theōreō · see, watch

What it means

theōreō (θεωρέω) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “see, watch”.

Look at, watch, observe.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To observe something closely.
2. To notice, think about something.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

To see, to look attentively, to observe; also to perceive. It is the verb of θεωρία (‘sight, spectacle’). It is frequent in John, where seeing the Son goes together with believing in him.

• Seeing the Son and believing in him John 6:40John 14:19
• The world does not see the Spirit John 14:17
• Seeing the tomb and the linen cloths Matthew 28:1John 20:6John 20:12
• Watching from a distance, observing Mark 15:40Mark 12:41
• Seeing in a vision; considering Acts 7:56Luke 10:18Hebrews 7:4

How we translate it

“See” in most cases (“see” 28 times, “sees” 9, “seeing” 6, “seen” 3), and “watching” or “watched” when it is observing something that is happening (Mark 15:40; 12:41); “looks at” in John 6:40; “See” in Hebrews 7:4. In English it is not told apart from ὁράω and βλέπω, which are also rendered ‘see’; the nuance of looking attentively comes from the context.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• see ×28
• sees ×9
• watching ×7
• seeing ×6
• seen ×3
• as he saw ×1
• looks ×1
• they saw ×1
• watched ×1
• you are looking at ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×2
• Mark×7
• Luke×7
• John×24
• Acts×14
• Hebrews×1
• 1 John×1
• Revelation×2

• Matthew 27:55

  And there were there many women watching from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, serving him;

• Matthew 28:1

  Now after the Sabbath, as it was dawning toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the grave.

• Mark 3:11

  And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and cry out, saying, “You are the Son of God!”

• Mark 5:15

  And they come to Jesus and see the demon-possessed man sitting, clothed and in his right mind, the one who had had the legion; and they were afraid.

• Mark 5:38

  And they come to the house of the synagogue leader, and he sees a commotion, and people weeping and wailing loudly.

• Mark 12:41

  And sitting down opposite the treasury, he was watching how the crowd puts copper coins into the treasury. And many rich people were putting in much.

• Mark 15:40

  And there were also women watching from a distance, among whom were both Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome,

• Mark 15:47

  And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where he had been laid.

• Mark 16:4

  And looking up, they see that the stone had been rolled away; for it was very large.

• Luke 10:18

  And he said to them, “I was watching Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

• Luke 14:29

  Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to mock him,

• Luke 21:6

  “These things that you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left a stone upon a stone that will not be torn down.”

• Luke 23:35

  And the people stood watching. And the rulers also were sneering, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if this man is the Messiah of God, the Chosen One!”

• Luke 23:48

  And all the crowds who had gathered for this spectacle, having seen what had happened, returned home beating their breasts.

• Luke 24:37

  But startled and terrified, they thought they were seeing a spirit.

• Luke 24:39

  See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

• John 2:23

  Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, seeing the signs that he was doing.

• John 4:19

  The woman says to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.

• John 6:2

  And a large crowd was following him, because they were seeing the signs that he was doing on the sick.

• John 6:19

  So when they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they see Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were afraid.

• John 6:40

  For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks at the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

• John 6:62

  Then what if you were to see the Son of Man going up where he was before?

• John 7:3

  So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples too may see your works that you are doing.

• John 8:51

  Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death, ever.”

• John 9:8

  So the neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?”

• John 10:12

  The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf seizes them and scatters them.

• John 12:19

  So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”

• John 12:45

  And whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.

• John 14:17

  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see him nor know him. You know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.

• John 14:19

  A little while, and the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.

• John 16:10

  concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me;

• John 16:16

  A little while, and you will no longer see me; and again a little while, and you will see me.”

• John 16:17

  So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he is saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me; and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”

• John 16:19

  Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, and he said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see me; and again a little while, and you will see me’?

• John 17:24

  Father, as for what you have given me, I want them also to be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

• John 20:6

  So Simon Peter also comes, following him, and he went into the tomb; and he sees the linen cloths lying there,

• John 20:12

  and she sees two angels in white, sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.

• John 20:14

  Having said this, she turned around, and she sees Jesus standing there, and she did not know that it was Jesus.

• Acts 3:16

  And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong; and the faith that comes through him has given him this complete health in the presence of all of you.

• Acts 4:13

  Now seeing the boldness of Peter and John, and realizing that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed; and they recognized them, that they had been with Jesus.

And 18 more times.