passage
Matt.17.5
Doctrinal connections
- Luke 1:34-35 answers Mary's question by naming the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High.
- The holy child in Luke 1:35 is identified as the Son of God.
- Matthew 17:5-7 joins the cloud's voice with the Son's identity and His reassurance to fearful disciples.
- Mark 9:7-9 directs listening toward Jesus and places disclosure within His coming resurrection.
- Luke 9:34-36 leaves Jesus alone before the disciples after the voice speaks.
- Exodus 40:34-38 supplies supporting cloud imagery of the Lord's presence among His people.
Episkiazo is a Greek verb describing overshadowing. The local forms include participial and finite constructions, but tense or word formation alone cannot specify a doctrine of conception, a healing mechanism, or the identity of a cloud's speaker.
From Old to New Testament
The cloud covering the tabernacle in Exodus 40:34-38 provides a scriptural parallel for divine presence, supported by the comparator's lexical references. The transfiguration's own voice governs its christological meaning, and the parallel does not identify every shadow or cloud as that same event.