ἐπιτίθημι

נָתַן nâthan · H5414 · to give, to grant a covenant

Hebrew נָתַן emphasizes the act of giving or placing something (with broad semantic range including bestowing, appointing, and causing), while Greek ἐπιτίθημι specifically denotes the physical or metaphorical act of placing/laying something upon a surface or person, often with the directional prefix ἐπι- foregrounding the 'upon' relation that נָתַן leaves implicit.

שׂוּם sûwm · H7760 · to take position, to place, to put

שׂוּם (sûwm, H7760) שׂוּם denotes the general act of placing, setting, or appointing with broad semantic range across contexts, while ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi, G2007) ἐπιτίθημι specifically emphasizes placing/imposing upon (ἐπί-) something or someone, whether in physical contact, burden, or authority, with the 'upon' component integral to its meaning.

סָמַךְ çâmak · H5564 · to lay (one's hand on), to rest (one's hand on), to lean

סָמַךְ (çâmak, H5564) emphasizes physical support or leaning action (bear up, uphold, lean), while ἐπιτίθημι (epitíthēmi, G2007) focuses on the act of placing or imposing something upon (lay on, put on), though both can describe laying hands on someone in ritual contexts.

To load down with obligations, to place a burden on the backs of22.27

In Acts 15:28, the Jerusalem council decided “to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials,” using this verb for imposing an obligation on others.

To name, to give a name to33.128

In Mark 3:16, as Jesus appointed the twelve, “He gave the name Peter” to Simon — the specific sense of giving someone a name.

To attack, to assault39.47

In Luke 10:30, the man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho “encountered robbers, and they stripped him and beat him” — literally, the wounds they had inflicted, describing an assault.

To give, to provide, to grant57.78

In Acts 28:10, after Paul's stay on Malta, the islanders honored the travelers and, as they set sail, “supplied us with everything we needed,” providing and granting what was needed.

To add59.72

In Revelation 22:18, John warns that “if anyone adds to” the words of this prophecy, God will add the plagues described in the book — the sense of adding something to what already exists.

To put on, to place on, to lay on85.51

In Mark 6:5, Jesus “could not do any miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them” — the literal placing of hands on someone.

To subject to90.87

In Acts 15:10, Peter asks why the Pharisaic believers are “putting God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear,” describing subjecting someone to a burden.

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

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.