Lexicon
ἐπιπίπτω
epipiptō
G1968
G:V Greek

to fall/press upon

11
Occurrences
5
Books
Greek
Language

epipipto describes something coming upon people, whether the Spirit or fear, or a person pressing onto another.

The predominant use describes the Spirit or fear coming upon people; the same verb also depicts bodily movement onto a person, from an embrace to a crowd pressing near, and once portrays reproaches as coming upon someone.

Senses in use

  1. Coming upon people · dominant

    In Acts 10:44 and Acts 11:15, the aorist active singular form describes the Holy Spirit coming upon those hearing or being addressed. The same form is used of fear coming upon Zechariah in Luke 1:12, upon people in Acts 19:17, and upon those who saw the risen witnesses in Revelation 11:11; Acts 8:16 uses a perfect active participle for the Spirit not yet having come upon any of them.

  2. Bodily falling or pressing onto someone · common

    In Luke 15:20, the father runs and falls upon his son's neck; in Acts 20:10 Paul throws himself upon the young man, and in Acts 20:37 the plural aorist participle accompanies the group's embrace of Paul. Mark 3:10 uses the present active infinitive where those with diseases press upon him in order to touch him.

  3. Reproaches coming upon someone · rare

    In Romans 15:3, the aorist active plural form is used in the quotation where the reproaches of those who reproach God come upon the speaker: the APB renders the clause, "The reproaches of those who reproach you fell on me."

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses "fell upon" for the Spirit, fear, the father's action, and reproaches, while it renders the bodily scenes in Acts 20:10 and Acts 20:37 as "threw himself upon" and "embraced." In Mark 3:10 it uses "pressed upon"; these are translation renderings of whole clauses.

Passages featuring this word

Across Scripture