Greek word · G2517

καθεξῆς

kathexēs

in order

'In order', 'in succession', 'one after another'. Used of a series of places, persons or events, or of an account given step by step.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

καθ-εξῆς

(= cl. ἑξῆς, ἐφεξῆς)

adv.,

1. successively, in order: Luke 1:3, Acts 11:4 18:23; τῶν κ.. (those that succeeded him), Acts 3:24.

2. afterwards: ἐν τῷ κ. (sc. χρόνῳ), Luke 8:1.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: 'In order', 'in succession', 'one after another'. Used of a series of places, persons or events, or of an account given step by step.
Against the English: KJV, WEB and YLT: 'in order'. BSB and ESV: 'an orderly account'. NASB: 'in consecutive order'. Modern readers usually take 'in order' to mean strictly chronological.
How it drifted: The modern idea of history as an exact timeline makes 'orderly' sound like a promise of exact chronology. The ancient word is broader: a well-arranged, connected sequence.
Used elsewhere in the period: Acts 11:4: Peter explains to the Jerusalem church 'in order' (kathexēs) what happened at Joppa and Caesarea, a coherent retelling meant to persuade. Acts 3:24: 'the prophets from Samuel and those in succession'. Acts 18:23: Paul passes 'one after another' through Galatia and Phrygia. Papias (in Eusebius, Church History 3.39.15) said Mark wrote accurately but 'not in order' (ou… taxei), which shows that early Christians cared about how a Gospel was arranged.

Range of meaning: 'In order, in sequence, one after another, successively.' It can describe the order of a narrative or the order of places or persons.
Against the English: KJV, WEB and YLT keep 'in order', and NASB has 'successively'. BSB 'from place to place' and some other modern versions turn it into a general sense of moving around, which loses Luke's point that this was an orderly, systematic circuit.
Used elsewhere in the period: Only Luke uses it in the New Testament. In Luke 1:3 he writes an 'orderly' (kathexēs) account. In Luke 8:1 Jesus goes 'through one town and village after another'. In Acts 3:24 the prophets come 'one after another', and in Acts 11:4 Peter explains 'in order'. It is also found in Hellenistic Greek prose and in papyri.

Range of meaning: "In order, one after another, in sequence." With the article (ἐν τῷ καθεξῆς, with a word like "time" understood) it means "in the following time, next, soon after."
Against the English: English versions give "soon afterward" (BSB, WEB), "afterward" (KJV), "thereafter" (YLT). All are fair. The literal sense, "next in order," is lost, but that does little harm here.
Used elsewhere in the period: In the New Testament it appears only in Luke's writings: Luke 1:3 ("an orderly account"), here, and Acts 3:24, 11:4 and 18:23. It is ordinary Greek of the period, found in papyri and literary writers. Compare the near-identical ἐν τῷ ἑξῆς in Luke 7:11.

Luke · 2

Luke 1:3 καθεξῆς with method

Therefore, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,

Here: An account that runs in a coherent sequence, each part following from the one before. In the New Testament only Luke uses it (Luke 8:1; Acts 3:24; 11:4; 18:23). It does not necessarily mean strict chronology.
Luke 8:1 καθεξῆς soon

Soon afterward, Jesus traveled from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with Him,

Here: "In what came next." It marks the time as soon after the previous episode, without giving a date. In the New Testament only Luke uses this word, the same one he uses in 1:3 for his "orderly" account.

Acts · 3

Acts 3:24 καθεξῆς subsequently

Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have proclaimed these days.

Here: "One after another, in sequence." It pictures an unbroken succession of spokesmen, not a scattered collection of individuals.
Acts 11:4 καθεξῆς in order

But Peter began and explained to them the whole sequence of events:
Acts 18:23 καθεξῆς successively

After Paul had spent some time in Antioch, he traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Here: 'In sequence.' Paul went town by town in an orderly route, not wandering at random. Luke is the only New Testament writer who uses this word (Luke 1:3; 8:1; Acts 3:24; 11:4).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.