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Greek

To catch

ἐπιλαμβάνωStrong’s G1949

epilambanō

Appears in 18 verses of the New Testament

In short

Epilambanō is the Greek word usually translated “having taken hold of”, “having taken hold” and “helps”. It appears in 18 verses of the New Testament.

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”
1 Timothy 6:12 KJV
Meaning

Usually translated “having taken hold of”, “having taken hold” and “helps”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.

How it's translated
  • having taken hold of 3
  • having taken hold 3
  • he helps 2
  • took hold 1
  • they may catch 1
  • to catch him in 1
  • having laid hold on 1
  • having taken 1

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • Acts 7
  • Luke 5
  • 1 Timothy 2
  • Hebrews 2
  • Matthew 1
  • Mark 1

6 books in all.

Related words
Explore in Scripture
All 18 verses, by book
Matthew 1
14:31
Mark 1
8:23
1 Timothy 2
6:126:19
Hebrews 2
2:168:9
Greek dictionary

ἐπιλαμβάνω epilambanō · to catch

ἐπι-λαμβάνω [in LXX for חָזַק hi., אָחַז, etc. ;] always mid. in LXX and NT (see Cremer, 758), to lap hold of: with genitive of person(s), Mat.14:31, Act.17:19 21:30, 33; with accusative of person(s) (not cl.), Luk.9:47 14:4 23:26 (WH, but see Bl., 1015), Act.9:27 16:9 18:17; with genitive of thing(s), Mrk.8:23, Act.23:10, Heb.8:9" (LXX) ; with genitive of person(s) and of thing(s), Luk.20:20, 26; τ. αἰωνίου (ὄντως) ζωῆς, 1Ti.6:12 6:19. Metaphorical (as in Sir.4:11), Heb.2:16 (see Westc., in l).† (AS)

From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “catch” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

CATCH, verb transitive

  1. To seize or lay hold on with the hand; carrying the sense of pursuit, thrusting forward the hand, or rushing on.“And they came upon him and caught him” Acts 6:12
  2. To seize, in a general sense; as, to catch a ball; to catch hold of a bough.
  3. To seize, as in a snare or trap; to ensnare; to entangle.“They sent certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words” Mark 12:13
  4. To seize in pursuit; hence simply to overtake; a popular use of the word.
All definitions and other forms of “catch”
  1. To take hold; to communicate to.
  2. To seize the affections; to engage and attach to; as, to catch the fair.
  3. To take or receive by contagion or infection; as, to catch the measles or small pox.
  4. To snatch; to take suddenly; as, to catch a book out of the hand.
  5. To receive something passing.

CATCH, verb intransitive

  1. To communicate; to spread by infecting; as, a disease will catch from man to man.
  2. Any thing that seizes or takes hold, as a hook.
  3. The posture of seizing; a state of preparation to catch or of watching an opportunity to seize; as, to lie upon the catch
  4. A sudden advantage taken.
  5. The thing caught, considered as an object of desire; profit; advantage.
  6. A snatch; a short interval of action.
  7. A little portion.
  8. In music, a fugue in the unison, wherein to humor some conceit in the words, the melody is broken, and the sense is interrupted in one part, and caught and supported by another, or a different sense is given to the words; or a piece for three or more voices, one of which leads and the others follow in the same notes.

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.