Describe the “snatching away” of believers. Embracing the Rapture The word rapture comes from the Latin term raptus which means “to seize.” The Latin word is based on the Greek term harpadzo (1 Thessalonians 4:17), meaning “caught up” or “to grab or seize suddenly so as to remove or gain control of.” Most would naturally react to being grabbed or seized. We want to reserve control over our most intimate and personal space. To be suddenly stripped of that control is surely a threatening situation.