Epiballō combines epi (upon) + ballō (to throw, cast). It means to throw onto, lay upon, or put something on forcefully. It appears 18 times in the NT in varied contexts: clapping one's hands on someone in arrest, throwing a cloak on a colt, placing a patch on a garment, or falling upon something.
The most theologically charged use of epiballō is in Mark 14:46, where the crowd "laid hands" [epebalon] on Jesus to seize Him. The casual violence of arrest collides with the cosmic weight of the Passion. Later, in John 7:44, men wanted to arrest Jesus but could not — because "his hour had not yet come" (John 7:30). Epiballō reminds us that human hands lay hold of Jesus only when He permits it. The arrest is not a loss of control but a voluntary submission — the Good Shepherd laying down His life.