Used as imperative lo!;
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G2400 is the call to look, see, or behold, and John uses it to direct attention toward the person or reality that must not be missed. John the Baptist says, "Look, the Lamb of God," and later points again as Jesus walks by.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἰδού (G2400) · Open the biblical lexicon
G2400 is the call to look, see, or behold, and John uses it to direct attention toward the person or reality that must not be missed. John the Baptist says, "Look, the Lamb of God," and later points again as Jesus walks by.
The BSB source-word alignment has 234 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Look (47), - (32), Behold (31), . . . (23), See (18).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 1:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (66), Luke (57), Revelation (26), Acts (23).
G2400 is the call to look, see, or behold, and John uses it to direct attention toward the person or reality that must not be missed. John the Baptist says, "Look, the Lamb of God," and later points again as Jesus walks by. Jesus sees Nathanael and names him truthfully. Others use the word to draw attention to Jesus' growing public response, and Jesus tells the disciples to lift their eyes and see fields ready for harvest.
The word often functions like a witness marker. It does not create faith by spectacle, but it summons readers to attend to what God is making visible in Jesus' identity, mission, mercy, and harvest.
G2400 directs attention in John. It points to Jesus as Lamb, exposes true seeing of people, and calls disciples to notice the harvest God has placed before them.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
John the Baptist directs attention to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The command to look serves witness to Christ.
When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
John again looks at Jesus and points his disciples to Him. True witness is willing to lose attention so that Jesus is followed.
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”
Jesus sees Nathanael and speaks truthfully about him. The scene shows that Jesus' seeing is personal and searching, not superficial.
So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Look, Rabbi, the One who was with you beyond the Jordan, the One you testified about—He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him.”
John's disciples call attention to Jesus' growing baptizing ministry. The word introduces a moment where witness must rejoice rather than compete.
Do you not say, ‘There are still four months until the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest.
Jesus tells the disciples to lift their eyes and see the fields white for harvest. The word turns attention from ordinary delay to present mission.
Afterward, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”
Jesus finds the healed man and calls him to stop sinning. Seeing mercy rightly includes hearing Jesus' warning.
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.
Greek word. Arresting attention-marker that summons immediate perception; shifts focus to something suddenly appearing or crucial.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 200 lexical occurrence verses.
ἰδού is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G2400 is valuable in John because the Gospel repeatedly asks readers to look in the right direction. John the Baptist does not gather disciples around his own importance; he says, "Look, the Lamb of God." He points again when Jesus walks by, and disciples begin to follow Jesus. Jesus sees Nathanael with truthful knowledge. He tells His disciples to lift their eyes and see a harvest they had not expected.
Even a healed man must see mercy together with warning. The word therefore teaches that Christian attention is governed attention. Scripture does not invite gawking at signs or personalities. It summons readers to behold Jesus rightly and respond to what His presence reveals.
John.1.29
G2400 often works as an attention marker. It can be translated with look, behold, or see. Its force in John depends on what the speaker wants the hearer to notice.
The biblical call to behold often moves people from distraction to worship, repentance, or hope. John centers that call on Jesus, the Lamb, the revealer of hearts, and the Lord of the harvest.
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