Exploring the Meaning of Lambano in Greek

λαμβάνω expresses the act of taking, whether by seizing, receiving, or otherwise coming into possession in a given situation. In the passages below it ranges from taking away property, to receiving what is asked for, to taking up burdens, to taking food, seed, and yeast for ordinary actions that carry larger implications in their contexts.

Occurrences

Matthew 5:40: “If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.”

Here the verb sits inside a legal conflict: someone initiates a lawsuit with the aim “to take away your coat.” The taking is not pictured as a friendly exchange but as a targeted removal through a claim. The instruction that follows (“let him have your cloak also”) keeps the focus on the concrete object being taken, and the verb frames the coat as something another person is trying to acquire from you.

Matthew 7:8: “For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.”

In this saying the taking is presented as reception: the asker “receives.” The action of taking is paired with human approaches (“asks,” “seeks,” “knocks”) and their outcomes. The verb emphasizes the moment of gain—what is requested does not remain distant but comes into the asker’s possession.

Matthew 8:17: “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases.””

The verb describes “He took our infirmities,” followed immediately by “and bore our diseases.” Within the quotation, taking is not grabbing an object but taking on something that belongs to others (“our infirmities”). The parallel line (“bore”) keeps the taking from sounding momentary; it is presented as an assumption of a load that is carried.

Matthew 10:8: “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give.”

The verb is used for what the disciples already “received,” and it becomes the basis for how they are to act (“so freely give”). The taking is passive in the sense that it is framed as reception rather than acquisition by force. The contrast between receiving and giving places the verb on the side of being granted something, and it shapes the ethic of generosity demanded in the second clause.

Matthew 10:38: “He who doesn’t take his cross and follow after me, isn’t worthy of me.”

Taking here is deliberate and personal: “take his cross.” The verb names the decisive act of picking up what is associated with the person (“his”) and then moving forward (“and follow after me”). The taking is not incidental; it is the threshold action that marks whether someone aligns with the following that is required.

Matthew 10:41: “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.”

Within this verse the same verb governs both hospitality and outcome. First it describes how someone “receives a prophet” or “receives a righteous man”—welcoming the person under a stated recognition (“in the name of a prophet… in the name of a righteous man”). Then it describes how that person “will receive” a corresponding reward. The repetition lets “receive” connect the act of taking someone in with the later taking of the reward; the verb holds together the initial welcome and the resulting gain.

Matthew 12:14: “But the Pharisees went out, and conspired against him, how they might destroy him.”

In this scene the word contributes to the Pharisees’ plotted intent. The verb supplies the idea of taking in a destructive direction: their conspiracy aims at an outcome that would remove him. The taking is not specified with an object like “coat” or “bread,” but the line’s focus on what they “might” accomplish shows taking as an intended action shaped by hostility.

Matthew 13:20: “What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it;”

Here taking is explicitly tied to “hears the word” and then “receives it.” The verb marks the internal acceptance of what is heard, and the added details (“immediately” and “with joy”) describe the manner of taking. The taking happens quickly and gladly, presenting reception as an initial positive response.

Matthew 13:31: “He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field;”

The verb depicts a simple agricultural motion: a man “took” a mustard seed and then “sowed” it. Taking is the preparatory action that leads into planting; it is the moment the seed is selected and handled. In the logic of the parable, the taking is the first step in setting the seed on a trajectory toward growth in the man’s own “field.”

Matthew 13:33: “He spoke another parable to them. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, until it was all leavened.”

Again the verb frames an ordinary domestic action: a woman “took” yeast and then “hid” it in a large amount of meal. The taking is the decisive handling of a small agent that will affect the whole mixture (“until it was all leavened”). The verb anchors the parable in a concrete gesture—taking something in hand before placing it where it will work.

Matthew 14:19: “He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitudes.”

The verb identifies the starting point of the feeding action: “he took the five loaves and the two fish.” It introduces a sequence—took, looked up, blessed, broke, gave—so that taking is the first visible step of providing. The taking is neither theft nor mere possession; it is the initiating act that places the loaves and fish into the process that ends with distribution to “the multitudes.”

Matthew 15:26: “But he answered, “It is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.””

Here taking is paired with a second act (“and throw it”), and the object is “the children’s bread.” The verb portrays removing bread from those for whom it is intended (“the children”) in order to redirect it elsewhere (“to the dogs”). The statement’s force depends on the verb: taking would be the improper transfer that disrupts the bread’s rightful assignment in the picture Jesus uses.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, “to take” operates on a spectrum from contested removal to welcomed reception, yet it consistently marks the moment something passes into someone’s grasp, care, or possession. In Matthew 5:40 the taking is adversarial and externally driven: another person uses a lawsuit “to take away” clothing. In Matthew 7:8 and 10:8, taking is framed as receiving—an outcome granted to the asker, and a prior gift that becomes the basis for giving. Matthew 10:41 intensifies this receptive sense by applying the same verb both to welcoming people and to gaining the resulting reward, so that “receiving” is both relational (taking in a person) and consequential (taking the reward).

Other uses stress intentional taking as the start of a larger action. In Matthew 14:19 the taking of bread and fish initiates blessing, breaking, and giving. In Matthew 13:31 and 13:33, taking is the first step before sowing or hiding, actions that set in motion what follows “until it was all leavened.” In these parables, taking is not the end; it is the purposeful handling that places the seed or yeast where its effect will unfold.

The verb can also carry the weight of taking upon oneself. Matthew 10:38 links taking with following, making the taking of “his cross” the concrete act that signals readiness for the path described. Matthew 8:17 uses the verb for taking “our infirmities,” where the object is not a physical item but something associated with human suffering; the accompanying “bore our diseases” keeps the idea tethered to carrying what has been taken. Finally, Matthew 15:26 uses taking as a moral boundary marker in a vivid household image: taking bread away from children in order to throw it elsewhere is described as “not appropriate,” so the verb frames an act of transfer whose impropriety rests in what is taken and from whom.

Imagery

These verses give “taking” a strong tactile feel: a coat and cloak pulled into a legal dispute (Matthew 5:40), bread in hand at a table (Matthew 15:26), seed lifted for sowing and yeast gathered for mixing (Matthew 13:31, 13:33), and loaves and fish taken up before being blessed and distributed (Matthew 14:19). Even where the object is not material—receiving the word “with joy” (Matthew 13:20), taking up “his cross” (Matthew 10:38), or taking “our infirmities” (Matthew 8:17)—the verb keeps the action concrete, as a real transfer into one’s keeping that shapes what happens next.

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).