ἁρπάζω

טָרַף ṭâraph · H2963 · to tear to pieces, to maul, to mangle

Greek ἁρπάζω emphasizes forcible seizure or snatching away, while Hebrew טָרַף primarily denotes tearing or rending (as a wild animal tears prey), though both share the semantic domain of violent taking.

גָּזַל gâzal · H1497 · to seize, to snatch away, to rob

Greek ἁρπάζω and Hebrew גָּזַל both denote forcible seizure or violent taking, forming a genuine translation equivalent across the Septuagint alignment corpus where the Greek term renders the Hebrew concept of robbery, plundering, or forceful removal.

חָטַף châṭaph · H2414 · to seize, to grasp

Hebrew חָטַף (châṭaph, H2414) and Greek ἁρπάζω (harpázō, G726) share the core sense of forcible seizing or snatching, representing direct translation equivalents for violent or sudden taking actions across the testamental languages.

To seize, to snatch away, to take away18.4

In John 10:12, Jesus describes the hired hand who “sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches (harpázei) them and scatters the flock,” describing a predator physically seizing its prey.

To gain control over, to seize, to snatch away37.28

In Matthew 11:12, Jesus says, “from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been treated violently, and violent men take (harpázousin) it by force,” describing an aggressive bid to gain control of something not one's own.

To attack, to seize39.49

In John 6:15, after the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus withdrew, “aware that they intended to come and take Him by force (harpázein) to make Him king,” describing an intended forceful action directed against a person.

To rob, to carry off, to plunder, to forcefully seize57.235

In Matthew 12:29, Jesus asks, “how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off (harpásai) his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? And then he will plunder his house,” describing the robbery of a household's goods.

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.