proserchomai · come to, approach

What it means

proserchomai (προσέρχομαι) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “come to, approach”.

Come up to, approach someone.

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 come up close to someone, go toward them.
2. To come before God to pray to him or worship him.
3. To accept a teaching.

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

Word study

To come near, to come toward someone. It is a compound of πρός, “toward”, and ἔρχομαι, “come” (G2064). Thayer notes that in Hebrews it is drawing near to God in worship. Of the same family is προσήλυτος, “proselyte”, one who has come over.

• Coming to Jesus: the disciples, a leper Matthew 5:1Matthew 8:2
• “The one testing {him} came” Matthew 4:3
• Jesus comes up to his own Matthew 28:18
• “Let us draw near… to the throne of grace” Hebrews 4:16Hebrews 10:22
• “You have drawn near to Mount Zion” Hebrews 12:221 Peter 2:4

How we translate it

“Came” 57 times, “went” 5, “come” 4, “coming” 3, “coming up” 3. Matthew uses the participle a great deal (“came and said to him”, Matthew 4:3), and English turns it into a simple verb. In Hebrews, “draw near” in the sense of worship (“Let us draw near”, Hebrews 4:16).

How it is translated

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

• came ×57
• went ×5
• come ×4
• coming ×3
• coming up ×3
• going ×3
• Let us draw near ×2
• drawn near ×2
• those who draw near ×2
• Go over ×1
• others ×4

Related words

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

Where it appears

• Matthew×51
• Mark×4
• Luke×10
• John×1
• Acts×11
• 1 Timothy×1
• Hebrews×7
• 1 Peter×1

• Matthew 4:3

  And the one testing him came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”

• Matthew 4:11

  Then the devil leaves him, and look, angels came and were serving him.

• Matthew 5:1

  Now seeing the crowds, he went up onto the mountain; and when he had sat down, his disciples came to him.

• Matthew 8:2

  And look, a leper came and was bowing down before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

• Matthew 8:5

  When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, pleading with him

• Matthew 8:19

  And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

• Matthew 8:25

  And they came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us; we are perishing!”

• Matthew 9:14

  Then the disciples of John come to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

• Matthew 9:20

  And look, a woman who had been suffering from bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak;

• Matthew 9:28

  When he had gone into the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus says to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They say to him, “Yes, Lord.”

• Matthew 13:10

  And the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”

• Matthew 13:27

  And the slaves of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where does it get darnel?’

• Matthew 13:36

  Then leaving the crowds, he went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field.”

• Matthew 14:12

  And his disciples came and took the corpse and buried him, and they went and reported it to Jesus.

• Matthew 14:15

  When evening came, the disciples came to him, saying, “The place is deserted, and the hour has already passed; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

• Matthew 15:1

  Then Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem come to Jesus, saying,

• Matthew 15:12

  Then the disciples come up and say to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard your word?”

• Matthew 15:23

  But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and were urging him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”

• Matthew 15:30

  And many crowds came to him, having with them the mute, blind, lame, maimed, and many others, and they set them at his feet; and he healed them,

• Matthew 16:1

  And the Pharisees and Sadducees came and, testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

• Matthew 17:7

  And Jesus came and, touching them, said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.”

• Matthew 17:14

  And when they came to the crowd, a man came to him, kneeling before him

• Matthew 17:19

  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”

• Matthew 17:24

  Now when they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?”

• Matthew 18:1

  At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

• Matthew 18:21

  Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

• Matthew 19:3

  And Pharisees came to him, testing him and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

• Matthew 19:16

  And look, one man came to him and said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do so that I may have eternal life?”

• Matthew 20:20

  Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, bowing down and asking something of him.

• Matthew 21:14

  And the blind and lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.

• Matthew 21:23

  And when he had come into the temple, the high priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, saying, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?”

• Matthew 21:28

  But what do you think? A man had two children. He came to the first and said, ‘Child, go, work today in the vineyard.’

• Matthew 21:30

  And he came to the second and said the same. And he answered and said, ‘I will, sir,’ and did not go.

• Matthew 22:23

  On that day Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him, and they questioned him,

• Matthew 24:1

  And Jesus went out from the temple and was going away, and his disciples came up to point out to him the buildings of the temple.

• Matthew 24:3

  And as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

• Matthew 25:20

  And the one who had received the five talents came up and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; look, I have gained another five talents.’

• Matthew 25:22

  And the one with the two talents also came up and said, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; look, I have gained another two talents.’

• Matthew 25:24

  And the one who had received the one talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter;

• Matthew 26:7

  a woman came to him having an alabaster jar of very costly perfume, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.

And 46 more times.