ἐπισκην-όω G1981
to dwell upon, rest upon, overshadow
This verb combines the ideas of dwelling and overshadowing—to take up residence upon something or to rest upon it in a protective or empowering way. Paul uses it metaphorically in 2 Corinthians 12:9, where Christ's power will dwell upon or overshadow him. The classical sense involved being quartered in houses (military billets), but the New Testament usage is figurative: divine power taking up residence in weakness. The multilingual evidence shows interpretive spread: Spanish repose (rest), French habiter (dwell), German sich-niederlassen (settle down), all capturing the idea of abiding presence.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that Christ's power will 'dwell upon' him transforms military quartering language into a beautiful image of divine habitation. The cross-linguistic glosses reveal how translators navigate between spatial (dwell, settle) and relational (rest, repose) metaphors. The context of Paul's weakness suggests this is about power finding a home in vulnerability, making the tabernacle imagery particularly apt—God dwelling with his people. 1×
AR["تَحُلَّ"]·ben["তাঁবু-স্থাপন-করে"]·DE["sich-niederlassen"]·EN["might-dwell"]·FR["habiter"]·heb["תִּשְׁרֶה"]·HI["ठहरे"]·ID["berdiam"]·IT["abitare-sopra"]·jav["mapan"]·KO["거하시게"]·PT["habite"]·RU["обитала"]·ES["repose"]·SW["ikae"]·TR["konaklasn"]·urd["قیام-کرے"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἐπισκην-όω, to be quartered in, ταῖς οἰκίαις Refs 2nd c.BC+: metaphorically, dwell upon, ἡ δύναμις ἐ. ἐπί τινα NT