Greek word · G2527

καθόλου

katholou

at all

From κατά + ὅλου, 'according to the whole'. As an adverb it means 'entirely, in general, at all'. With a negative it means 'not at all, absolutely not'.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

καθόλου

(= καθ᾽ ὅλον and so in cl. bef. Arist.)

adv., [in LXX: Exodus 22:11(10) Amos 3:3-4; Ezekiel 13:3 (τὸ κ, μή = בִּלְתִּי), Dan LXX TH Dan.3:50* ;]

on the whole, in general: μή κ., not at all, Acts 4:18.†

(AS)

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

In depth

From the study of Acts 4:18

Range of meaning

From κατά + ὅλου, 'according to the whole'. As an adverb it means 'entirely, in general, at all'. With a negative it means 'not at all, absolutely not'.

Against the English

All the major versions render it 'at all'. NLT changes the angle to time ('never again'), which captures the total ban but loses the sense of 'not even a little'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in Hellenistic Greek, including the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) and Josephus, often in the phrase 'not at all'. This is its only New Testament occurrence. The related adjective καθολικός ('general, universal') later gave English the word 'catholic', but that later sense has nothing to do with this verse.

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 4:18 καθόλου at

    Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

    Here: With the negative it means 'not at all, absolutely not'. The ban is total. It is the only time this word appears in the New Testament.

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