Lexical Summary psélaphaó: To touch, feel, handle Original Word: ψηλαφάω Strong's Exhaustive Concordance grope around, handle, touch. From the base of psallo (compare psephos); to manipulate, i.e. Verify by contact; figuratively, to search for -- feel after, handle, touch. see GREEK psallo see GREEK psephos HELPS Word-studies 5584 psēlapháō – properly, touch lightly, "feel after" to discover (personally investigate). [5584 (psēlapháō) comes from a root meaning, "to rub, wipe"; hence, to feel on the surface (see Gen 27:12,21,22 in the LXX).] NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originprobably from psalló and haphaó (to handle) Definition to feel or grope about NASB Translation grope (1), touch (1), touched (2). Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 5584: ψηλαφάωψηλαφάω, ψηλάφω: 1 aorist ἐψηλάφησα, optative 3 person plural ψηλαφήσειαν (Acts 17:27, the Aeolic form; see ποιέω, at the beginning); present passive participle ψηλαφωμενος; (from ψάω, to touch); to handle, touch, feel: τί or τινα, Luke 24:39; Hebrews 12:18 (see R. V. text and marginal reading, cf. Buttmann, § 134, 8; Winer's Grammar, 343 (322)); 1 John 1:1; metaphorically, mentally to seek after tokens of a person or thing: θεόν, Acts 17:27 (A. V. feel after). (Homer, Aristophanes, Xenophon, Plato, Polybius, Philo, Plutarch; often for מוּשׁ, הֵמִישׁ, מִשֵּׁשׁ.) [SYNONYMS: see ἅπτω, 2 c.] Topical Lexicon Literal and Figurative Sense of Touch The verb ψηλαφάω carries the idea of extended, exploratory touch—more than a casual contact, it is the deliberate “handling” by which one verifies reality. In Scripture the word functions both literally, as when the risen Lord invites the disciples to handle His body, and figuratively, as when Paul pictures humanity groping for God. In every setting it underscores tangible certainty rather than abstract speculation. Validation of the Resurrection (Luke 24:39) When Jesus appears to the disciples, He commands, “Touch Me and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). ψηλαφάω here secures the historic cornerstone of the faith: the resurrection is physical. The invitation excludes docetic notions that Christ merely seemed to have a body, and it anchors Christian hope in a bodily life to come (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). Eyewitness Foundation of Apostolic Proclamation (1 John 1:1) John testifies, “our hands have touched” the eternal Word. Apostolic preaching stands upon empirical contact with the incarnate Christ; faith is rooted in reported fact. The tactile witness lends weight to the record preserved in the Gospels and combats early heresies that separated the divine Christ from real humanity. Humanity’s Search for God (Acts 17:27) Paul tells the Athenians that God ordered history so that people “would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him” (Acts 17:27). In this context ψηλαφάω pictures spiritual groping in the dark. The word exposes the inadequacy of natural religion while affirming God’s nearness and readiness to reveal Himself fully in Christ. The same term that in the Gospels confirms divine reality now describes mankind’s longing for it. Old Covenant Terror versus New Covenant Access (Hebrews 12:18) “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched” (Hebrews 12:18). The tangible, yet fear-laden Sinai contrasts with the heavenly Zion to which believers now approach. ψηλαφάω underscores the material awe of Sinai—all that could be felt, heard, and feared—only to highlight the superior grace secured by the Mediator of the new covenant. Pastoral and Apologetic Implications • Apologetics: The verb invites believers to present Christianity as historically testable. The resurrection rests on sensory evidence, not myth. Reception in Early Church History Second-century writers such as Ignatius of Antioch and Irenaeus echoed the language of “handling” to refute Gnostic denials of the incarnation. ψηλαφάω thus helped frame orthodox Christology: the same Jesus who could be grasped in life and after death is the eternal Son made flesh. Summary Whether describing disciples verifying a resurrected body, philosophers groping after truth, or Israel trembling before a tangible mountain, ψηλαφάω consistently calls readers from uncertainty to certitude. It portrays the movement from dim search to concrete encounter, culminating in the incarnate and risen Lord who can still be “touched” by faith today. Forms and Transliterations εψηλαφησαν εψηλάφησαν ἐψηλάφησαν εψηλάφησεν ψηλαφηθήσεται ψηλαφήσαι ψηλαφήσαισαν ψηλαφησατε ψηλαφήσατέ ψηλαφησειαν ψηλαφήσειαν ψηλαφήση ψηλαφήσουσι ψηλαφήσουσιν ψηλαφήσω ψηλαφητόν ψηλαφωμενω ψηλαφωμένω ψηλαφωμένῳ ψηλαφών epselaphesan epseláphesan epsēlaphēsan epsēláphēsan pselaphesate pselaphḗsaté psēlaphēsate psēlaphḗsaté pselapheseian pselaphḗseian psēlaphēseian psēlaphḗseian pselaphomeno psēlaphōmenō pselaphoménoi psēlaphōménōiLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Luke 24:39 V-AMA-2PGRK: εἰμι αὐτός ψηλαφήσατέ με καὶ NAS: that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, KJV: I myself: handle me, and INT: am he Touch me and Acts 17:27 V-AOA-3P Hebrews 12:18 V-PPM/P-DNS 1 John 1:1 V-AIA-3P Strong's Greek 5584 |
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