G1984 — ἐπισκοπή (episkope)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G1984
Original: ἐπισκοπή
Transliteration: episkope
Pronunciation: ep-is-kop-ay
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: ἐπί (epi, "upon") + σκοπέω (skopeo, "to look at") — compound: "a looking upon"
Occurrences: 4 unique verses (4 tokens) across 4 books
First Occurrence: Luke 19:44 — "because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From G1909 (epi) + G4649 (skopos); inspection (for relief); by implication, superintendence. KJV renders as "visitation" (2x), "bishoprick" (1x), "the office of a bishop" (1x).

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 34.006: Visit — ἐπισκέπτομαι (G1980), θεάομαι (G2300), ἱστορέω (G2477), ὁράω (G3708)
Domain 35.004: Care For, Take Care Of — ἐπισκοπέω (G1983), ἐπίσκοπος (G1985), ἐπιμελέομαι (G1959), διακονέω (G1247)
Domain 53.009: Roles and Functions — ἀπόστολος (G652), ἀρχιερεύς (G749), διάκονος (G1249), ἐπισκοπέω (G1983)

Domain Neighbors (034.006 — Visit)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation(s)
G1980	ἐπισκέπτομαι (episkeptomai)	5	hath visited, ye visited
G2300	θεάομαι (theaomai)	11	saw, to see
G2477	ἱστορέω (historeō)	1	to see
G3708	ὁράω (horaō)	142	saw, I saw

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
visitation	1	25%
of visitation	1	25%
bishoprick	1	25%
the office of a bishop	1	25%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
1 Peter	1	1.0
1 Timothy	1	0.9
Luke	1	0.1
Acts	1	0.1

Spread across four books with no concentration in any single corpus. Two Pauline-circle epistles (1 Timothy, 1 Peter) use it for the oversight role; Luke and Acts use it in narrative contexts (divine visitation and apostolic succession).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Divine Visitation (Judgment or Mercy)¶

Luke 19:44 — "And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation." — Jesus weeps over Jerusalem's failure to recognize God's gracious visitation in his coming; the consequence is destruction.
1 Peter 2:12 — "Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation." — A future day when God inspects, and honest conduct will cause even accusers to glorify God.

2. Office/Position of Oversight¶

Acts 1:20 — "For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take." — Judas's position of oversight (quoting Psalm 109:8 LXX where Hebrew pequddah H6486 is rendered episkope); the vacancy must be filled.
1 Timothy 3:1 — "This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work." — The pastoral oversight role in the church, presented as a worthy aspiration.

Morphological Forms Attested¶

Form	Parsing	Reference
ἐπισκοπῆς	Genitive singular feminine	Luke 19:44, 1 Timothy 3:1, 1 Peter 2:12
ἐπισκοπὴν	Accusative singular feminine	Acts 1:20

Three of four occurrences are genitive (qualifying another noun or temporal expression); only Acts 1:20 uses the accusative as direct object of λαμβάνω ("let another take").

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
ἔργον (ergon)	G2041	2x (50%)	"good work" paired with the oversight role (1 Tim 3:1) and "good works" visible to Gentiles (1 Pet 2:12)
καλός (kalos)	G2570	2x (50%)	"good" qualifying the work of oversight (1 Tim 3:1) and "honest" conversation (1 Pet 2:12)
ἐδαφίζω (edaphizo)	G1474	1x (25%)	Destructive consequence of not knowing the visitation (Luke 19:44)
ἐποπτεύω (epopteuō)	G2029	1x (25%)	"beholding" — observing good works in the day of visitation (1 Pet 2:12)

Word Family / Cognates¶

G1983 ἐπισκοπέω (episkopeō) — verb: to oversee, to look diligently (2v: Heb 12:15, 1 Pet 5:2)
G1985 ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos) — masculine noun: overseer, bishop (7v: Acts 20:28, Phil 1:1, 1 Tim 3:2, Tit 1:7, 1 Pet 2:25)
G1980 ἐπισκέπτομαι (episkeptomai) — verb: to visit, inspect, look upon (11v: Matt 25:36,43; Luke 1:68,78; 7:16; Acts 6:3; 7:23; 15:14,36; Heb 2:6; Jas 1:27)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
פְּקֻדָּה (pequddah)	H6486	"visitation," "office," "oversight"	Hebrew OT equivalent: broader range (32v) covering visitation, numbering, charge, custody, oversight; episkope is its primary LXX translation
ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos)	G1985	"bishop"	episkopos = the person (overseer); episkope = the function/office or the act of visiting

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
פָּקַד (paqad)	H6485	16	15.87	Primary root verb: to visit, oversee, muster (305v in OT)
פְּקֻדָּה (pequddah)	H6486	6	14.38	Cognate feminine noun: visitation, oversight, office (32v in OT)

The LXX translators used episkope primarily for the paqad/pequddah word group. The Hebrew root paqad carries the same dual semantic range: (1) divine visitation for judgment or mercy, and (2) administrative oversight/appointment. This demonstrates that the dual sense of episkope (visitation vs. oversight role) is inherited directly from the Hebrew concept.