ἐπιλαμβάνομαι
epilambánomai · G1949 · Greek · 19 occurrences
Meanings
-
to take hold of, to grasp
To take hold of or grasp, with focus upon the goal of the motion
ExamplesMatthew 14:31 Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Mark 8:23 Taking the man who was blind by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting in his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?”
Luke 9:47 But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their hearts, took a child and had him stand by His side,
-
to seize, to arrest
To take a person into custody for alleged illegal activity
ExamplesActs 16:19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was suddenly gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities,
Acts 21:33 Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered that he be bound with two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done.
-
to catch, to trap, to seize, to learn in order to seize
(Figurative extension of meaning of ἐπιλαμβάνομαι ‘to grasp,’) To learn something about someone, with the purpose of seizing, arresting, or overcoming
ExamplesLuke 20:20 And so they watched Him closely, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could hand Him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor.
Luke 20:26 And they were unable to catch Him in a statement in the presence of the people; and they were amazed at His answer, and said nothing.
-
to help
To assist in supplying what may be needed
ExamplesHebrews 2:16 For clearly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendants of Abraham.
-
to be concerned about, to be concerned for
To be concerned about, with the implication of possible help
ExamplesHebrews 2:16 For clearly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendants of Abraham.
-
to undergo, to experience
To experience some event or state, often with the implication of something negatively valued
Examples1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
How it’s used In 6 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
19 occurrences in 7 groups
- Not stated in the clause 11
- Not stated: they 2
- Not stated: he, she or it 2
- ἐγώI, we 1
- ἸησοῦςJesus 1
- χιλίαρχοςcommander, chiliarch 1
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
19 occurrences in 12 groups
- αὐτόςhe, she, it, same 5
- χείρhand 3
- Other words · 10 groups that occur once or twice (12) 12
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- ἐνin+ ἡμέραday 1
- ἐναντίονbefore, in the sight of+ λαόςpeople 1
With adverbsAdverbs
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- εὐθέωςimmediately, right away, then 1
- τότεthen 1
Named alongside itApposition
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- διαθήκηcovenant 1
What is done to itIt is the object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ἰσχύωto be able to 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 1 word
- δράσσομαι drássomai · G1405 · to catch, to trap, to seize
- Both terms denote seizing or grasping, though ἐπιλαμβάνομαι has a broader application including contexts of helping, arresting and experiencing, while δράσσομαι is limited to the core grasping action.
In the other Testament 3 words
- חָזַק châzaq · H2388 · to be strong, to prevail, to overcome
- Greek ἐπιλαμβάνομαι emphasizes the physical act of seizing/grasping (often for help or to apprehend), while Hebrew חָזַק focuses on strengthening, holding firm, or taking courage—the overlap occurs when 'seizing' connotes taking hold to support or strengthen, particularly in idioms of encouragement or aid.
- אָחַז ʼâchaz · H270 · to be held, to be caught, to be fastened
- Both terms denote the physical or metaphorical act of seizing, grasping, or taking hold of something, whether for assistance, capture, or possession; אָחַז (ʼâchaz, H270) encompasses a broader semantic range including fastening and possession, while ἐπιλαμβάνομαι (epilambánomai, G1949) specifically emphasizes the purposive aspect of seizing (for help, injury, or attainment).
- תָּפַשׂ tâphas · H8610 · to take hold, to seize, to grasp
- Hebrew תָּפַשׂ (tâphas, H8610) denotes physical seizing/grasping, while Greek ἐπιλαμβάνομαι (epilambánomai, G1949) extends to metaphorical taking hold (including seizing for help or attainment); both share the core sense of 'lay hold of' in concrete contexts.
Semantic domains 6 entries
- To take hold of, to grasp18.2
- Matthew 14:31 recounts that when Peter began to sink, “Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him,” ἐπιλαμβάνομαι marking the literal, physical grasping of Peter's hand.
- To catch, to trap, to seize, to learn in order to seize27.32
- Luke 20:26 reports that Jesus's opponents “were unable to catch Him in a statement in the presence of the people,” ἐπιλαμβάνομαι marking their failed attempt to trap Him through His own words.
- To be concerned about, to be concerned for30.42
- Hebrews 8:9 quotes God's word concerning Israel's unfaithfulness, “they did not continue in My covenant, and I did not care about them,” ἐπιλαμβάνομαι marking God's withdrawal of concern in response to their own failure to keep faith.
- To help35.1
- Hebrews 2:16 states, “He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendants of Abraham,” ἐπιλαμβάνομαι marking the assistance Christ extends specifically to Abraham's offspring rather than to angels.
- To seize, to arrest37.110
- In Acts 21:33, the Roman commander “took hold of him, and ordered that he be bound with two chains,” ἐπιλαμβάνομαι marking Paul's forcible seizure and arrest by the garrison.
- To undergo, to experience90.63
- Paul urges Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:12 to “take hold of the eternal life to which you were called,” ἐπιλαμβάνομαι marking the laying hold of that promised life as an experience to be entered into and possessed.
Word family 49 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon 2 aorist middle ἐπελαβόμην; to take in addition (cf. ἐπί, D. 4), to take, lay hold of,…
a. properly, to lay hold of or to seize upon anything with the hands (German sichanetwasanhalten): τῶν ἀφλαστων νηός, Herodotus 6, 114; hence, universally, to take hold of, lag hold of: with the genitive of person, Mt 14:31; Lk 9:47. (Tr WH accusative); (Lk 23:26 R G); Acts 17:19; Acts 21:30, Acts 21:33; with the accusative of person, Lk 23:26 L T Tr WH, but in opposition see Meyer; for where the participle ἐπιλαβόμενος is in this sense joined with an accusative, the accusative, by the σχῆμα ἀπό κοίνου, depends also upon the accompanying finite verb (cf. Buttmann, § 132, 9; (so Winer's Grammar, (edited by Lünem.) 202 (190))): Acts 9:27; Acts 16:19; Acts 18:17, cf. Lk 14:4. with the genitive of a thing: τῆς χειρός τίνος, Mk 8:23; Acts 23:19; of a leader, and thus metaphorically, of God, Heb 8:9 (cf. Winers Grammar, 571 (531); Buttmann, 316 (271)); with the genitive of a person and of a thing: ἐπιλαμβάνειν τίνος λόγου, ῤήματος, to take anyone in his speech, i. e. to lay hold of something said by him which can be turned against him, Lk 20:20 (Tr λόγον), 26 (WH Tr marginal reading τοῦ for αὐτοῦ); ἐπιλαμβάνειν τῆς αἰωνίου (others, ὄντως) ζωῆς, to seize upon, lay hold of, i. e. to struggle to obtain eternal life, 1 Tim 6:12, 1 Tim 6:19 (cf. Winers Grammar, 312 (293)).
b. by a metaphor drawn from laying hold of another to rescue him from peril, to help, to succor (cf. German sicheinesannehmen): τίνος, Heb 2:16; in this sense used besides only in Sir. 4:11 and Schol. ad Aeschylus Pers. 739. In Appian. bel. civ. 4, 96 the active is thus used with the dative: ἡμῖν τό δαιμόνιον ἐπιλαμβανει.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 6 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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