katabainō · go down, come down

What it means

katabainō (καταβαίνω) is a Greek word of the Bible that means “go down, come down”.

Descend.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To go downward from a high place, or come from heaven.

From Abbott-Smith (1922) · Thayer (1889)

Word study

To go down, come down; from heaven, to come from on high. It is a compound of κατά, “down”, and βαίνω, “go”. Its opposite is ἀναβαίνω, “go up” (G305).

• Going down from a place: from Jerusalem to Jericho, from a tree Luke 10:30Luke 19:5
• The Spirit coming down like a dove Matthew 3:16
• “I have come down from heaven” John 6:38John 3:13
• “Come down from the cross!” Matthew 27:40
• The Lord will descend; the new Jerusalem coming down 1 Thessalonians 4:16Revelation 21:2

How we translate it

“Come down” 20 times, “coming down” 16, “came down” 13, “went down” 13, “descended” 2. “Come down” serves both in ordinary movements (Luke 19:5) and for what comes from heaven (“I have come down from heaven”, John 6:38; Revelation 21:2); “will descend” in 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• come down ×20
• coming down ×16
• came down ×13
• went down ×13
• comes down ×4
• go down ×4
• descended ×2
• goes down ×2
• was going down ×2
• falling ×1
• others ×3

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Matthew×11
• Mark×6
• Luke×12
• John×17
• Acts×19
• Romans×1
• Ephesians×2
• 1 Thessalonians×1
• James×1
• Revelation×10

• Matthew 3:16

  And after being immersed, Jesus at once went up from the water; and look, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and coming upon him.

• Matthew 7:25

  And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

• Matthew 7:27

  And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew and struck that house, and it fell, and its fall was great.”

• Matthew 8:1

  When he had come down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.

• Matthew 11:23

  And you, Capernaum, you will not be exalted to heaven, will you? To Hades you will go down; for if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

• Matthew 14:29

  And he said, “Come.” And getting down from the boat, Peter walked on the waters and came to Jesus.

• Matthew 17:9

  And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell no one the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

• Matthew 24:17

  let the one on the housetop not come down to take the things out of his house;

• Matthew 27:40

  and saying, “You who would destroy the sanctuary and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

• Matthew 27:42

  “Others he saved; himself he cannot save. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.

• Matthew 28:2

  And look, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and was sitting on it.

• Mark 1:10

  And at once, as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit coming down like a dove to him.

• Mark 3:22

  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of the demons he drives out the demons.”

• Mark 9:9

  And as they were coming down from the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

• Mark 13:15

  let the one on the housetop not come down nor go in to take anything out of his house;

• Mark 15:30

  save yourself by coming down from the cross!”

• Mark 15:32

  Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe.” And those who were crucified with him were reviling him.

• Luke 2:51

  And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and he was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart.

• Luke 3:22

  and the Holy Spirit came down in bodily form, like a dove, upon him, and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased.”

• Luke 6:17

  And coming down with them, he stood on a level place, and there was a large crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coast of Tyre and Sidon,

• Luke 8:23

  And as they sailed, he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were being swamped and were in danger.

• Luke 9:54

  And when the disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

• Luke 10:30

  And Jesus replied and said, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among bandits, who also stripped him and laid blows on him and went away, leaving him half dead.

• Luke 10:31

  Now by chance a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

• Luke 17:31

  On that day, the one who is on the housetop, and his goods in the house, must not come down to take them; and likewise the one in the field must not turn back to the things behind.

• Luke 18:14

  I tell you, this man went down to his house declared righteous, rather than that one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

• Luke 19:5

  And when he came to the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”

• Luke 19:6

  And he hurried and came down and welcomed him rejoicing.

• Luke 22:44

  And being in anguish, he was praying more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

• John 1:32

  And John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and he remained on him.

• John 1:33

  And I did not know him, but the one who sent me to immerse in water, he said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who immerses in the Holy Spirit.’

• John 1:51

  And he says to him, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”

• John 2:12

  After this he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there not many days.

• John 3:13

  And no one has gone up into heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man.

• John 4:47

  When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was about to die.

• John 4:49

  The royal official says to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

• John 4:51

  And as he was already going down, his slaves met him, saying that his boy was alive.

• John 5:7

  The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am coming, another goes down before me.”

• John 6:16

  When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,

• John 6:33

  For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

And 40 more times.