Greek word · G2520
καθήκω
kathēkō
be fit
To come down to, to belong to, to be fitting or proper. As a noun (to kathēkon, plural ta kathēkonta) it means what is fitting, one's duty, appropriate conduct.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
καθ-ήκω
[in LXX: impers., Leviticus 5:16, Ezekiel 21:27 (32), al. (מִשְׁפָּט); τὰ κ., Exodus 5:13, al. (דָבַר), etc. ;]
1. to come down, come to.
2. to be fit, proper: impers., with accusative and inf., Acts 22:22 (on the tense, see Bl., § 63, 4); τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα, Romans 1:28.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
To come down to, to belong to, to be fitting or proper. As a noun (to kathēkon, plural ta kathēkonta) it means what is fitting, one's duty, appropriate conduct.
- Against the English
The KJV has 'not convenient'. The WEB has 'not fitting', the YLT 'not seemly', and the BSB, NIV and ESV 'ought not to be done'. 'What is not fitting' keeps the original picture best.
- How it drifted
In 1611 'convenient' still had its Latin sense, 'suitable, fitting' (from convenire, 'to come together, to suit'). Modern readers hear 'inconvenient', which trivialises the line.
- Used elsewhere in the period
To kathēkon was the technical Stoic term for 'appropriate action'. Diogenes Laertius (7.107–108) says Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, coined it. Cicero translated it as officium, 'duty'. Hellenistic Jewish Greek also uses 'things not fitting' for wrong conduct (e.g. 2 Macc 6:4, of what was brought into the profaned temple).
- Range of meaning
From καθήκω, 'to come down to, reach'. Used impersonally it means 'it is fitting, proper, one's due or duty'. The neuter participle τὸ καθῆκον was the Stoic technical term for 'appropriate action' or duty. In everyday Koine and the Septuagint it describes what is right, required or appropriate (for example Deut 21:17 LXX, the firstborn's due portion; Rom 1:28 'things not fitting').
- Against the English
BSB, NIV and WEB say 'he is not fit to live'. That moves the idea from an impersonal judgment about what is right to a statement about the man's fitness or worth. ESV and NASB ('he should not be allowed to live') keep the sense of obligation and the past-tense force. KJV's 'it is not fit that he should live' keeps the impersonal construction but translates the later present-tense reading.
- How it drifted
In modern English 'fit' mostly means suitable, healthy or capable ('fit for the job', 'physically fit'). 'Not fit to live' then sounds like a verdict on what kind of person he is. The Greek speaks of propriety and obligation: it is not right, it goes against what ought to be, that he is alive.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Ancient Greek grammar treats the imperfect of verbs of necessity or propriety, used without ἄν, as expressing an obligation that is not being met (BDF §358). Compare ἔδει, 'it was necessary [but did not happen]'. Stoic literature (e.g. Epictetus) uses τὸ καθῆκον for duty. In the NT the verb appears only here and in Rom 1:28 (τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα).
Where it appears
Acts · 1
-
Acts 22:22 καθῆκεν it was proper
The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”
Here: An impersonal verb ('it is fitting') in the imperfect. With verbs of duty, this tense describes what ought to be true but is not: 'he ought not to be alive.' The sense is close to 'he should not have been allowed to live this long.'
Romans · 1
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Romans 1:28 καθήκοντα, being proper,
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
Here: Duties and fitting acts. In Greek moral philosophy (especially Stoic) this was the standard term for acts that suit a rational being. Paul says the darkened mind does what does not fit.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.