ta.pha.s denotes taking people, cities, or objects into one’s grasp or control, including being taken in a trap.

The verb most often describes taking a person or place into another’s control, whether by command, arrest, warfare, or pursuit. It also occurs for grasping garments, tablets, hands, and equipment, while Niphal forms portray someone or something being caught or captured.

1. Taking persons or places into control · dominant

   Commands and reports of taking people alive appear in 1 Kings 18:40 and 2 Kings 10:14, while 1 Samuel 15:8 and 2 Chronicles 25:23 describe a king taken alive. The same use extends to fortified cities in 2 Kings 18:13 and to a city under siege in Deuteronomy 20:19; in 1 Samuel 23:26 Saul's men surround David's group in order to take them.

   1 Kings 18:402 Kings 10:141 Samuel 15:82 Chronicles 25:232 Kings 18:13Deuteronomy 20:19
2. Grasping or taking hold of an object · common

   In Genesis 39:12, the woman takes hold of Joseph's garment; in Deuteronomy 9:17, the speaker takes the two tablets before throwing and breaking them. The term also occurs with hands in Ezekiel 29:7 and with a lizard that can be taken in the hands in Proverbs 30:28.

   Genesis 39:12Deuteronomy 9:17Ezekiel 29:7Proverbs 30:28Amos 2:15Ezekiel 27:29
3. Being caught or seized · occasional

   Niphal forms present the affected party as caught: a ruler is caught in a net in Ezekiel 12:13, and Babylon is caught in a snare in Jeremiah 50:24. In Jeremiah 38:23, the clause says the addressee will not escape from the king of Babylon's hand but will be taken.

   Ezekiel 12:13Ezekiel 19:4Jeremiah 38:23Jeremiah 50:24Jeremiah 51:32Jeremiah 51:41

In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB commonly uses "seize" and "captured," and it also uses "caught" where nets or snares are in view. These English terms present the clauses' overall action rather than a fixed one-word equivalent.