To seek
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zeteo means to seek, search for, look for, desire, pursue, strive for, or ask for something. The New Testament uses it for ordinary searching, anxious pursuit, hostile attempts, prayerful asking, kingdom priority, Jesus' saving mission, and resurrection-shaped desire.
Reader summary
Full entry for ζητέω (G2212) · Open the biblical lexicon
zeteo means to seek, search for, look for, desire, pursue, strive for, or ask for something. The New Testament uses it for ordinary searching, anxious pursuit, hostile attempts, prayerful asking, kingdom priority, Jesus' saving mission, and resurrection-shaped desire.
The BSB source-word alignment has 117 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include seek (7), seeking (5), seeks (4), You will look for (4), are you seeking (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 2:13. Its strongest book concentrations include John (34), Luke (25), Matthew (14), Acts (10).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Zeteo means to seek, search for, look for, desire, pursue, strive for, or ask for something. The New Testament uses it for ordinary searching, anxious pursuit, hostile attempts, prayerful asking, kingdom priority, Jesus' saving mission, and resurrection-shaped desire. The word does not automatically mean noble spiritual seeking; people may seek signs, honor, Jesus' death, or their own will.
In its faithful frame, disciples seek first God's kingdom, ask and seek from the Father, learn that the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost, and set their minds on things above because they have been raised with Christ. zeteo therefore exposes both what humans chase and what grace reorders.
The selected passages move from seeking God's kingdom and receiving the Father's answer, to searching for the lost, to Christ's mission, Jesus' submitted will, and risen believers seeking the things above.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
Jesus commands disciples to seek first God's kingdom and righteousness. The verb marks ordered desire under the Father's care rather than anxious self-preservation.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
Jesus joins asking, seeking, and knocking as prayerful dependence on the Father. Seeking here is active trust, not spiritual bargaining.
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?
The shepherd goes to search for the one lost sheep. The verb can describe costly pursuit of what has gone astray.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Jesus declares that the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. zeteo is anchored in His saving mission before it becomes the disciple's pursuit.
I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
Jesus does not seek His own will but the will of the Father who sent Him. The verb reveals submitted desire within the Son's mission.
Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Those raised with Christ are told to seek the things above. The pursuit flows from union with the risen Christ, not from escape from ordinary obedience.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. To seek actively and intentionally, often implying desire, striving, or demanding rather than passive searching.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 119 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
Read verseI seek, search for, desire
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.
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.
How this verb appears across 116 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
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 passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 7 selected witnesses from 117 lexical occurrence verses.
ζητέω is of uncertain origin - no further derivation.
Highlights divine initiative in pursuing the lost.2 Timothy 1:15-18
Shows persistent curiosity without true repentance.Luke 15:1–7
The word emphasizes the intentional effort Onesiphorus made to locate and support Paul.Luke 9:7–9
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Zeteo presses a searching question: what are people pursuing? Jesus uses the verb to reorder anxious disciples toward the Father's kingdom and righteousness. He also teaches prayer as asking, seeking, and knocking before a generous Father. In Matthew 18, the search for one lost sheep prepares readers for the saving mercy made explicit in Luke 19, where the Son of Man comes to seek and save the lost.
John 5 shows the deepest obedience: the Son does not seek His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him. Colossians then calls those raised with Christ to seek the things above where Christ is seated. Christian seeking is therefore not self-made ambition. It is the grace-reordered pursuit of those found by Christ, taught by the Father, and raised with the Son to desire what belongs to His kingdom.
Luke.19.10
Zeteo can describe searching, seeking, striving, desiring, or asking depending on context. It can be faithful or sinful. The object of the search and the larger narrative determine whether the pursuit is prayer, discipleship, hostility, anxiety, or saving mission.
The Old Testament calls Israel to seek the Lord, His face, His ways, and justice, while warning against seeking idols or human security. The New Testament centers faithful seeking in Jesus, who seeks the lost and teaches His people to seek the Father's kingdom.