καθεύδω

Matthew 8:24 ἐκάθευδεν. was sleeping.

Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was engulfed by the waves. But Jesus was sleeping.

Here: Imperfect tense (an ongoing past state): he 'was sleeping' and went on sleeping through it all. The same Greek verb is used of Jonah asleep in the storm (Jonah 1:5, Greek Old Testament).

Matthew 9:24 καθεύδει. sleeps.

“Go away,” He told them. “The girl is not dead, but asleep.” And they laughed at Him.

Here: The ordinary word for sleeping, in the present tense: "she is sleeping." Jewish and biblical language also used it for the dead who will be woken (Dan 12:2). It sets up v. 25, where she "was raised / got up" (ēgerthē), a verb used both for waking from sleep and for rising from death.

Matthew 13:25 καθεύδειν to sleep

But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and slipped away.

Here: Ordinary night sleep. The present tense pictures an ongoing state, "while they were asleep", so the scene is night-time, when everyone is in bed and nobody is watching the fields.

Matthew 25:5 ἐκάθευδον.¶ were sleeping.

When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

Here: Imperfect tense, which describes an ongoing state: 'they were sleeping', 'they stayed asleep.' The scene is left there, everyone asleep, until the midnight cry of v. 6 breaks it.

Matthew 26:40 καθεύδοντας sleeping

Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter.

Here: Literally asleep. The present participle pictures them lying there in the middle of sleep. The same verb describes the bridesmaids who 'all slept' in Jesus' parable about staying ready (25:5).

Matthew 26:43 καθεύδοντας· sleeping;

And again Jesus returned and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

Here: 'Sleeping'. The present participle pictures them caught in the middle of sleeping. It is the opposite of the 'stay awake, keep watch' he had just told them to do (v.38, 41).

Matthew 26:45 καθεύδετε Sleep

Then He returned to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Here: The form can be read as 'you are sleeping' or as 'sleep!'. In Greek the two look the same. It may be a reproachful question ('Still sleeping?'), a statement, or a command full of irony ('Go on, sleep'). The supplied data tags it as a statement.

Mark 4:27 καθεύδῃ he may sleep

Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how.

Mark 4:38 καθεύδων. sleeping.

But Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him and said, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?”

Here: A present participle: 'being asleep', a continuing state. This is ordinary sleep. It is the same verb the Greek Old Testament uses for Jonah asleep in the ship during the storm (Jonah 1:5).

Mark 5:39 καθεύδει. sleeps.

He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep.”

Here: 'She is sleeping.' This is the everyday Greek word for sleep. Jesus calls her state something she will wake from, and in v. 41 he wakes her with 'get up'.

Mark 13:36 καθεύδοντας. sleeping.

Otherwise, he may arrive without notice and find you sleeping.

Here: "Sleeping," in a form that pictures an ongoing state: he walks in and you are out cold. It is the last word of the sentence and the exact opposite of the command to stay awake, so the warning ends on the failure itself.

Mark 14:37 καθεύδοντας καθεύδεις; sleeping, are you asleep?

Then Jesus returned and found them sleeping. “Simon, are you asleep?” He asked. “Were you not able to keep watch for one hour?

Here: Ongoing action: they were asleep when he arrived. This is ordinary physical sleep, but in Mark it is also the opposite of the alertness he demanded in 13:36.

Mark 14:40 καθεύδοντας· sleeping;

And again Jesus returned and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And they did not know what to answer Him.

Mark 14:41 καθεύδετε Are you sleeping

When Jesus returned the third time, He said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Here: The Greek form could be a statement ("you are sleeping"), a question ("are you sleeping?") or a command ("sleep!"). The same verb appears in Jesus' warning in 13:36: the master may come suddenly and "find you sleeping." Here it happens.

Luke 8:52 καθεύδει. sleeps.

Meanwhile, everyone was weeping and mourning for her. But Jesus said, “Stop weeping; she is not dead but asleep.”

Luke 22:46 καθεύδετε; are you sleeping?

“Why are you sleeping?” He asked. “Get up and pray so that you will not enter into temptation.”

Here: Present tense: 'are you sleeping', an ongoing state he breaks into. Literal sleep. In early Christian speech, sleeping was also a stock picture of being unready when the decisive hour comes (Mark 13:36; 1 Thess 5:6).

Ephesians 5:14 καθεύδων sleeping

So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Here: "The one who is sleeping." The present tense describes an ongoing state. The word picks up the night-and-darkness imagery of vv. 8–13: the sleeper is someone still living in the night, unaware and unresponsive.

1 Thessalonians 5:6 καθεύδωμεν we may sleep

So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.

Here: Present subjunctive used as an exhortation: 'let us not go on sleeping'. Here it is a picture, not literal sleep. It means moral and spiritual unawareness, being 'out of it' when the Day comes. It is a different verb from the one Paul used for the Christian dead in 4:13–15 (κοιμάω).

1 Thessalonians 5:7 καθεύδοντες καθεύδουσιν sleeping, sleep

For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.

Here: Present participle: "the ones sleeping", people who are asleep. Here this is ordinary nightly sleep, the plain fact Paul builds his picture on. In verse 6 the same verb meant being spiritually unaware.

1 Thessalonians 5:10 καθεύδωμεν we shall sleep

He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.

Here: "We are asleep." Most interpreters take it as a gentle way of saying "have died", like the "sleep" language for the dead in 4:13–15. A minority read it as spiritual drowsiness, as in v. 6 (see debates).