TR: samak → epitithemi (Laying On / Imposing)

The Chain

Hebrew OT              LXX (Greek OT)           Greek NT
───────────           ───────────────           ────────
סָמַךְ (samak)    →   ἐπιτίθημι (epitithemi) →  ἐπιτίθημι (epitithemi)
H5564, 47x             23x as translation        41x in NT
"lean, lay, support"   of samak                  "lay upon, impose"

OT Usage (Hebrew)

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H5564	סָמַךְ (samak)	47	lay hands on, support, uphold, sustain

Two dominant semantic poles: (1) ritual hand-laying on sacrificial animals / persons for identification and transfer (Lev 1-16, Num 8, 27), and (2) divine or human sustaining/upholding (Psalms, Isaiah).

Key OT passages: - Lev 1:4 — "And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him" - Lev 16:21 — "And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities" - Num 27:23 — "And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge" (commissioning Joshua)

Library entry: H5564-camak.md

LXX Bridge

Hebrew	Greek Translation	Count	PMI	Notes
samak (H5564)	ἐπιτίθημι (G2007)	23x	18.14	Primary — ritual hand-laying
samak (H5564)	στηρίζω (G4741)	6x	12.71	For "sustain/establish" sense
samak (H5564)	ἐπιστηρίζω (G1991)	4x	12.51	Intensive "support"
samak (H5564)	ἀντιλαμβάνομαι (G482)	5x	10.72	"Help/support" sense

Other Hebrew words rendered epitithemi: H7760 sum (63x co-occ) — generic "place/set"; H8571 tenuk (7x) — "tip of ear" (priestly anointing formula); H7819 shachat (13x) — "slaughter" (co-translation in sacrificial passages).

Semantic shift: The LXX splits samak's range. Epitithemi captures the physical action of placing-upon (hands on heads, burdens on shoulders). The sustaining/upholding pole maps instead to sterizo/episterizo. The NT inherits epitithemi primarily for the hand-laying gesture.

NT Usage (Greek)

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G2007	ἐπιτίθημι (epitithemi)	41	lay upon, place on, impose, put on, add to

Key NT passages: - Acts 6:6 — "and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them" (ordaining deacons) - Acts 8:17 — "Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost" - 1 Tim 5:22 — "Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins" - Mark 16:18 — "they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" - Rev 1:17 — "And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not"

Library entry: TODO(need G2007 study)

Direct OT→NT Continuity

Usage	OT Pattern (samak)	NT Pattern (epitithemi)
Ordination / Commissioning	Moses lays hands on Joshua (Num 27:18-23, Deut 34:9) — transfers authority and spirit of wisdom	Apostles lay hands on deacons (Acts 6:6), Paul and Barnabas commissioned (Acts 13:3)
Identification / Transfer	Offerer lays hand on sacrifice's head — identification and sin transfer (Lev 1:4, 4:4, 16:21)	No direct NT sacrifice parallel, but Jesus "bears our sins" (1 Pet 2:24) uses different vocabulary
Healing / Blessing	Not prominent in OT samak usage	Jesus and apostles lay hands for healing (Mark 6:5, Luke 4:40, Acts 28:8) — a new dominant usage
Spirit-conferral	Moses → Joshua: "full of the spirit of wisdom" (Deut 34:9)	Apostles → believers: "they received the Holy Ghost" (Acts 8:17, 19:6)

Continuity and Shifts

What stays the same across testaments: - The physical gesture of placing hands on a head persists from Levitical sacrifice through apostolic practice - The commissioning/ordination function transfers directly: Moses → Joshua becomes apostles → deacons/elders - The concept that hand-laying creates a real connection between the one laying hands and the recipient

What shifts: - The sacrificial hand-laying (samak's largest OT category) has no direct NT ritual counterpart — Christ's sacrifice replaces the entire system - Healing through hand-laying, rare in OT samak usage, becomes a dominant NT pattern - Spirit-conferral, present in one OT instance (Moses → Joshua), becomes a major NT category (Acts 8:17, 19:6) - The NT adds the warning against premature ordination (1 Tim 5:22) — recognizing that hand-laying creates liability

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Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, search_strongs.py (--lxx-map, --hebrew-source, --lookup) Last updated: 2026-05-05