To arrive/invade
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G1904 describes someone or something coming upon a person, place, or time. Its subjects range from travelers and enemies to calamity and the Holy Spirit, so the verb itself does not identify the character of what arrives.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐπέρχομαι (G1904) · Open the biblical lexicon
G1904 describes someone or something coming upon a person, place, or time. Its subjects range from travelers and enemies to calamity and the Holy Spirit, so the verb itself does not identify the character of what arrives.
The BSB source-word alignment has 10 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include arrived (1), attacks (1), comes (1), coming (1), does not happen [to you] (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 1:35. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (4), Luke (4), Ephesians (1), James (1).
G1904 describes someone or something coming upon a person, place, or time. Its subjects range from travelers and enemies to calamity and the Holy Spirit, so the verb itself does not identify the character of what arrives. In Luke. 1. 35, the angel says the Holy Spirit will come upon Mary and the power of the Most High will overshadow her in the unique conception of Jesus.
In Acts. 1. 8, Jesus promises power when the Holy Spirit comes upon the apostles so they will be His witnesses from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. In Jas. 5. 1, approaching misery is announced against rich oppressors. G1904 opens teaching on divine initiative, Spirit-empowered witness, and unavoidable accountability. It does not make Mary's experience repeatable, define the Spirit as an impersonal force, or promise power for control, spectacle, or personal advancement.
G1904 covers arrival, attack, future ages, threatened calamity, and the Holy Spirit coming upon people. The subject, object, and narrative or prophetic setting determine whether the coming is gracious, hostile, ordinary, or judicial.
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.
The angel explains that the Holy Spirit will come upon Mary and the Most High's power will overshadow her, grounding Jesus' holy sonship in God's unique action.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus promises the apostles power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, with the stated purpose that they become His witnesses across widening geography.
Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
James summons oppressive rich people to weep over misery coming upon them, then names hoarding and withheld wages among the charges.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. to arrive/invade
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
10 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I approach, overtake, attack
Read verseI approach, overtake, attack
Read verseI approach, overtake, attack
Read verseI approach, overtake, attack
Read verseI approach, overtake, attack
Read verseI approach, overtake, attack
Read verseI approach, overtake, attack
Read verseI approach, overtake, attack
Read verseI approach, overtake, attack
Read verseI approach, overtake, attack
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 10 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
ἐπέρχομαι is built from these roots:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G1904 is a relational verb of arrival whose meaning depends on its subject. In Luke 1, the Holy Spirit's coming upon Mary belongs to God's unique act in the conception of the holy Son; the text protects divine initiative and does not offer a spiritual technique. In Acts 1, the Spirit comes upon the apostles with power directed toward witness. The geographic expansion that follows is cross-bearing testimony to Jesus, not a license for domination or celebrity.
James uses the same broad arrival idea for misery coming upon exploitative rich people. Their stored wealth and withheld wages testify that judgment addresses concrete injustice. These passages hold grace, mission, and accountability together. God acts first, empowers servants for His stated purpose, and brings hidden oppression into judgment. Faithful application seeks the Spirit's enabling for truthful witness and holy community while rejecting manipulative claims to power.
It also hears approaching judgment as a call to repentance, restitution, and justice rather than as a weapon aimed only at distant enemies.
Acts.1.8
G1904 is a Greek compound of a motion verb with a prefix expressing movement upon or toward. It may take a person, place, or circumstance as its complement and can describe arrival, attack, occurrence, future time, or the Spirit's coming.
Old Testament descriptions of the Spirit coming upon appointed servants form part of the background for Luke and Acts, while prophetic announcements of coming judgment illuminate James. The New Testament centers empowerment on witness to the crucified and risen Jesus and extends that witness to the nations.