Bible Dictionaries
Contain

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

signifies (a), lit., "to give space, make room" (chora, "a place"); hence, transitively, "to have space or room for a thing, to contain," said of the waterpots as "containing" a certain quantity, John 2:6; of a space large enough to hold a number of people, Mark 2:2; of the world as not possible of "containing" certain books, John 21:25; (b) "to go," Matthew 15:17; "to have place," John 8:37; "to come," 2 Peter 3:9; (c) metaphorically, "of receiving with the mind," Matthew 19:11,12; or "into the heart," 2 Corinthians 7:2 . See COME (No. 24), GO, PLACE, RECEIVE, ROOM.

lit., "to have round" (peri, "around," echo, "to have"), means "to encompass, enclose, contain," as a writing contains details, 1 Peter 2:6 . Some mss. have it in Acts 23:25 , lit., "having this form" (the most authentic have echo, "to have"). For the secondary meaning, "amazed" (AV, "astonished"), Luke 5:9 (lit., "amazement encompassed," i.e., seized, him).

Notes: (1) The verb allegoreo in Galatians 4:24 , RV, is translated "contain an allegory" (AV, "are an allegory"), i.e., they apply the facts of the narrative to illustrate principles. (2) In Ephesians 2:15 "the law of commandments contained in ordinances" is, lit., "the law of commandments in ordinances." (3) In Romans 2:14 , the RV, translating literally, has "the things of the Law;" the AV inserts the words "contained in." (4) In 1 Corinthians 7:9 , for the AV, "if they cannot contain," see CONTINENCY.