Exploring the Meaning of Perikrupto in Greek

περικρύπτω means “to hide” and appears in the narrative of Elizabeth’s early pregnancy. Its single New Testament occurrence places the action of hiding within a defined span of time and within the privacy of a household story.

Root and Related Words

περικρύπτω (Perikrupto) is formed from κρύπτω (krypto), “to hide” (Strong’s G2928), together with περί (peri), “about” (Strong’s G4012). The combination frames the act of hiding with the sense of something being “about” or “around” the action—language that naturally lends itself to the idea of concealment carried out in a thorough or encompassing way.

Occurrences

“After these days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she hid herself five months, saying,” (Luke 1:24)

In Luke 1:24, περικρύπτω is tied to a concrete storyline: “Elizabeth his wife conceived,” and “she hid herself five months.” The verb presents hiding as Elizabeth’s own deliberate action (“she hid herself”), not something done to her, and it is measured by a specific duration (“five months”), which gives the concealment a sustained, not momentary, character. The wording also anchors the hiding in sequence (“After these days…”), making it part of the unfolding events immediately following what has just occurred in the narrative.

The immediate context in the verse places two realities side by side: conception, which is a new and significant development, and self-concealment, which is a choice about visibility and social presence. By pairing these, the verb contributes a sense of guardedness around the event—Elizabeth’s pregnancy is real and progressing, but it is not yet being lived in public view. The participial continuation “saying,” signals that her concealment is not merely physical withdrawal but is connected with an inner response that is about to be voiced; the action of hiding becomes the setting from which her forthcoming words emerge.

Sense and Usage

The definition “to hide” in this attestation is expressed with a reflexive nuance: Elizabeth does not simply hide something; she “hid herself.” That phrasing focuses the verb on the person as the object of concealment—her presence, accessibility, and public appearance. The time marker “five months” further shapes the sense of hiding into an extended practice rather than a brief act. The concealment is therefore portrayed as sustained and purposeful, maintained across a significant stretch of early pregnancy.

Because the verse states both the cause-context (“Elizabeth…conceived”) and the response (“she hid herself”), the hiding functions as a narrative bridge between an unseen beginning and an eventual disclosure. The verb allows Luke’s narration to register a stage of the story characterized by hiddenness: something has happened, but it is being kept from public notice for a time. Within the single verse, concealment is not presented as accidental obscurity; it is described as an intentional pattern with clear boundaries (“five months”) and a personal agent (“she”).

The related elements κρύπτω (“to hide”) and περί (“about”) help explain why this verb fits the scene: the action is not simply to conceal an object but to place oneself within a kind of enclosure of privacy, a withdrawal that is “about” the person’s life in that season. In Luke 1:24, that “aboutness” corresponds well to the way the verse surrounds the pregnancy with a period of restricted visibility. The verb’s form thus supports the narrative impression that the hiddenness is not incidental but enveloping—Elizabeth’s life for “five months” is characterized by being kept out of view.

At the same time, the verse’s structure keeps the act of hiding from being treated as the whole story. Concealment is temporally limited and narratively positioned: it follows conception and precedes speech (“saying,”). In other words, hiding is one stage within a larger unfolding. The meaning “to hide” therefore carries not only the basic idea of concealment but also the story’s movement from private reality toward eventual expression.

Imagery

The imagery carried by περικρύπτω in Luke 1:24 is domestic and temporal: a woman newly pregnant withdraws from view, and the calendar itself becomes part of the concealment (“five months”). The verb invites the reader to picture a life lived behind the threshold—days passing, a significant change taking place, and that change kept within the bounds of privacy until the moment comes to speak.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).