To rest upon (literally or figuratively)
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G1945 describes something lying upon, set upon, or resting against something else. John uses it in ordinary physical details: the stone lies across Lazarus's tomb, and fish lies on the charcoal fire after the resurrection.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἐπίκειμαι (G1945) · Open the biblical lexicon
G1945 describes something lying upon, set upon, or resting against something else. John uses it in ordinary physical details: the stone lies across Lazarus's tomb, and fish lies on the charcoal fire after the resurrection.
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include . . . (1), continued to batter us (1), imposed (1), laid (1), on it (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 5:1. Its strongest book concentrations include John (2), Luke (2), 1 Corinthians (1), Acts (1).
G1945 describes something lying upon, set upon, or resting against something else. John uses it in ordinary physical details: the stone lies across Lazarus's tomb, and fish lies on the charcoal fire after the resurrection. Those details matter because John's Gospel often anchors revelation in visible scenes. The word does not carry the theology by itself. It helps readers notice the material setting where grief, death, provision, and restored fellowship are encountered.
In John 11 the stone underscores the real tomb Jesus approaches; in John 21 the fish underscores the real meal the risen Jesus provides. Teachers should use the word to support concrete reading, not to allegorize every object that rests on another.
G1945 marks physical placement in two John scenes, one at a tomb and one beside a resurrection meal. Its value is observational: John gives concrete details around death, presence, and provision.
Jesus, once again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
The stone lies across the tomb entrance as Jesus comes to Lazarus's grave. The word supports the scene's concrete setting of death and grief.
When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it, and some bread.
Fish lies on the charcoal fire when the disciples land. The word helps mark the ordinary provision of the risen Jesus after the night of fruitless labor.
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 rest upon (literally or figuratively)
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I lie upon, am insistent
Read verseI lie upon, am insistent
Read verseI lie upon, am insistent
Read verseI lie upon, am insistent
Read verseI lie upon, am insistent
Read verseI lie upon, am insistent
Read verseI lie upon, am insistent
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 7 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)
ἐπίκειμαι is built from these roots:
John's uses of G1945 are not abstract. A stone lies at the tomb, and fish lies on a charcoal fire. The first detail belongs to the setting where Jesus confronts death and summons Lazarus from the grave. The second belongs to the morning where the risen Jesus provides food and restores fellowship with His disciples. The word therefore helps teachers slow down and read the physical world of the narrative.
It should not be turned into an allegory machine. The stone and fish matter because John places them in scenes where Jesus acts, speaks, and reveals His glory.
John.11.38
To lie on, rest upon, or be set upon is a reviewed display gloss for G1945. In this John-focused companion, the local discourse foregrounding data shows 2 John use(s), with tense patterns summarized as Imperfect 1, Present 1. Use these grammar signals as support for reading the passage, not as a replacement for context.
The broader Scripture connection should remain modest: physical detail, death, and provision is visible in the cited passages, while the full theological claim must come from each passage's context rather than from the word alone.
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain