Quick Definition
προλαμβάνω v. I take before, anticipate, am overtaken
Strong's Definition
to take in advance, i.e. (literally) eat before others have an opportunity; (figuratively) to anticipate, surprise
Derivation: from G4253 (πρό) and G2983 (λαμβάνω);
KJV Usage: come aforehand, overtake, take before
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
verb | aor. προέλαβον · aor.pass.subj. προλημφθῶ | λαμβάνω
27.33 · Learn · Learn Something Against Someone
to detect, to surprise, to catch, to be discovered to learn something by surprise It is possible that προλαμβάνω in GAL 6:1 refers to actual seizing or arresting, but it seems more likely to refer to the fact that someone becomes aware of wrongdoing, and therefore the wrongdoer is surprised by being detected or discovered. It is, of course, also possible to render προλαμβάνω in GAL 6:1 as ‘to be involved in.’ Compare Domain 90K.
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
προ-λαμβάνω; 2 aor. προέλαβον; 1 aor. pass. subjunc. 3 pers. sing. προληφθῇ [-λημφθῃ LT Tr WH; sees. v. M, »]; fr. Hdt. down; 1. to take before: ri, 1 Co. xi. 21. 2. to anticipate, to forestall: προέλαβε pupiσαι, she has anticipated the anointing, [hath anointed beforehand], Mk. xiv. 8; ef. Meyer ad loc.; W. § 54, 4. 3. to take one by forestalling (him i.e. before he can flee or conceal his crime), i. e. surprise, detect, (Sap. xvii. 16) : τινὰ ἐν παραπτώματι, pass. Gal. vi. 1; cf. Winer, Ep. ad Gal. 1. ¢.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
προλαμβάνω prolambanō 3x
to take before another, 1 Cor. 11:21; trop. to anticipate, do beforehand, Mk. 14:8; to take by surprise; pass. be taken unexpectedly, be overtaken, be taken by surprise, Gal. 6:1*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
** προ-λαμβάνω,
[in LXX: Wi 17:11 א2, Wi 17:17 א2B*;]
to take beforehand: c. acc., I Co 11:21 (but v. infr.).
to be beforehand, anticipate (in cl., c. acc., gen. or dat.): c. inf. (= cl. φθάνω, v. Bl., § 69, 4; Swete, in l.), Mk 14:8.
to overtake, surprise: pass., Ga 6:1 (on the virtual disappearance of the temporal force of the preposition in this compound here and perhaps also in I Co 11:21, v. MM, xxi).†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
προλαμβάνω, “receive before’’: cf. P Petr III. 43(2) vectoi-® (iii/B.c.) τό τε ἀρ[γ]ύριον ὃ ἂν πίροειλη]φότες ὦσιν, ‘‘the money which they have received previously,’’ P Cairo Zen I. 591207 (B.C. 256) διὰ τὸ προλαβεῖν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ κερμάτιον εἰς ἐφόδια, ‘* because we have received from him in advance money for travelling expenses,’’ OGZS 62° (iv/B.c.) ὃ δῆμος φαίνηται χάριν ἀποδιδοὺς dv προείληφεν ἀγαθῶν, and the immense inscr. of temple accounts from Eleusis Sy/Z 5871! (B.c. 328), money paid ἀρ]χι[τ]έκτονι, ὃ προέλαβεν “Λυκούργου κελεύσαντος, “to the architect, which he received in advance at the bidding of Lycurgus.” The sense of ‘‘anticipate’’ in Mk 148, which Souter (Lex. s.v.) regards as perhaps an Aramaism, is apparently to be found in 7GST 20141 Σουλπικία, εὐψύχι" προέλαβές pe κτλ. (cited by Herwerden Lex. s.v.). In P Cairo Zen I. 59060° (B.c. 257) a boy athlete is described as τῶν viv ἀλιφομένων, of προειλήφασιν χρόνον πολύν, πολὺ κρείττων, ‘far excelling those at present being trained, who had anticipated him by a considerable time.” For the derived meaning ‘‘ overtake, surprise,” as in Gal 6! (cf. Sap 1717), see Field Votes, p. 190, and cf. P Oxy VI. 9288 (ii/iii A.D.) ἵνα ἐὰν δοκιμάσῃς ποιήσῃς πρὶν προλημφθῆναι, ‘that if you think fit you may act before she is entrapped ’’—said of a girl against whom a plot had been formed. In Sy// 804 (ΞΞ 1170) (ii/A.D.) from the Asclepieum at Epidaurus this word occurs /ex meaning ‘‘eat”’ (or “drink ἢ): τυρὸν καὶ ἄρτον προλαβεῖν, ϑκιτρίου προλαμβάνειν τὰ ἄκρα, and "γάλα μετὰ μέλιτος προλαβεῖν. Dittenberger quotes Wilamowitz to the effect that the temporal force of the mpo- had worn off, and Baunack as finding the idea of praeferre, but he himself thinks προλαμβάνειν a mistake for προσλαμβάνειν, which is used in later Greek of taking food. One naturally thinks of 1 Cor 1171, where no part of the point lies in the ‘‘ forestalling” of others: the gravamen of Paul’s charge is that there was ‘‘no Lord's supper to eat,” ‘‘everyone devours 47s own supper at the meal” (brought with him in a klorn—cf. the last scene of Aristophanes’ Acharnians). The subst. πρόληψις is used in the sense of ‘‘ preconception” in P Fay 1245 (ii/A.D.), as in Stoic philosophy. For πρόλημμα see BGU III. 77518 (ii/aA.D.). 3). ὡς
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
προλαμβάνω (prolambanō) — to take beforehand. προλαμβάνω, future -λήψομαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]aorist προὔλαβον:—passive, see below[Refs]:— take or receive before, τὴν πόλιν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀργύριον π. receive money in advance, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; μισθὸν τῆς ἀγγελίας for the message, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; π. τὴν ἡλικίαν [Refs 4th c.BC+]; π. τὴν αὔξησιν begin their growth before, [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—passive, to be contained in advance, ἐν τῷ ὄντι ἄρα ζωὴ προείληπται καὶ ὁ νοῦς [Refs 5th c.AD+]
2. take or seize beforehand, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τοῦτο π., ὅπως σώσομεν provide that.., [Refs]participle, προλαβὼν κατεγνωκότας ὑμᾶς having first procured your vote of condemnation, [Refs]:—passive, σῶμα προειλημμένον ὑπὸ νόσου [Refs]
2. b get or take as a start, προειλήφασι πολὺν χρόνον have had a long start, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; π. τῆς νυκτὸς ὁπόσον ἂν δυναίμην [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
3. take in preference, τι πρό τινος [Refs 5th c.BC+]
4. take away or off before, ἐκ γὰρ οἴκων προὔλαβον μόγις πόδα, μὴ θανεῖν [Refs 5th c.BC+]
5. assume in advance, τὴν ὁλότητα προλαβὼν ἐγέννησεν ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς τὴν παντότητα [Refs 5th c.AD+]; προειλήφθω.. δισχιλίων σταδίων τὸ βάθος [εἶναι] [Refs 2nd c.BC+]
II. to be beforehand with, anticipate,
II.1. with accusative person, get the start of, τὰς κύνας [Refs 5th c.BC+]; βραχὺν χρόνον π. ἡμᾶς, i.e. in dying, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; ἵνα μὴ -λημφθῶμεν (i.e. by death) [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
II.2. with accusative of things, π. γόους, μαντεύματα, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of mental anticipation, π. ὡς οὕτως ἔχον πρὶν γινόμενον οὕτως ἰδεῖν [Refs 4th c.BC+]
II.3. with genitive spatii, π. τῆς ὁδοῦ get a start on the way, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; π. τῆς διώξεως get a start of the pursuers, [Refs 1st c.BC+] speaking first, Philicus in [Refs]
II.3. b generally, π. τῶν κηρύκων anticipate them, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τοῦ χρόνου π. precede in point of time, [Refs]
II.4. with dative modi, π. τῷ δρόμῳ get a start in running, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II.5. with infinitive, προέλαβε μυρίσαι [NT]
II.6. detect, ἐν παραπτώματι [NT]
II.7. anticipate, τι τῶν μελλόντων [Refs 1st c.AD+]
II.8. absolutely, προὔλαβε πολλῷ was far ahead, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; gain an advantage, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
II.8. b anticipate the event, prejudge, ἐπειδὰν ἅπαντ᾽ ἀκούσητε κρίνατε, μὴ πρότερον προλαμβάνετε [Refs]by anticipation, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; come before the time, opposed to ὑστερίζειν, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]; of corn-buyers, buy earlier, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]:— middle, προλαμβάνου [Refs 4th c.BC+] —passive, τὸ προειλημμένον that which is prejudged, [Refs 2nd c.AD+]
II.8. c precede, go before, ὁ προλαβὼν βίος his previous life,[Refs 4th c.BC+]what precedes, [Refs 6th c.AD+]; ἡ προλαβοῦσα τράπεζα the preceding meal, [Refs 4th c.AD+]; also τῶν προλαβόντων τἢν μνήμην the memory of the past, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
III. repeat from the origin, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
IV. Philos., form a preconception (compare πρόληψις), prejudge, οἷα προειλήφαμεν [Refs 1st c.BC+]:—middle, [Refs]:— passive, [Refs 1st c.AD+]