Greek word · G2598

καταβάλλω

kataballō

to lay/throw down

To throw down, strike down, fell. Used of knocking an enemy down in battle, throwing an opponent in wrestling, cutting down trees, demolishing walls. In the middle voice it can mean to lay down a foundation (Heb 6:1; compare katabolē, "foundation").

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

κατα-βάλλω

[in LXX chiefly for נָפַל hi. ;]

1. to cast down, prostrate: metaphorically, pass., 2 Corinthians 4:9.

2. to put down, lay down: metaphorically, mid., with accusative, θεμέλιον, Hebrews 6:1.†

(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 2 Corinthians 4:9

Range of meaning

To throw down, strike down, fell. Used of knocking an enemy down in battle, throwing an opponent in wrestling, cutting down trees, demolishing walls. In the middle voice it can mean to lay down a foundation (Heb 6:1; compare katabolē, "foundation").

Against the English

BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV and NASB have "struck down"; KJV and YLT have "cast down"; NLT has "knocked down." All describe something physical, but KJV's "cast down" is now usually heard as an emotional word.

How it drifted

"Cast down" in modern church English mostly means "discouraged, depressed," largely because of the KJV of Psalm 42:5, 11 ("Why art thou cast down, O my soul?"). There the Hebrew describes the soul bowed low. Here the Greek describes a body thrown to the ground.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in classical and Hellenistic Greek for felling an opponent in war or in the wrestling ring, and for cutting down trees. In the New Testament it is otherwise used only in Heb 6:1 (laying a foundation) and as a variant in Rev 12:10.

Where it appears

2 Corinthians · 1

  1. 2 Corinthians 4:9 καταβαλλόμενοι being struck down

    persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

    Here: "Being thrown to the ground." The language of a fighter felled in battle or a wrestler thrown flat. It is physical: knocked down, not "downcast" in mood.

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 6:1 καταβαλλόμενοι laying

    Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith in God,

    Here: The ordinary Greek idiom for laying a foundation. Present tense, 'not engaged in laying again'. The middle voice has the sense of laying it for oneself.

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