Lexicon :: Strong's G680 - haptomai

ἅπτω; 1 aorist participle ἅψας; (cf. Latin apto, German heften); [from Homer down];
1. properly, to fasten to, make adhere to; hence, specifically to fasten fire to a thing, to kindle, set on fire, (often so in Attic): λύχνον, Luke 8:16; Luke 11:33; Luke 15:8 (Aristophanes nub. 57; Theophrastus, char. 20 (18); Josephus, Antiquities 4, 3, 4); πῦρ, Luke 22:55 [T Tr text WH περιαψάντων]; πυράν, Acts 28:2 L T Tr WH.
2. Middle [present ἅπτομαι]; imperfect ἡπτόμην [Mark 6:56 R G Tr marginal reading]; 1 aorist ἡψάμην; in Sept. generally for נָגַע, הִגִּיעַ; properly, to fasten oneself to, adhere to, cling to (Homer, Iliad 8, 67);
a. to touch, followed by the object in genitive [Winers Grammar, § 30, 8 c.; Buttmann, 167 (146); cf. Donaldson, p. 483]: Matthew 8:3; Mark 3:10; Mark 7:33; Mark 8:22, etc.; Luke 18:15; Luke 22:51 — very often in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In John 20:17, μή μου ἅπτου is to be explained thus: Do not handle me to see whether I am still clothed with a body; there is no need of such an examination, "for not yet" etc.; cf. Baumg.-Crusius and Meyer at the passage [as given by Hackett in Bib. Sacr. for 1868, p. 779f, or B. D. American edition, p. 1813f].
b. γυναικός, of carnal intercourse with a woman, or cohabitation, 1 Corinthians 7:1, like the Latin tangere, Horace sat. 1, 2, 54: Terence, Heaut. 4, 4, 15, and the Hebrew נָגַע, Genesis 20:6; Proverbs 6:29 (Plato, de legg. viii. 840 a.; Plutarch, Alex. Magn c. 21).
c. with allusion to the levitical precept ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅπτεσθε, have no contact with the Gentiles, no fellowship in their heathenish practices, 2 Corinthians 6:17 (from Isaiah 52:11); and in the Jewish sense, μὴ ἅψῃ, Colossians 2:21 (the things not to be touched appear to be both women and certain kinds of food, so that, celibacy and abstinence from various kinds of food and drink are recommended; cf. DeWette at the passage [but also Meyer and Bp. Lightfoot; on the distinction between the stronger term ἅπτεσθαι (to handle?) and the more delicate θιγεῖν (to touch?) cf. the two commentators just named and Trench, § xvii. In classic Greek also ἅπτεσθαι is the stronger term, denoting often to lay hold of, hold fast, appropriate; in its carnal reference differing from θιγγάνειν by suggesting unlawfulness. θιγγάνειν, is used of touching by the hand as a means of knowledge, handling for a purpose; ψηλαφᾶν signifies to feel around with the fingers or hands, especially in searching for something, often to grope, fumble, cf. ψηλαφίνδα blindman's buff. Schmidt, chapter 10.]).
d. to touch i. e. assail: τινός, anyone, 1 John 5:18 (1 Chronicles 16:22, etc.).
[Compare: ἀν-, καθ-, περιάπτω.]

BLB Scripture Index of Thayer's