"to feel, handle, Lk. 24:39; to feel or grope for or after, as persons in the dark, Acts 17:27; Heb. 12:18; 1 Jn. 1:1*"
Definition and meaning
to feel, handle, Lk. 24:39; to feel or grope for or after, as persons in the dark, Acts 17:27; Heb. 12:18; 1 Jn. 1:1*
In the original Greek the word is written: ψηλαφάω
Historical context
Luke wrote as a historian addressing a Greek audience. He carefully interviewed eyewitnesses and arranged events in order. The social and economic realities he describes — Roman taxation, Jewish religious hierarchy, the marginalization of women and the poor — are consistent with first-century Judea under Roman administration.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of pselaphao (G5584) across the King James Bible.
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
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Common questions
Strong's G5584 (pselaphao) is a Greek word that means: to feel, handle, Lk. 24:39; to feel or grope for or after, as persons in the dark, Acts 17:27; Heb. 12:18; 1 Jn. 1:1* It appears 4 times in the King James Bible.
The word pselaphao (G5584) appears 4 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G5584 is pselaphao, a Greek word defined as: to feel, handle, Lk. 24:39; to feel or grope for or after, as persons in the dark, Acts 17:27; Heb. 12:18; 1 Jn. 1:1*. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
pselaphao is a Greek word found in the New Testament.