Greek word · G482

ἀντιλαμβάνω

antilambanō

to help

In the middle voice: to take hold of something for oneself, to lay hold of; from there, to take someone's part, help, support, come to their aid. In the Septuagint it is used often of God taking hold of and helping his people (e.g. Psalm 3:6 LXX; Isaiah 41:9).

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 24, 2026

What it means

ἀντι-λαμβάνω

[frequently in LXX for חָזַק hi., סָמַךְ, etc ;]

to take instead of or in turn. Mid., with genitive, to take hold of;

(a) of persons, to help (see MM, VGT, see word): Luke 1:54, Acts 20:35;

(b) of things, to partake of: 1 Timothy 6:2 (see Field, Notes, 210; Cremer, 386; and cf. συν-αντιλαμβάνω).†

(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 Acts 20:35

Range of meaning: In the middle voice: to take hold of something for oneself, to lay hold of; from there, to take someone's part, help, support, come to their aid. In the Septuagint it is used often of God taking hold of and helping his people (e.g. Psalm 3:6 LXX; Isaiah 41:9). Luke 1:54: God 'has helped (antelabeto) his servant Israel'.
Against the English: 'Help' (BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB, WEB) is accurate but flat. KJV 'support' keeps the picture of holding someone up. YLT 'partake with' is overly literal and misleading.
Used elsewhere in the period: Luke 1:54; 1 Timothy 6:2; Septuagint Psalms and Isaiah of God's help; the papyri use it for helping or assisting someone. BDAG s.v. ἀντιλαμβάνω.

From the study of Luke 1:54

Range of meaning: Active: to receive in return. Middle, with a genitive object: to take hold of, lay hold of; then to take someone's part, support, come to the aid of. The underlying picture is a physical grip.
Against the English: 'Helped' (BSB, NIV, NLT), 'holpen' (KJV) and 'given help' (WEB) are correct but flat. They lose the picture of God grasping his servant by the hand. YLT's 'received again' takes the prefix anti- to mean 'again'. That reflects the active sense and the Latin 'suscepit', not the middle-voice idiom used here.
How it drifted: English 'help' has weakened to mean light assistance ('help with the dishes'). The Greek word pictures a rescuer taking a firm grip.
Used elsewhere in the period: Isaiah 41:8–9 in the Greek Old Testament (LXX): 'But you, Israel, my servant (pais)… whom I took hold of (antelabomēn) from the ends of the earth'. That Greek renders Hebrew heḥezaqtikha, 'I seized you firmly'. The Greek Psalms often use it for God upholding the needy, e.g. Psalm 18(17):35 and 89(88):21. In Greek papyrus petitions, people asking an official for rescue use the related noun antilēmpsis ('help, support'), according to Moulton–Milligan. Elsewhere in the NT: Acts 20:35, 'help the weak'.

From the study of 1 Timothy 6:2

Range of meaning: Middle voice with a genitive object: (1) take hold of, help, come to the aid of; (2) take part in, share in, enjoy; (3) devote oneself to, attend to, practise; (4) perceive.
Against the English: KJV 'partakers of the benefit' and WEB 'those who partake of the benefit' follow sense (2). ESV and BSB 'those who benefit by / receive their good service' interpret the same sense. The NIV takes it as masters being 'devoted to the welfare of their slaves', sense (3).
Used elsewhere in the period: Luke 1:54 'He has helped his servant Israel'. Acts 20:35 'help the weak'. In the LXX it is frequent for God helping or upholding someone. In Hellenistic Greek it also means 'take part in' or 'apply oneself to' an activity.

Where it appears

Luke · 1

Luke 1:54 ἀντελάβετο He has helped

He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful,

Here: In the middle voice with a genitive object, it pictures grabbing hold of someone to support or rescue them, not just giving help from a distance. It echoes Isaiah 41:9 (Greek), where God says of 'Israel my servant', 'I took hold of you.' The past tense (aorist) states the act as one completed whole.

Acts · 1

Acts 20:35 ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι to aid

In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Here: Literally 'to take hold of' someone so as to hold them up. It is a compound of the same verb ('take', lambanō) that ends the verse, which sets up a play on words: the leader 'takes hold of' the weak instead of 'taking' from them.

1 Timothy · 1

1 Timothy 6:2 ἀντιλαμβανόμενοι.¶ being helped.

Those who have believing masters should not show disrespect because they are brothers, but should serve them all the more, since those receiving their good service are beloved believers. Teach and encourage these principles.

Here: 'Those who take part in / receive' the benefaction, or possibly 'those who devote themselves to' doing good. Most interpreters take it as the masters receiving the slaves' good service. A minority read it as masters devoted to kindness toward their slaves.

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