Greek word · G1405

δράσσομαι

drassomai

to catch

To grasp with the hand, clutch, seize; to take a handful (from drax, 'handful'); figuratively, to lay hold of or catch.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

δράσσομαι

[in LXX for נָשַׁק pi., Psalms 2:12; elsewhere קָמַץ, as Leviticus 2:2 ;]

to grasp with the hand, to lay hold of: metaphorically, with accusative (M, Pr., 65), 1 Corinthians 3:19 (LXX).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Corinthians 3:19

Range of meaning

To grasp with the hand, clutch, seize; to take a handful (from drax, 'handful'); figuratively, to lay hold of or catch.

Against the English

'Catches' (BSB, NIV, ESV) is good. 'Taketh' (KJV) is weaker and loses the picture of a hand closing. 'Traps' (NLT) shifts the image from a hand to a snare. WEB's 'has taken' turns an ongoing present ('the one catching') into a completed past.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Septuagint, Lev 2:2 and 5:12 use it for the priest taking a handful of flour. Ps 2:12 LXX has 'lay hold of instruction'. Classical writers use it for grabbing or seizing. It is a New Testament hapax, a word found only once in the New Testament. The Septuagint of Job 5:13 uses a different verb here (katalambanōn, 'overtaking, seizing').

Where it appears

1 Corinthians · 1

  1. 1 Corinthians 3:19 δρασσόμενος catching

    For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”

    Here: A physical word: to grab or clutch in the hand, to snatch a fistful. The present tense pictures God as someone who habitually catches the clever, like a hand closing on prey. It occurs only here in the New Testament.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.