Greek word · G2621

κατάκειμαι

katakeimai

to recline

To lie down. It is used of the sick lying in bed (Mark 1:30; Acts 9:33) and, in meal settings, of reclining on a couch to eat.

Appears 12 times in 12 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated November 01, 2026

What it means

κατά-κειμαι

1. to lie down.

2. to lie sick: Mark 1:30 2:4, John 5:6, Acts 28:8; before ἐπί with genitive, Acts 9:33; id. with accusative, Luke 5:25; ἐν, John 5:3.

3. to recline at meals (cf. ἀνάιειμαι): Mark 14:3, Luke 5:29; before ἐν, Mark 2:15, Luke 7:37, 1 Corinthians 8:10.†

(AS)

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

Range of meaning: To lie down. It is used of the sick lying in bed (Mark 1:30; Acts 9:33) and, in meal settings, of reclining on a couch to eat.
Against the English: KJV 'sat at meat' and BSB/NLT 'dining' or 'eating' let modern readers picture chairs around a table. The Greek shows a reclining banquet, and the scene does not work without it.
How it drifted: English idiom ('sit at table') and modern furniture. The KJV's 'sat at meat' was an idiom even in 1611.
Used elsewhere in the period: Greco-Roman banquet custom: guests lay on their left elbow on couches around a low table, feet extended outward. Hellenistic Jewish society took this up for formal meals and festivals; the Passover tradition later required reclining as a mark of free people (Mishnah Pesahim 10:1). Luke uses the same word for the banquet at Levi's house (5:29).

Range of meaning: To lie down. It is used of the sick or disabled laid out on mats or beds (Mark 1:30; 2:4; Acts 9:33; 28:8), and also of reclining at a meal (Mark 2:15).
Against the English: 'Lying there' (BSB, WEB), 'lie' (KJV). All accurate.
Used elsewhere in the period: The same verb describes the 'multitude' of the sick in v.3 (katekeito plēthos). Acts 9:33 uses almost the same phrase for Aeneas, who 'had been lying on a mat for eight years'.

Range of meaning: 'To lie down'. It is used of the sick lying in bed (Mark 1:30; 2:4) and of diners reclining at a formal meal (Mark 2:15; Luke 5:29; 1 Cor 8:10).
Against the English: KJV 'sat at meat' and the common 'at the table' suggest chairs. Diners in fact lay on their left side on couches or cushions, heads toward a low table and feet stretched away from it.
How it drifted: English translators described the posture they knew. In early modern English 'meat' also meant food in general, a sense that has since narrowed.
Used elsewhere in the period: Reclining at banquets was standard in the Greco-Roman world and had been adopted by Jews for festive meals. The Mishnah (Pesachim 10:1) later requires even the poorest Israelite to recline at the Passover meal as a mark of free people.

Mark · 4

Mark 1:30 κατέκειτο was laying sick

Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever, and they promptly told Jesus about her.
Mark 2:4 κατέκειτο. was lying.

Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat.
Mark 2:15 κατακεῖσθαι reclining

While Jesus was dining at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Him and His disciples—for there were many who followed Him.

Here: To recline on one's side at a formal meal. Guests did this at banquets and festive dinners, not at an everyday snack, so this is a proper dinner party.
Mark 14:3 κατακειμένου when is reclining

While Jesus was in Bethany reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke open the jar and poured it on Jesus’ head.

Here: Jesus is lying on his side on a couch or cushion, propped on his left elbow, in the formal banquet posture. A festive meal is in progress. 'Sat at table' misses this.

Luke · 3

Luke 5:25 κατέκειτο, he was lying,

And immediately the man stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.
Luke 5:29 κατακείμενοι. reclining.

Then Levi hosted a great banquet for Jesus at his house. A large crowd of tax collectors was there, along with others who were eating with them.
Luke 7:37 κατάκειται reclines back

When a sinful woman from that town learned that Jesus was dining there, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume.

Here: 'He is reclining', lying on a couch at a formal meal. The present tense keeps the reported news vivid. The posture explains v.38: his feet stretched out behind him, away from the table, where she could stand.

John · 2

John 5:3 κατέκειτο were lying

On these walkways lay a great number of the sick, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.
John 5:6 κατακείμενον, lying,

When Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had spent a long time in this condition, He asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

Here: 'Lying there', the normal word for a sick person laid out on a mat (Mark 2:4; Acts 9:33). The present tense pictures his ongoing condition, and it repeats the word used of the whole crowd in v.3.

Acts · 2

Acts 9:33 κατακείμενον lying

There he found a man named Aeneas who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years.
Acts 28:8 κατακεῖσθαι· [was] lying;

The father of Publius was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after praying and placing his hands on him, he healed the man.

Here: He was lying down, which means bedridden. The New Testament uses this verb for sick people confined to bed (Mark 1:30; Acts 9:33).

1 Corinthians · 1

1 Corinthians 8:10 κατακείμενον, eating,

For if someone with a weak conscience sees you who are well informed eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols?

Here: Lying on a dining couch at a formal banquet. It pictures the believer as a full guest at a meal in a god's house, not someone grabbing a quick bite.

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