verb
atenizamō
Strong’sG816
I direct my gaze, look steadily
stem ateniz-14 times in the New Testamentin 3 of 27 books6 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Direct one's gaze steadily and intently at someone or something; look fixedly, stare 1234. In this literal sense it describes the eyes fastening on a person or object — gazing upon someone, or looking straight at something — and is rendered in English as behold earnestly, fasten (eyes), look (earnestly, steadfastly, up steadfastly), or set eyes 123.
The word is also used with a metaphorical extension, of the mind rather than the eyes, meaning to fix one's attention intently on something 13.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
** ἀτενίζω
(< ἀτενής, strained, intent; < τείνω), [in LXX: I Es 6:28, III Mac 2:26*;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G816 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidat-en-id'-zo
to gaze intently
Fromfrom a compound of G1 (as a particle of union) and τείνω (to stretch);
King Jamesbehold earnestly (stedfastly), fasten (eyes), look (earnestly, stedfastly, up stedfastly), set eyes.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
look intently, gaze earnestly, τοῖς ὄμμασιν stare, Refs 5th c.BC+; of the eyes, ἀτενίζοντες αὐτῷNT+2nd c.BC+: absolutely, also of the eyes, Refs 4th c.BC+:—passive, to be gazed upon, Refs
II metaphorically of the mind, ἀ. τὴν διάνοιαν πρός τιRefs 4th c.BC+; to be obstinate, Refs 2nd c.AD+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| atenizavōἀτενίζετε | happening now · yepresent active indicative 2nd person plural | stare | 1× |
| atenizaraἀτενίσαι | happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive | gazing | 2× |
| atenizarōntoisἀτενίζοντες | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine | fixed | 2× |
| atenizarantosἀτενίσας | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine | looked intently | 7× |
| atenizarantasἀτενίσασα | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular feminine | looked closely | 1× |
| atenizarantoisἀτενίσαντες | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative plural masculine | looked intently | 1× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 1 occurrence
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | atenizamō | atenizame | atenizami | atenizama | atenizamē | atenizamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | atenizasō | atenizase | atenizasi | atenizasa | atenizasē | atenizaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | atenizatō | atenizate | atenizati | atenizata | atenizatē | atenizatelē |
| we 1st person plural | atenizanō | atenizane | atenizani | atenizana | atenizanē | atenizanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | atenizavō1×ἀτενίζετε | atenizave | atenizavi | atenizava | atenizavē | atenizavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | atenizalō | atenizale | atenizali | atenizala | atenizalē | atenizalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | atenizameiō | atenizameia | atenizameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | atenizaseiō | atenizaseia | atenizaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | atenizateiō | atenizateia | atenizateiē |
| we 1st person plural | atenizaneiō | atenizaneia | atenizaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | atenizaveiō | atenizaveia | atenizaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | atenizaleiō | atenizaleia | atenizaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | atenizasōr | atenizasar | atenizasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | atenizatōr | atenizatar | atenizatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | atenizavōr | atenizavar | atenizavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | atenizalōr | atenizalar | atenizalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | atenizamoiō | atenizamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | atenizasoiō | atenizasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | atenizatoiō | atenizatoia |
| we 1st person plural | atenizanoiō | atenizanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | atenizavoiō | atenizavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | atenizaloiō | atenizaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 2 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | atenizarō | atenizari | atenizara2×ἀτενίσαι | atenizarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 11 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | atenizarōntos2× | atenizarintos | atenizarantos9×ἀτενίσας | atenizarēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
ateniz is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
atenizavō“stare”happening now · yepresent active indicative 2nd person plural1×
Acts 3:12… thaumazavō epi houte, ē ni tinem atenizavō hōs idia dunamia ē eusebeia poiarēntoi …… surprised by this? Why do you stare at us as if by our …
atenizara“gazing”happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive2×
2 Corinthians 3:7“look steadily”… genita en doxa, hōste mē dunorō atenizara toin huioin Israēl eis tem prosōpem …… on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at the face of Moses …
2 Corinthians 3:13… tem prosōpem autou, pros tem mē atenizara toin huioin Israēl eis tem telem …… face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was …
atenizarōntois“fixed”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine2×
Luke 4:20… tois ofthalmois en ta sunagōga ale atenizarōntois auto.… of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him,
Acts 1:10“gazing”kai hōs atenizarōntois ale eis ton ouranon poreuorōntou autou, …They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly …
atenizarantos“looked intently”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine7×
Acts 3:4“looked intently”atenizarantos de Petros eis auton sun to …Peter looked directly at him, as did …
Acts 7:55“gazed”huparcharōntos de plēros pneumeu hagieu atenizarantos eis ton ouranon horata doxan theou …But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus …
Acts 10:4tos de atenizarantos auto kai emfobos generantos legata; Tinem …Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked …
Acts 11:6“looked closely”eis han atenizarantos katanoame kai horama teim tetrapodeim tau …… looked at it closely and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air.
Acts 13:9“looked intently”… tos kai Paulos, pimplēirantos pneumeu hagieu atenizarantos eis autonThen Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas
Acts 14:9“looking intently”houtos akouata tou Paulou lalarōntou; hos atenizarantos auto kai horarantos hoti echatō pistian …… words of Paul, who looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be …
Acts 23:1“looking intently”atenizarantos de tos Paulos te sunedrie legata; …Paul looked directly at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I …
atenizarantas“looked closely”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular feminine1×
Luke 22:56“looked closely”… tinas kathorōnton pros tem fōtem kai atenizarantas auto legata; Kai houtos sun auto …A servant girl saw him seated in the firelight and looked intently at him. “This man also was with Him,” she said.
atenizarantois“looked intently”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative plural masculine1×
Acts 6:15kai atenizarantois eis auton pantois tois kathezorōntois en …… who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that …