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Περί is a Greek preposition that often means about, concerning, around, or on behalf of, depending on case and context. It can introduce the subject being discussed, the person for whom something is done, or a surrounding relation.
Reader summary
Full entry for περί (G4012) · Open the biblical lexicon
Περί is a Greek preposition that often means about, concerning, around, or on behalf of, depending on case and context. It can introduce the subject being discussed, the person for whom something is done, or a surrounding relation.
The BSB source-word alignment has 332 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include about (142), for (46), - (21), . . . (19), around (15).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 2:8. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (71), John (67), Luke (45), Matthew (28).
Περί is a Greek preposition that often means about, concerning, around, or on behalf of, depending on case and context. It can introduce the subject being discussed, the person for whom something is done, or a surrounding relation.
Pastorally, this word matters because Scripture uses concerning language for Christ in the Scriptures, testimony about Jesus, prayer for believers, gospel proclamation, and the atoning sacrifice concerning our sins. The preposition helps identify the topic or relation, but the passage supplies the doctrine.
Do not make every περί phrase say the same thing. Sometimes it marks aboutness, sometimes representation, sometimes relation, and sometimes sacrificial concern.
Peri is currently counted about 332 times in the local Greek artifact. It can mean about, concerning, around, or on behalf of in context.
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.
Jesus explains what was written about Himself in all the Scriptures. The preposition marks the Christ-centered subject of the explanation.
You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,
The Scriptures testify about Jesus. The preposition marks the subject of Scripture's witness.
I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message,
Jesus is not asking only on behalf of the apostles but also for future believers. The preposition marks intercessory concern.
But when they believed Philip as he preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Philip preaches about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ. The preposition marks the subject matter of proclamation.
He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. The preposition belongs to the atonement claim of the passage.
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. Concerning/about with causal sense; distinct from ὑπέρ by focusing on the matter itself rather than advocacy.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 331 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
about, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
Read verseabout, concerning, around
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 this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 1 case and number pattern. 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 1 selected witness from 332 lexical occurrence verses.
περί 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.
Peri often marks what something is about or who is in view. It can also carry on-behalf-of force where the passage supports it.
Luke.24.27
Peri with different cases can mark surrounding relation, concerning, or on behalf of. The object and clause decide the nuance.
Scripture bears witness concerning Christ, Christ intercedes for His people, and the apostolic message proclaims the kingdom and His name. peri can mark these relations without becoming a substitute for the passage's doctrine.
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