ἐπιτίθημι

Matthew 9:18 ἐπίθες do lay

While Jesus was saying these things, a synagogue leader came and knelt before Him. “My daughter has just died,” he said. “But come and place Your hand on her, and she will live.”

Here: A direct command used as an urgent request: 'lay [your hand]'. Laying on a hand was a recognised healing gesture.

Matthew 19:13 ἐπιθῇ He may lay

Then little children were brought to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them and pray for them. And the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

Here: "He might lay (them) on." The tense pictures a single act. With "hands" it forms the set phrase "lay hands on", which here means a gesture of blessing (compare Jacob in Gen 48:14). It does not mean ordination.

Matthew 19:15 ἐπιθεὶς having laid

And after He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there.

Here: "Having laid on." The verb form shows an action finished before the main verb: he completed the blessing first, then left. It answers the request of verse 13 directly: the children were brought "so that he might lay his hands on them and pray."

Matthew 21:7 ἐπέθηκαν put

They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.

Here: "They laid on." The disciples throw their outer garments over the animals' backs as an improvised saddle cloth.

Matthew 23:4 ἐπιτιθέασιν lay [them]

They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

Here: To set something on someone. They do not carry these loads; they hoist them onto other people. Present tense again: this is their ongoing practice.

Matthew 27:29 ἐπέθηκαν they put [it]

And they twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand, knelt down before Him, and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

Here: 'They placed [it] on.' This one verb does double duty: it governs both the wreath on his head and the reed in his hand, so the whole outfit is put on in a single movement, like a coronation.

Matthew 27:37 ἐπέθηκαν they put up

Above His head they posted the written charge against Him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Here: "They put (it) on" or "fixed (it) up." The subject is the Roman soldiers of vv. 27–36. The verb pictures a placard being attached to the cross. Matthew tells it as one more step in the execution routine, which is how it would have looked to the soldiers.

Mark 3:16 ἐπέθηκεν He added

These are the twelve He appointed: Simon (whom He named Peter),

Mark 3:17 ἐπέθηκεν He added

James son of Zebedee and his brother John (whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”),

Here: Literally 'he laid upon', a single completed act. A name is placed on someone the way a mark or a burden is. It is the same verb used for Simon's new name Peter in 3:16, so the two brothers receive the same kind of naming as Simon.

Mark 5:23 ἐπιθῇς may you lay

and pleaded with Him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Please come and place Your hands on her, so that she will be healed and live.”

Here: “You might lay on.” Jairus names the exact healing gesture he expects. He has evidently heard how Jesus heals.

Mark 6:5 ἐπιθεὶς having laid

So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them.

Mark 7:32 ἐπιθῇ He may lay

Some people brought to Him a man who was deaf and hardly able to speak, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him.

Mark 8:23 ἐπιθεὶς having laid

So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then He spit on the man’s eyes and placed His hands on him. “Can you see anything?” He asked.

Here: "Having laid on." This is the healing gesture people kept asking Jesus for (Mark 5:23; 7:32), and in 8:25 he will do it a second time.

Mark 8:25 ἐπέθηκεν He put

Once again Jesus placed His hands on the man’s eyes, and when he opened them his sight was restored, and he could see everything clearly.

Luke 4:40 ἐπιτιθεὶς having laid

At sunset, all who were ill with various diseases were brought to Jesus, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them.

Here: "Laying on". The present participle shows the touch happening at the same time as the healing, repeated person after person. The supplied gloss "having laid" fits the variant aorist better than this present form.

Luke 10:30 ἐπιθέντες having inflicted

Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.

Luke 13:13 ἐπέθηκεν He laid

Then He placed His hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and began to glorify God.

Here: 'He laid on.' A single, completed action (simple past). Placing hands on someone was a known healing gesture in Jesus' ministry (Luke 4:40). Here it is a healing touch, not the later church rite of ordination.

Luke 15:5 ἐπιτίθησιν he lays [it]

And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders,

Here: A present tense used for a past or general action, the 'historic present' that storytellers use to put the hearer inside the scene: 'he lifts it up onto…'. The object 'it' is not stated in Greek but is plainly understood.

Luke 23:26 ἐπέθηκαν they put upon

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.

John 9:15 ἐπέθηκέν He put on

So the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. The man answered, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”

Here: 'He put (it) on.' Plainer than the 'smeared, anointed' of verses 6 and 11. The subject is just 'he'. The man does not name Jesus here, though he did in verse 11.

John 19:2 ἐπέθηκαν put [it]

The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns, set it on His head, and dressed Him in a purple robe.

Here: "They put [it] on". A plain verb of placing, also used of laying hands on someone. The act copies a coronation; the text does not say whether the crown was pressed down hard.

Acts 6:6 ἐπέθηκαν they laid

They presented these seven to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

Here: 'They placed upon.' This is a single, completed ceremonial act. With 'the hands' it repeats the stock Greek Old Testament wording for the Hebrew practice of resting hands on someone, here to commission and authorize them for a task.

Acts 8:17 ἐπετίθεσαν they were laying

Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Here: 'They were laying on.' The subject is Peter and John (v.14). The imperfect tense, which describes ongoing or repeated past action, suggests the apostles went from person to person rather than making one gesture over the whole crowd.

Acts 8:19 ἐπιθῶ I shall lay

“Give me this power as well,” he said, “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 9:12 ἐπιθέντα having put

In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

Acts 9:17 ἐπιθεὶς having laid

So Ananias went to the house, and when he arrived, he placed his hands on Saul. “Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Here: In Greek the touch comes before the speech, so the first thing Ananias does is put his hands on Saul. This carries out the vision Saul had seen (v. 12).

Acts 13:3 ἐπιθέντες having laid

And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Here: 'Having laid on.' This is the verb the Greek Old Testament uses when Moses lays hands on Joshua (Num 27:18, 23) and Israel lays hands on the Levites (Num 8:10). It marks a public act of setting someone apart and identifying with them.

Acts 15:10 ἐπιθεῖναι to put

Now then, why do you test God by placing on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?

Here: This infinitive explains what the testing consists of: laying the yoke on others. It is the same verb Acts uses for laying on hands, here turned to laying a burden on someone.

Acts 15:28 ἐπιτίθεσθαι to lay

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements:

Here: The picture is of loading something onto someone's back or shoulders. It is the same verb Jesus uses of scribes who load heavy burdens on people's shoulders (Matt 23:4).

Acts 16:23 ἐπιθέντες having laid

And after striking them with many blows, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to guard them securely.

Here: 'Having laid on.' With 'blows' it forms a stock phrase for inflicting a beating. Luke uses the same phrase for the robbers in the Good Samaritan story (Luke 10:30). The action is finished before the next step, the throwing into prison.

Acts 18:10 ἐπιθήσεταί will lay a hand on

For I am with you and no one will lay a hand on you, because I have many people in this city.”

Here: Future middle with a dative object. In this form it means "set upon, attack" (BDAG), the standard phrase for an assault. BSB's "lay a hand on" is close.

Acts 19:6 ἐπιθέντος when was laying

And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

Here: A past-tense participle in a 'when' clause: 'when Paul had laid on.' Paul's action comes first, and the Spirit's coming follows straight after it.

Acts 28:3 ἐπιθέντος having laid [them]

Paul gathered a bundle of sticks, and as he laid them on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself to his hand.

Acts 28:8 ἐπιθεὶς having laid

The father of Publius was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after praying and placing his hands on him, he healed the man.

Here: 'Having laid' his hands on him. This was a recognised gesture of healing in Jewish and early Christian practice.

Acts 28:10 ἐπέθεντο they laid on [us]

The islanders honored us in many ways and supplied our needs when we were ready to sail.

1 Timothy 5:22 ἐπιτίθει do lay

Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

Here: 'Lay on'. A present-tense command with a negative, so it reads as a standing rule of practice: 'make it your habit never to lay hands on anyone hastily.'

Revelation 22:18 ἐπιθῇ ἐπιθήσει shall add, will add

I testify to everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.

Here: 'Lays (something) on top of' the words, i.e. adds to them. The verb is picked so that it can come straight back in the next clause.