κατέλαβεν

katelaben

comprehended

from κατά and λαμβάνω; to take eagerly, i.e. seize, possess, etc. (literally or figuratively):--apprehend, attain, come upon, comprehend, find, obtain, perceive, (over-)take.

G2638

John 1:5 · Word #13

Lexicon G2638

Lemmaκαταλαμβάνω
Transliterationkatalambánō
Strong'sG2638
In-contextcomprehended
Literalcomprehended

Morphology V AOR ACT IND 3P SG All morphology codes

Part of Speech V — Verb — An action or state of being
Tense AOR — Aorist — Simple occurrence, often past
Voice ACT — Active — The subject performs the action
Mood IND — Indicative — States a fact or reality
Person 3P — 3rd person — The one spoken about ("he/she/it/they")
Number SG — Singular — One

Lexical Info

Lemmaκαταλαμβάνω
Strong'sG2638

SIBI-P1 G2638-09

he/she/it was seizing hold of

Morphological NotesVerb; imperfect tense (past ongoing action), active voice, indicative mood, 3rd person singular.
Rendering RationaleThe rendering preserves the compound sense of κατα- (down, against, intensifying) with λαμβάνω (to take, receive), conveying an active grasping or overtaking. The imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular, is reflected in "was seizing," expressing ongoing past action performed by he/she/it.

View full lexicon entry for G2638 →

AI-generated (openai/gpt-5.2-chat-latest)

Words from Root καταλαμβάνω (to seize, to take hold of, to overtake, to grasp, to comprehend)

SILEX Code Transliteration SIBI-P1
G2638-01 katalabe he/she/it might seize-down/upon
G2638-02 katalabesthai to seize for oneself
G2638-03 katalabete that you (plural) might seize hold of

Word Usage (14 occurrences of G2638)

Location Form Transliteration Meaning
Mark 9:18 καταλάβῃ katalabe seizes
John 1:5 κατέλαβεν katelaben comprehended
John 8:4 κατείληπται kateileptai has been caught