What does ἀναβλέπω (anablépō) mean in the Bible?
Ἀναβλέπω (anablépō) means to look up or to regain sight. Jesus points to blind people receiving sight as evidence that messianic promises are being fulfilled.
Greek · G308
ἀναβλέπω
To look up; by implication, to recover sight
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ἀναβλέπω G308
Pronunciation anablépō
What does ἀναβλέπω (anablépō) mean in the Bible?
Ἀναβλέπω (anablépō) means to look up or to regain sight. Jesus points to blind people receiving sight as evidence that messianic promises are being fulfilled.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀναβλέπω (G308) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G308?
The BSB source-word alignment has 25 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [and] looking up (3), he received his sight (2), let me see again (2), receive sight (2), Receive your sight (2).
Where does ἀναβλέπω (anablépō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 11:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (7), Mark (6), Acts (5), John (4).
What This Word Actually Means
Ἀναβλέπω (anablépō) means to look up or to regain sight. Jesus points to blind people receiving sight as evidence that messianic promises are being fulfilled. In Mark, a man looks up during a gradual healing and reports partial vision before Jesus completes the restoration. Near Jericho, a blind beggar plainly asks to see again. John records a healed man explaining that he washed and now sees, while the leaders interrogate the sign.
In Acts, Ananias stands beside Saul and commands him to receive sight, joining physical restoration to his call and baptism. The verb can describe the act of lifting one's gaze or the recovery of visual ability; context supplies which sense is active. It does not by itself make sight a metaphor for conversion or guarantee one uniform healing process.
How the Bible Uses It
Ἀναβλέπω describes looking up or receiving sight again. Its witnesses include messianic signs, a healing completed in stages, a direct plea for vision, testimony under interrogation, and Saul's restored sight.
- Matt.11.5
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
Jesus lists the blind receiving sight among works that answer John's question, presenting restoration together with cleansing, resurrection, and good news to the poor.
- Mark.8.24
The man looked up and said, “I can see the people, but they look like trees walking around.”
The man looks up and reports people like walking trees, an honest description of incomplete vision before Jesus acts again and restores clear sight.
- Luke.18.41
“What do you want Me to do for you?” “Lord,” he said, “let me see again.”
The beggar answers Jesus' personal question with a direct request to see again, and his restored sight leads him to follow Jesus while praising God.
- John.9.15
So the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. The man answered, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”
The man born blind tells the leaders that Jesus applied mud, he washed, and he now sees, maintaining a simple factual testimony amid hostile investigation.
- Acts.22.13
Came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘receive your sight.’ And at that moment I could see him.
Ananias calls Saul “brother,” stands beside him, and commands restored sight; bodily vision returns within a larger divine commission to witness.
Passage contextBook context
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It [and] looking up 3× Matthew 14:19, Mark 6:41, Luke 9:16
he received his sight 2× Mark 10:52, Luke 18:43
let me see again 2× Mark 10:51, Luke 18:41
receive sight 2× Matthew 11:5, Luke 7:22
Receive your sight 2× Luke 18:42, Acts 22:13
[and] received my sight 1× John 9:11
[his] 1× John 9:18
[Jesus] looked up 1× Luke 21:1
[The man] looked up 1× Mark 8:24
had received his sight 1× John 9:18
he had received his sight 1× John 9:15
his sight was restored 1× Acts 9:18
I could see 1× Acts 22:13
looked up 1× Luke 19:5
looking up 1× Mark 7:34
restore his sight 1× Acts 9:12
they received their sight 1× Matthew 20:34
when they looked up 1× Mark 16:4
you may see again 1× Acts 9:17
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 11:5 ἀναβλέπουσιν to receive sight Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Matthew 14:19 ἀναβλέψας to [and] looking up Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 20:34 ἀνέβλεψαν to they received their sight Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural Mark 6:41 ἀναβλέψας to [and] looking up Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Mark 7:34 ἀναβλέψας to looking up Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Mark 8:24 ἀναβλέψας to [The man] looked up Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Mark 10:51 ἀναβλέψω to let me see again Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 1st Person Singular Mark 10:52 ἀνέβλεψεν to he received his sight Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Mark 16:4 ἀναβλέψασαι to when they looked up Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Feminine Plural Luke 7:22 ἀναβλέπουσιν to receive sight Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 11:5
Aligned rows 25
Books represented 5
Matthew 3 Mark 6 Luke 7 John 4 Acts 5
Source forms
ἀναβλέψας 6x anablepsas Matthew 14:19, Mark 6:41, Mark 7:34, Mark 8:24
ἀνέβλεψεν 4x aneblepsen Mark 10:52, Luke 18:43, John 9:15, John 9:18
ἀναβλέπουσιν 2x anablepousin Matthew 11:5, Luke 7:22
ἀναβλέψω 2x anablepsō Mark 10:51, Luke 18:41
ἀνέβλεψα 2x aneblepsa John 9:11, Acts 22:13
ἀναβλέψαντος 1x anablepsantos John 9:18
Ἀναβλέψας 1x Anablepsas Luke 21:1
ἀναβλέψασαι 1x anablepsasai Mark 16:4
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular 7x Matthew 14:19, Mark 6:41, Mark 7:34, Mark 8:24
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 5x Mark 10:52, Luke 18:43, John 9:15, John 9:18
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular 2x Luke 18:42, Acts 22:13
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular 2x John 9:11, Acts 22:13
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 1st Person Singular 2x Mark 10:51, Luke 18:41
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 2x Matthew 11:5, Luke 7:22
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Matthew 20:34
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Genitive Masculine Singular 1x John 9:18
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not make Mark's staged healing a universal sequence or treat the man's partial first report as moral failure.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that every occurrence of ἀναβλέπω is a metaphor for spiritual conversion.
- Do not dismiss the healed man's simple testimony because he cannot yet answer every theological question about Jesus.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Recover sight literally and spiritually; Jesus uses it as sign of messianic restoration
Strong's G308
Lexical occurrences 25 verses Greek text appearances 26 times 16 shown below Word forms 4 forms 25 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
to look up; by implication, to recover sight
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 26 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 11:5 Verb Third Person Plural Present Active Indicative
ἀναβλέπουσι, anablepousin
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Matthew 14:19 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀναβλέψας anableyav
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Matthew 20:34 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἀνέβλεψαν anebleyan
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Mark 6:41 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀναβλέψας anableyav
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Mark 7:34 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀναβλέψας anableyav
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Mark 8:24 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀναβλέψας anableyav
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Mark 8:25 Verb Aorist Active Infinitive
ἀναβλέψαι. anableyai
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Mark 10:51 Verb First Person Singular Aorist Active Subjunctive
ἀναβλέψω. anableyw
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Mark 10:52 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἀνέβλεψε, anebleyen
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Mark 16:4 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Plural Feminine
ἀναβλέψασαι anableyasai
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Luke 7:22 Verb Third Person Plural Present Active Indicative
ἀναβλέπουσι, anablepousin
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Luke 9:16 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀναβλέψας anableyav
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Luke 18:41 Verb First Person Singular Aorist Active Subjunctive
ἀναβλέψω. anableyw
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Luke 18:42 Verb Second Person Singular Aorist Active Imperative
Ἀνάβλεψον· anableyon
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Luke 18:43 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἀνέβλεψε, anebleyen
I look up, recover my sight
Read verse Luke 19:5 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
ἀναβλέψας anableyav
I look up, recover my sight
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 groups 4 Aligned forms 25 Tenses Aorist, Present Voices Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 9×
Aorist Active Matt 14:19 · Mark 6:41 · Mark 7:34 · Mark 8:24 · Luke 9:16 · Luke 19:5 · Luke 21:1 · Mark 16:4 · John 9:18 9×
Indicative states a fact or reality 10×
Aorist Active Mark 10:52 · Luke 18:43 · John 9:15 · John 9:18 · Acts 9:18 · John 9:11 · Acts 22:13 · Matt 20:34 8×
Present Active Matt 11:5 · Luke 7:22 2×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 4×
Aorist Active Mark 10:51 · Luke 18:41 · Acts 9:12 · Acts 9:17 4×
Imperative command or strong request 2×
Aorist Active Luke 18:42 · Acts 22:13 2×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 25 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 23 present 2
Voice
active 25
Mood
indicative 10 participle 9 subjunctive 4 imperative 2
NT Occurrences
Matthew 11:5 ἀναβλέπουσιν present active indicative ongoing Matthew 14:19 ἀναβλέψας aorist active participle participle Matthew 20:34 ἀνέβλεψαν aorist active indicative completed Mark 6:41 ἀναβλέψας aorist active participle participle Mark 7:34 ἀναβλέψας aorist active participle participle Mark 8:24 ἀναβλέψας aorist active participle participle Mark 10:51 ἀναβλέψω aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Mark 10:52 ἀνέβλεψεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 16:4 ἀναβλέψασαι aorist active participle participle Luke 7:22 ἀναβλέπουσιν present active indicative ongoing Luke 9:16 ἀναβλέψας aorist active participle participle Luke 18:41 ἀναβλέψω aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Luke 18:42 Ἀνάβλεψον aorist active imperative imperative Luke 18:43 ἀνέβλεψεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 19:5 ἀναβλέψας aorist active participle participle Luke 21:1 Ἀναβλέψας aorist active participle participle John 9:11 ἀνέβλεψα aorist active indicative completed John 9:15 ἀνέβλεψεν aorist active indicative completed John 9:18 ἀνέβλεψεν aorist active indicative completed John 9:18 ἀναβλέψαντος aorist active participle participle Acts 9:12 ἀναβλέψῃ aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Acts 9:17 ἀναβλέψῃς aorist active subjunctive subjunctive Acts 9:18 ἀνέβλεψέν aorist active indicative completed Acts 22:13 ἀνάβλεψον aorist active imperative imperative Acts 22:13 ἀνέβλεψα aorist active indicative completed
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.
Witnesses
Luke 18:35–43 ἀναβλέψον anablépō
Receive sight
Mark 10:46–52 ἀναβλέπω anablépō
to regain sight
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 25 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἀναβλέπω is built from these roots:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Restored sight becomes testimony to Jesus without reducing the healed person to an illustration. Matthew places sight among kingdom works that identify the Messiah through promised mercy. Mark preserves an unusual staged healing: the man's first report is neither failure nor unbelief but an honest account that precedes complete clarity. Luke lets the beggar name his desire and then follow Jesus in praise.
John shows how plain testimony can withstand sophisticated hostility: “I washed, and now I see. ” Acts surrounds Saul's recovered vision with grace, brotherly welcome, and commissioned witness. Churches should pray for healing without scripting the process, listen carefully to sufferers, and resist treating incomplete improvement as either final defeat or proof of deficient faith.
Ἀναβλέπω keeps bodily restoration concrete while allowing each Gospel and Acts to show what seeing Jesus' work demands from witnesses.
Anchor passage
Matt.11.5
Doctrinal connections
- Matthew 11:2-6, restored sight as a messianic sign
- Mark 8:22-26, healing in stages and complete restoration
- Luke 18:35-43, asking to see and following in praise
- John 9:13-34, restored sight testified before hostile leaders
- Acts 22:6-16, Saul receiving sight and commission
- Isaiah 35:4-6, the eyes of the blind opened in God's salvation
Ἀναβλέπω combines a directional prefix with the verb for seeing. It may mean look up or recover sight. Narrative setting, object, and prior blindness determine whether physical direction or restored ability is emphasized.
From Old to New Testament
Prophets promise opened blind eyes when God saves, Jesus restores sight as a sign of His kingdom, and apostolic witness includes bodies and lives redirected by His mercy.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain