Quick Definition
ἐπιλαμβάνομαι v. I seize, take hold of
Strong's Definition
middle voice from 1909 and 2983; to seize (for help, injury, attainment, or any other purpose; literally or figuratively)
KJV Usage: catch, lay hold (up-)on, take (by, hold of, on)
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
verb | aor. ἐπελθβόμην | λαμβάνω
18.2 · Attachment · Grasp, Hold
to take hold of, to grasp to take hold of or grasp, with focus upon the goal of the motion In a number of languages quite different terms must be employed if one is to take someone by the hand in order to lead him or take someone by the hand in order to rescue him. The difference implied in the presumed force or strength required frequently results in quite different words being used.
MAT 14:31 · MRK 8:23 · LUK 9:47 · LUK 14:4 · LUK 23:26 · ACT 9:27 · ACT 17:19 · ACT 18:17 · ACT 21:30 · ACT 23:19 · HEB 8:9
37.110 · Control, Rule · Seize, Take into Custody
to seize, to arrest to take a person into custody for alleged illegal activity
27.32 · Learn · Learn Something Against Someone
to catch, to trap, to seize, to learn in order to seize (figurative extension of meaning of ἐπιλαμβάνομαι[a] ‘to grasp,’ 18.2) to learn something about someone, with the purpose of seizing, arresting, or overcoming
35.1 · Help, Care For · Help
to help to assist in supplying what may be needed Though the meaning of ‘help’ is possible for ἐπιλαμβάνομαι in HEB 2:16, the more generally accepted interpretation is ‘to be concerned with’ or ‘to take an interest in’ (see 30.42).
1 The various terms noted in 35.1 (ἀντιλαμβάνω[a], ἐπιλαμβάνομαι[d], ὑπολαμβάνω[c], συμβάλλω[e], παρίστημι[l], ἀντέχω[c], ἐπαρκέω[a], βοηθέω, βοήθεια[a]) with a generic meaning of ‘help’ no doubt possess certain contrastive features of meaning, at least of a connotative type, but there is no specific evidence of this in NT usage. 2 HEB 2:16 · HEB 2:16 It is difficult to know whether ἐπιλαμβάνομαι in a context such as HEB 2:16 refers principally or even in a significant measure to the intellectual concern rather than the more practical implication of giving help. It is specifically for that reason that ἐπιλαμβάνομαι is classified in both Domain 30 and Domain 35. 3 There are no doubt certain subtle distinctions of meaning in this series of related expressions in 90.63 (ἀπολαμβάνω[e], ἐπιλαμβάνομαι[f], λαμβάνω[h], μεταλαμβάνω[b]), but it is difficult to determine the precise distinctions on the basis of existing contexts. As in the case of a number of verbs which mark an experiencer relation, an equivalent translation consists simply of a passive form of a verb related to the noun complement. For example, in the case of JHN 7:23, one might very well translate ‘if a person is circumcised on the Sabbath.’
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
ἐπι-λαμβάνω; 2 aor. mid. ἐπελαβόμην ; to take in addition [ef. ἐπί, D. 4], to take, lay hold of, take possession of, overtake, attain to. In the Bible only in the mid.; Sept. for m8 and Pina; a. prop. to lay hold of or to seize upon anything with the hands (Germ. sich an etwas anhalten) : τῶν ἀφλάστων νηός, Hat. 6, 1143; hence, univ. to take hold of, lay hold of: with gen. of pers., Mt. xiv. 31; Lk. ix.47 [Tr WH acc.]; (xxiii. 26 RG); Acts xvii. 19; xxi. 30, 33; with ace. of pers., Lk. xxiii. 26 L T Tr WH, but in opposition see Meyer; for where the ptep. ἐπιλαβόμενος is in this sense joined with an acc., the ace., by the σχῆμα ἀπὸ κοινοῦ, depends also upon the accompanying finite verb (cf. B. § 132, 9; [so W. (ed. Liinem.) 202 (190)]): Actsix. 27; xvi. 19; xviii. 17, ef. Lk. xiv. 4. with the gen. of a thing: τῆς χεῖρός τινος. Mk. viii. 23; Acts xxiii. 19; of a leader, and thus metaph. of God, Heb. viii. 9 [ef. W. 571 (531); B. 316 (271)]; with gen. of a pers. and of a thing: eA. τινος λόγου, ῥήματος, to take any one in his speech, i. 6. to lay hold of something said by him which can be turned against him, Lk. xx. 20 [Tr λόγον]. 26 [WH Tr mre. τοῦ for αὐτοῦ]: ἐπιὰλ. τῆς αἰωνίου [al. ὄντως) ζωῆς, to seize upon, lay hold of, i. e. to struggle to obtain eternal life, 1 Tim. vi. 12, 19, [ef. W. 312 (293)]. b. by a metaph. drawn from laying hold of another to rescue him from peril, to help, to succor, (οἵ. Germ. sich eines annehmen) : τινός, Heb. ii. 16; in this sense used besides only in Sir. iv. 11 and Schol. ad Aeschyl. Pers. 739. In Appian.bel. civ. 4, 96 the act. is thus used with the dat.: ἡμῖν τὸ δαιμόνιον ἐπιλαμβάνει.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
ἐπιλαμβάνομαι epilambanomai 19x
to take hold of, Mt. 14:31; Mk. 8:23; to lay hold of, seize, Lk. 23:26; Acts 16:19; met. to seize on as a ground of accusation, Lk. 20:20, 26; to grasp, obtain as if by seizure, 1 Tim. 6:12, 19; to assume a portion of, to assume the nature of, or, to attach or ally one’s self to, Heb. 2:16
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
ἐπι-λαμβάνω
[in LXX for חָזַק hi., אָחַז, etc. ;]
always mid. in LXX and NT (v. Cremer, 758), to lay hold of: c. gen. pers., Mt 14:31, Ac 17:19 21:30, 33; c. acc pers. (not cl.), Lk 9:47 14:4 23:26 (WH, but v. Bl., 1015), Ac 9:27 16:9 18:17; c. gen. rei, Mk 8:23, Ac 23:19, He 8:9 (LXX); c. gen. pers. et rei, Lk 20:20, 26; τ. αἰωνίου (ὄντως) ζωῆς, I Ti 6:12, 19. Metaph. (as in Si 4:11), He 2:16 (v. Westc., in l.).†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
ἐπιλαμβάνομαι. For the active of this verb see P Par 2648 (B.c. 163-2) (= Selections, p. 17) ἐπιλαβόντα παρ᾽ ἡμῶν τὴν γραφὴν τῶν ὀφειλομένων ἡμῖν δεόντων, “having received from us the written list of the necessaries due to us,’’ BGU IV. 1138? (B.C. 19) ἐπιλαβόντί(α) παρ᾽ αὐτ(οῦ) τὸν κεχωρηκ(ότα) : in ἃ Magdola papyrus re-edited by Reinach in J/é/. Wicole, p- 451 ff., we have ® ἐπιλαβ[ὼν] μάρτυρας. In OG/S 257° (B.C. 109) the verb is used without an accus. *‘de rebus subito ingruentibus ’—éy Tots ἐπει[ληφόσιν ἀναγκαι)οτάτοις καιροῖς. The mid., which alone is found in the NT (cf. Proy 413), may be illustrated from P Hal 1. 1? (iii/B.c.) ὃ μαρτυρίας ἐπιλαμβανόμενος, PSI IV. 3664 (B.c. 250-49) ἐὰν ἐπιλαμβάνηται τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῆς Bods, and P Tebt II. 41γ}9 (iii/a.D.) ἐπὶ γὰρ ἐὰν] φθάσωμεν ἐπιλαβέσθαι τοῦ ἔργου δυνόμεθα αὐτὸ alive (1. ἀφεῖναι), “for as soon as we make haste to set ourselves to the work we can finish it”’ (note the late constr. of φθάνω c. inf.). The subst. occurs in P Tebt 11. 335% (mid. iii/A.p.) φοβούμενος μὴ ἄρα εὑρεθείη ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐπίλημψι[ς, ‘‘from fear that they might disclose a claim by seizure” (Edd.), and see Preuschen Monchtum, p. 65 for ἐπίλημπτος.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
ἐπιλαμβάνω (epilambanō) — to catch. ἐπιλαμβάνω, take or get besides, ἐπὶ τοῖς πεντήκοντα ταλάντοις ἑκατόν 4th c.BC: Aristoteles Philosophus “Politica” 1259a28: with genitive partitive, ἐ. τοῦ χρόνου take a little more time, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
2. simply, take, receive, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]
II. lay hold of, seize, attack, as a disease, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of an enemy, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]:—passive, ἐπείληπται νόσῳ 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Antigone” 732; τὴν αἴσθησιν ἐπιληφθείς becoming unconscious, [Refs 1st c.AD+]; ἐπελήφθη had an epileptic fit, [Refs]
II. b. of events, overtake, surprise, μὴ.. χειμὼν τὴν φυλακὴν ἐπιλάβοι [Refs 5th c.BC+], with accusative et infinitive, it befalls one that.. , [Refs]
II.2. attain to, come within reach of, reach, [Refs]; ἔτη ὀκτὼ ἐ. πολέμου live over eight years, [Refs 1st c.AD+] arrive at, of the foetus, [Refs]; ὥστε καὶ τοῦ χειμῶνος ἐ. [Refs]
II.3. seize, stop, especially by pressure, τὴν ῥῖνα 5th-6th c.BC: Aristophanes Comicus “Plutus” 703; ἐ. τὸ κλύσμα τῆς ὀπίσω ὁδοῦ 5th c.BC: Herodotus Historicus 2.87; ἐ. τὸ ὕδωρ stop the water-clock in court, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
II.4. occupy space, μηδὲν τῶν τῆς πόλεως.. οἰκοδομήμασι ἐ. [Refs]; πλείω τόπον 4th c.BC: Aristoteles Philosophus “de Caelo” 305b19; πλατύτερον τόπον 1st-2nd c.AD: Plutarchus Biographus et Philosophus “Cat.Ma.” 5: metaphorically, πολὺν χῶρον ἐ. get over much ground, traverse it rapidly, [Refs]
II.5. with genitive, undertake, τῆς κινήσεως, τῆς νήξεως, [Refs]
II.6. with dative, assist, [Refs] (nisi to be read <συν>επιλ.).
II.7. intransitive, succeed, follow, [Refs]
II.8. of food or drink, take extra, οἰνάριον 1st-2nd c.AD: Plutarchus Biographus et Philosophus “Cat.Ma.” 1; take after other food, [Refs]
III. middle (with perfect ἐπείλημμαι [Refs], hold oneself on by, lay hold of, with genitive, τῶν νεῶν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τῶν ἐπισπαστήρων[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὅτου ἐπιλάβοιτο τὰ δρέπανα whomsoever the scythes caught, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τῶν τριχῶν by the hair, [Refs]; μὴ 'πιλαμβάνου hold me not! [Refs]
III.2. attack. τινός [Refs]; of things, τῆς θερμασίας πόρων -ομένης Epieur.[Refs]; of diseases, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
III.3. make a seizure of, arrest, τῶν παίδων 4th c.BC: Demosthenes Orator 33.9; seize goods in default of payment, [Refs]
III.3. b. lay hands on in assertion of a claim, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]
III.4. lay hold of, get, obtain, προστάτεω a chief, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἐξουσίας, γαλήνης, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; ἐ. λογισμῷ, Latin ratione assequi, [Refs]
III.5. of Place, reach, δασέος 4th c.BC: Aristoteles Philosophus “Historia Animalium” 629b15; τῶν ὀρῶν 1st-2nd c.AD: Plutarchus Biographus et Philosophus “Antonius” 41: metaphorically, of a state or condition, ἐρημίας ἐπειλημμένοι having found an empty field, i.e. an absence of all competitors, [Refs]
III.6. attempt, πράξεων μεγάλων 1st-2nd c.AD: Plutarchus Biographus et Philosophus “Marius” 7.
III.6. b. with infinitive, undertake, γεωργεῖν [Refs]
III.7. touch on, τινός 5th-6th c.BC: Plato Philosophus “Respublica” 449d.
III.8. take up, interrupt in speaking, [Refs]; object to, τοῦ ψηφίσματος 5th-6th c.BC: Xenophon Historicus “Historia Graeca (Hellenica)” 2.1.32; ἐ. ὅτι.. object that.., [Refs]
III.9. rarely with accusative, seize, τὰς Ἀθήνας (to be read λήψονται) [Refs]