ISBE
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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia · 1915

Conception

kon-sep'-shun, kon-sev' (harah, and derivatives; sullambano):

Physically, the beginning of a new life in the womb of a mother, "to catch on," used thus some forty times, as in Genesis 3:16; 4:1; Psalms 51:5. Metaphorically, applied to the start and growth within the heart, of thought, purpose, desire, e.g. "conceive mischief" (Job 15:35; Psalms 7:14), "conceive chaff" (Isaiah 33:11). This figure is carried out in details in James 1:15: "Lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin."

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, James Orr, general editor (Chicago: Howard-Severance, 1915). Public domain. Text as published by biblestudytools.com. From the Encyclosphere, the open network of encyclopedias run by the Knowledge Standards Foundation.