Topic
Comprehend
6 passages cited, from 1 classic reference work.
These works date from 1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Job 37:5ISBE
God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
- Isaiah 40:12ISBE
¶ Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
- John 1:5ISBE
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
- John 12:35ISBE
Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
- Romans 13:9ISBE
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy…
- Ephesians 3:18ISBE
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
In the reference works
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 6 references
kom-pre-hend': Used in a twofold sense in both the Old Testament and New Testament. This double meaning appears in two Hebrew and two Greek words which signify in turn
(1) mental or spiritual perception,
(2) capacity to hold or contain, as in a measure or in an all-inclusive principle, e.g.:
(1) yadha`, "to see with the eyes or the mind," hence, "know," "understand." Job was urged by Elihu to accept as inscrutable the ways of God, inasmuch as His operations in the physical world are so mighty and mysterious that "we cannot comprehend" them (Job 37:5). Modern science, in unveiling the secrets of Nature, is opening the way for a better understanding of God's creative purpose and plan.
katalambano, "to lay hold of," hence, mentally to apprehend: used of the spiritual capacity of the Christian "to comprehend (the Revised Version (British and American) "apprehend") with all saints" (Eph 3:18) the measureless love of God; and of the inability of the unrenewed heart to know or perceive the revelation of God made in Christ: "the darkness comprehended it not" (Joh 1:5 the Revised Version (British and American) "apprehended"; the Revised Version, margin "overcame"; compare Joh 12:35).
(2) kul, "to measure" or "contain," as grain in a bushel. So God's immeasurable greatness is seen in His being able to hold oceans in the hollow of His hand and "comprehend the dust of the earth in a measure" (Isa 40:12).
anakephalaioo, "to sum up under one head," e.g. love includes every other moral principle and process. The entire law on its manward side, says Paul, "is comprehended (the Revised Version (British and American) "summed up") in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Ro 13:9).
Dwight M. Pratt
Texts: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.