Exploring the Meaning of Enagkalizomai in Greek

Enagkalizomai means “to embrace” and appears in two scenes in Mark’s Gospel, both involving Jesus taking children into his arms. In each context the action is narrated as a deliberate, personal gesture within a moment of instruction and blessing.

Root and Related Words

Enagkalizomai is connected with two elements reflected in related words: the preposition en (ἐν), meaning “in/on/among,” and ankale (ἀγκάλη), meaning “arm.” Together these related terms frame the verb’s imagery as an action that places someone within the circle of one’s arms.

Occurrences

“He took a little child, and set him in the middle of them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them,” (Mark 9:36)

Here the embrace is part of a sequence of purposeful movements. Jesus first “took a little child,” then “set him in the middle of them,” and then—only after placing the child where all can see—he takes the child “in his arms.” The verb functions as more than incidental description: it depicts physical closeness added to public placement. The child is not only positioned “in the middle” as an object lesson but is also gathered up into Jesus’ arms as he begins to speak. In the flow of the sentence, the embrace stands between the act of setting the child before the group and the act of addressing the listeners; it turns the child from a mere illustration into someone personally received and held while instruction is given.

The scene is also marked by contrast in distance. “In the middle of them” indicates the child’s location relative to the group, while “in his arms” indicates the child’s location relative to Jesus. The verb thus contributes a shift from a general, group-centered arrangement to an intimate, person-centered closeness. The child is presented to “them,” yet simultaneously drawn close to him. The embrace supplies the tangible, protective dimension of the moment: the teaching begins with the child held, not held at arm’s length.

“He took them in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands on them.” (Mark 10:16)

In this verse, the embrace is paired with blessing and touch. The sentence links three actions with a steady rhythm: he “took them in his arms,” he “blessed them,” and he did so while “laying his hands on them.” The verb contributes the setting for the blessing—an act of holding that places the children close before the spoken or enacted blessing occurs. The embrace is the first of the three actions, so it frames what follows: blessing is carried out not from a distance but with the children gathered against him.

The plural “them” shows the action applied to more than one child. Even without describing how this happens in detail, the verse presents the embrace as a repeated or extended action—taking children into his arms in a way that can encompass “them” as a group across the moment. The additional phrase “laying his hands on them” sits naturally alongside the embrace: held close, they are also touched in a distinct act of blessing. The verb therefore contributes an image of welcome and care expressed through the body: the arms receive, and the hands rest upon.

Sense and Usage

Across both occurrences, “to embrace” is portrayed as an intentional act of taking someone into one’s arms. The contexts emphasize that this is not a fleeting contact but a form of holding that creates proximity and inclusion. In Mark 9:36, the embrace stands beside the act of placing the child “in the middle,” showing that the child is both publicly presented and personally held. In Mark 10:16, the embrace is bound tightly to blessing and the laying on of hands, giving the blessing a bodily setting of closeness.

The verb’s sense is carried primarily by its concrete image: the arms enclose another person. In these verses, that enclosure functions as a visible action that supports what Jesus is doing with his words and intentions. When he speaks (Mark 9:36), the embrace makes the child’s presence central not only spatially but relationally—held while he addresses others. When he blesses (Mark 10:16), the embrace prepares and accompanies the blessing, showing it as personally bestowed upon those he holds.

Because both uses involve children, the verb’s narrative effect is especially vivid. Children are described as being taken up rather than merely approached; the embrace places them where they are secure and attended to. The action is also directional: Jesus is the one who “took” them, so the embrace is depicted as an initiative from him toward the children. In both verses, the children are recipients of an action that draws them near, with the arms serving as the immediate “space” into which they are received.

The two scenes also show how an embrace can carry different immediate functions without changing its basic sense. In Mark 9:36 it accompanies a teaching moment (“he said to them”), giving the instruction a lived, enacted reference point held right before the audience. In Mark 10:16 it accompanies blessing, forming part of the act by which care is expressed and conveyed. The verb thus operates as a physical gesture that can stand at the center of communication—either the communication of teaching or of blessing—without needing to be explained by additional description.

Imagery

The imagery of enagkalizomai in these passages is simple and concrete: children gathered into arms. Mark 9:36 places that image in a setting where a child is brought into the center of a group and then held while Jesus speaks, making the embrace itself part of what the listeners witness. Mark 10:16 places the same image alongside blessing and the laying on of hands, so that the arms and hands together portray a close, personal bestowal of care upon the children he receives.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).