What does περισπάω (perispáō) mean in the Bible?
περισπάω (perispáō): To pull away attention or energy; distraction pulling focus from what matters most spiritually.
Greek · G4049
περισπάω
To distract
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περισπάω G4049
Pronunciation perispáō
What does περισπάω (perispáō) mean in the Bible?
περισπάω (perispáō): To pull away attention or energy; distraction pulling focus from what matters most spiritually.
Full entry for περισπάω (G4049) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G4049?
The BSB source-word alignment has 1 aligned row for this entry. Common renderings include was distracted (1).
Where does περισπάω (perispáō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 10:40. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (1).
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 was distracted 1× Luke 10:40
Show sample aligned rows
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 10:40
Aligned rows 1
Books represented 1
Luke 1
Source forms
περιεσπᾶτο 1x periespato Luke 10:40
Parsing patterns
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x Luke 10:40
Evidence Summary
Greek word. To pull away attention or energy; distraction pulling focus from what matters most spiritually.
Strong's G4049
Lexical occurrences 0 verses Greek text appearances 1 time Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 10:38–42 Source Gloss
to distract
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
To pull away attention or energy; distraction pulling focus from what matters most spiritually.
to draw around, draw off or away. Metaphorical, to distract: pass., Luk.10:40.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
1 Greek text appearance shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 10:40 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Passive Indicative
περιεσπᾶτο periespato
I distract, trouble greatly
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.
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 1 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
imperfect 1
Voice
passive 1
Mood
indicative 1
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)
Sampled Scripture Occurrences
Representative Scripture witnesses for this entry: passage, original form, and sense in context.
Additional Occurrences
Luke 10:38–42 περιεσπᾶτο perispáō
Was distracted, pulled away
New Testament Witnesses
was being pulled away
Word Origins
περισπάω is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
Describes distraction that fragments devotion.
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