Im working my way through John in preparation for my class on John next year. Sometimes, the selection of the word meaning/translation from BDAG is obvious and simple, occasionally I come across a word where multiple, quite distinct/different senses seem to be possible, for example, κατέλαβεν:
καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει, καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν.
In this case it seems that perhaps the following could also apply:
2. to gain control of someone through pursuit, catch up with, seize
a. of authority figures catch up with, overtake
3. to come upon someone, with implication of surprise, catch
a. of moral authorities catch, detect
b. of a thief: in imagery of the coming of ‘the day’, unexpected by the ‘children of darkness’ and fraught w. danger for them
4. to process information, understand, grasp
a. learn about someth. through process of inquiry, mid. grasp, find, understand
So my question is, how are these types of things decided? Is there something simple I am missing, are there commentaries (especially on John) that get down to this level of detail that I might be able to refer to?