Word study
Seize
10 Hebrew and 7 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: seized, seize, seizes, seizing. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “seize” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- אָחַז âchazgrasp, take hold, take possessiontranslated this way 15 times of its 65 uses · Strong’s H270Verb · Translated: seized 9, seize 4, grip 3, took hold 3Full study and all 61 verses →
Exodus 15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be dismayed; trembling will seize the leaders of Moab; those who dwell in Canaan will melt away,
Judges 1:6 As Adoni-bezek fled, they pursued him, seized him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.
- תָּפַשׂ tâphaslay hold of, wieldtranslated this way 14 times of its 64 uses · Strong’s H8610Verb · Translated: seized 8, captured 7, take 4, Seize 4Full study and all 60 verses →
Deuteronomy 22:28 If a man encounters a virgin who is not pledged in marriage, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are discovered,
1 Kings 13:4 Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back.
- לָקַח lâqachtaketranslated this way 13 times of its 938 uses · Strong’s H3947Verb · Translated: take 247, took 245, taken 40, get 26Full study and all 890 verses →
- יָרַשׁ yârashtake possession of, inherit, dispossesstranslated this way 4 times of its 230 uses · Strong’s H3423Verb · Translated: possess 72, drive 27, take possession 21, driven 12Full study and all 204 verses →
Joshua 8:7 you are to rise from the ambush and seize the city, for the LORD your God will deliver it into your hand.
Judges 11:22 seizing all the land from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan.
- גָּזַל gâzaltear away, seize, robtranslated this way 3 times of its 28 uses · Strong’s H1497Verb · Translated: snatched 3, seized 2, rob 2, robbed 2Full study and all 28 verses →
Genesis 21:25 But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,
Job 20:19 For he has oppressed and forsaken the poor; he has seized houses he did not build.
- לָכַד lâkadcapture, seize, take (by lot)translated this way 3 times of its 120 uses · Strong’s H3920Verb · Translated: captured 62, capture 12, selected 9, caught 8Full study and all 112 verses →
Judges 3:28 “Follow me,” he told them, “for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and they did not allow anyone to cross over.
Habakkuk 1:10 They scoff at kings and make rulers an object of scorn. They laugh at every fortress and build up siege ramps to seize it.
- שׂוּם sûmput, place, settranslated this way 3 times of its 560 uses · Strong’s H7760Verb · Translated: put 84, set 71, make 45, made 39Full study and all 533 verses →
1 Kings 20:6 But about this time tomorrow I will send my servants to search your palace and the houses of your servants. They will seize and carry away all that is precious to you.’”
2 Kings 11:16 So they seized Athaliah as she reached the horses’ entrance to the palace grounds, and there she was put to death.
- שָׁלַל shâlaldraw outtranslated this way 3 times of its 15 uses · Strong’s H7997Verb · Translated: plunder 3, seize 2, plundered 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Ezekiel 29:19 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will carry off its wealth, seize its spoil, and remove its plunder. This will be the wages for his army.
Ezekiel 38:12 in order to seize the spoil and carry off the plunder, to turn a hand against the desolate places now inhabited and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and possessions and who live at the center of the land.’
- חָזַק châzaqbe or grow firm, strong, strengthentranslated this way 3 times of its 290 uses · Strong’s H2388Verb · Translated: strong 37, made repairs 22, strengthened 16, repaired 15Full study and all 264 verses →
Proverbs 7:13 She seizes him and kisses him; she brazenly says to him:
- מָצָא mâtsâattain to, findtranslated this way 2 times of its 436 uses · Strong’s H4672Verb · Translated: found 197, find 87, finds 13, present 7Full study and all 411 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- λαμβάνω lambánōI receive, taketranslated this way 8 times of its 241 uses · Strong’s G2983Verb · Translated: receive 43, received 37, took 36, take 25Full study and all 227 verses →
Matthew 21:35 But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
Mark 12:3 But they seized the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
- ἐπιβάλλω epibállōI throw upon, lay, strike upontranslated this way 5 times of its 18 uses · Strong’s G1911Verb · Translated: seized 4, sews 2, laid 2Full study and all 18 verses →
Matthew 26:50 “Friend,” Jesus replied, “do what you came for.” Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus, and arrested Him.
Mark 14:46 Then the men seized Jesus and arrested Him.
- συλλαμβάνω syllambánōI seize, apprehend, become pregnanttranslated this way 4 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G4815Verb · Translated: conceived 3, seized 3, arrest 2, help 2Full study and all 16 verses →
Luke 22:54 Then they seized Jesus, led Him away, and took Him into the house of the high priest. And Peter followed at a distance.
Acts 12:3 And seeing that this pleased the Jews, Herod proceeded to seize Peter during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
- ἐπιλαμβάνομαι epilambánomaiI seize, take hold oftranslated this way 4 times of its 16 uses · Strong’s G1949Verb · Translated: took 4, seized 4, took hold 2, Take hold 2Full study and all 16 verses →
Luke 23:26 As the soldiers led Him away, they seized Simon of Cyrene on his way in from the country, and they put the cross on him to carry behind Jesus.
Acts 16:19 When the girl’s owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the marketplace.
- πιάζω piázōI lay hold oftranslated this way 4 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G4084Verb · Translated: seize 3, arrest 2, caught 2Full study and all 12 verses →
John 7:30 So they tried to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
John 7:44 Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him.
- κρατέω kratéōI lay hold of, obtaintranslated this way 3 times of its 47 uses · Strong’s G2902Verb · Translated: arrest 8, arrested 5, took 4, seized 3Full study and all 46 verses →
Matthew 22:6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.
Acts 24:6 and he even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him.
- συναρπάζω synarpázōI seize, drag by forcetranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G4884Verb · Translated: seized 2, dragging 1, caught 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Luke 8:29 For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and been driven by the demon into solitary places.
Acts 6:12 So they stirred up the people, elders, and scribes and confronted Stephen. They seized him and brought him before the Sanhedrin,
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.