Greek word · G2610

καταγωνίζομαι

katagōnizomai

to conquer

To struggle against and overcome, to defeat an opponent, to subdue. It is built on agōn, 'contest or struggle', the word for athletic and military struggle, and kata, 'down'. Hellenistic Greek used it for winning a war or defeating a rival.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

κατ-αγωνίζομαι depon., "perfective" compound (M, Pr., 116);

1. to struggle against.

2. to conquer, overcome: Hebrews 11:33.†

(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 Hebrews 11:33

Range of meaning

To struggle against and overcome, to defeat an opponent, to subdue. It is built on agōn, 'contest or struggle', the word for athletic and military struggle, and kata, 'down'. Hellenistic Greek used it for winning a war or defeating a rival.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'subdued' and BSB/NIV/ESV/NASB 'conquered' are both accurate. NLT's 'overthrew' is stronger than the word strictly requires but fits the military stories. None of them keeps the sense of a hard-fought contest carried in agōn, a word Hebrews takes up again in 12:1 ('let us run the race [agōn] set before us').

Used elsewhere in the period

This is its only New Testament use. Hellenistic historians such as Polybius and Josephus use it for military defeat of enemies. In early Christian writing the Martyrdom of Polycarp (19:2) uses it for Polycarp 'having overcome the unjust ruler through endurance'. That is a telling later use: the same word for victory is applied to a martyr who died.

Similar words

Where it appears

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 11:33 κατηγωνίσαντο conquered

    who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions,

    Here: Literally 'fought down', from the vocabulary of contest and battle (agōn). The word appears only here in the New Testament. It recalls the military victories of the judges and of David over Canaanite, Midianite, Ammonite and Philistine powers.

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