To walk
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through theConnect page. Screenshots are helpful.
peripateo means to walk, and in many New Testament contexts it moves from literal movement to the conduct, pattern, or direction of life. The selected passages show that figurative walking is never vague lifestyle language.
Reader summary
Full entry for περιπατέω (G4043) · Open the biblical lexicon
peripateo means to walk, and in many New Testament contexts it moves from literal movement to the conduct, pattern, or direction of life. The selected passages show that figurative walking is never vague lifestyle language.
The BSB source-word alignment has 95 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include walk (23), walking (10), walked (5), walks (4), began to walk (3).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 4:18. Its strongest book concentrations include John (17), Mark (9), Acts (8), Ephesians (8).
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Peripateo means to walk, and in many New Testament contexts it moves from literal movement to the conduct, pattern, or direction of life. The selected passages show that figurative walking is never vague lifestyle language. Jesus promises that the one who follows Him will not walk in darkness. Romans says believers walk in newness of life because they have been united with Christ in death and resurrection.
Paul says the church walks by faith, walks by the Spirit, walks worthy of its calling, and walks in love after Christ's self-giving pattern. For pastoral teaching, peripateo names embodied discipleship over time: life ordered by Christ, faith, the Spirit, calling, and love rather than by darkness, flesh, or sight.
The selected passages use walking as a moral and discipleship image: following Christ's light, living resurrection life, trusting unseen realities, keeping in step with the Spirit, honoring calling, and practicing Christ-shaped love.
Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Jesus promises that whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. peripateo marks the direction of discipleship under Christ's light.
We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.
Believers walk in newness of life because they have been buried and raised with Christ. The conduct grows from union with Christ, not from moral enthusiasm alone.
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
Paul says believers walk by faith, not by sight. The verb describes life governed by trust in God's unseen promise and coming judgment.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Walking by the Spirit is set against gratifying the desires of the flesh. The image names ongoing Spirit-dependent conduct.
As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received:
Paul urges believers to walk worthy of the calling they have received. peripateo introduces the ethical half of Ephesians as life matching gospel identity.
And walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
Believers are commanded to walk in love as Christ loved and gave Himself. Love is not generic kindness but a path patterned after Christ's sacrifice.
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. Literal walking becomes metaphorical conduct of life; how one lives reflects spiritual character.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 96 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
Read verseI walk, conduct my life
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 94 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 3 selected witnesses from 95 lexical occurrence verses.
περιπατέω is built from these roots:
Describes sustained lifestyle direction rather than isolated acts.1 John 1:5-10
John addresses habitual direction of life, not momentary lapses. The Christian life is marked by a trajectory in the light.1 John 2:3-6
John emphasizes lifestyle consistency. True faith produces observable patterns aligned with Christ’s character.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Peripateo gives teachers a concrete image for sustained discipleship. People walk step by step, over time, in a direction. John 8 says the decisive direction is following Jesus, the light of the world. Romans 6 grounds the new walk in union with Christ's death and resurrection. Second Corinthians 5 adds that the walk is by faith rather than sight, so present life is shaped by unseen realities and future accountability.
Galatians 5 warns that the walk is contested by the flesh and must be Spirit-dependent. Ephesians then fills the path with calling and love: believers walk worthy of grace and walk in love as Christ loved them. The word therefore refuses both passivity and self-salvation. The Christian walk is active, embodied obedience flowing from Christ's saving work and empowered by the Spirit.
Rom.6.4
Peripateo can describe literal walking, but many epistolary uses are figurative for conduct or way of life. The interpreter should not turn every occurrence into metaphor, nor should figurative uses be left as vague lifestyle language. The surrounding phrases define the path: by faith, by the Spirit, worthy of calling, in love, or in darkness.
Old Testament wisdom and covenant texts often speak of walking in the way of the Lord or refusing the path of the wicked. The New Testament gathers that path language around Christ, resurrection life, the Spirit, and the church's calling.