Greek word · G2657

κατανοέω

katanoeō

to observe

To notice or perceive; more often, to look at closely, observe carefully, consider, think something through.

Appears 14 times in 14 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

κατα-νοέω, -ῶ

[in LXX for נָבַט hi., רָאָה, etc. ;]

to take note of, perceive, consider carefully: Acts 7:31-32; with accusative of thing(s), Matthew 7:3, Luke 6:41 12:24, 27 20:23, Acts 11:6 27:39, Romans 4:19; with accusative of person(s), Hebrews 3:1 10:24, James 1:23-24 (on the distinction bet. κ. and νοέω simplex, see M, Pr., 117).†

(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 James 1:23

Range of meaning

To notice or perceive; more often, to look at closely, observe carefully, consider, think something through.

Against the English

KJV 'beholding', YLT 'viewing', BSB/WEB/NASB 'looks at' are neutral. ESV adds 'intently', which fits the usual force of the verb. NLT's 'glancing' goes the other way and is hard to support from the word.

How it drifted

Many sermons, and some paraphrases, turn this man into a careless glancer so that he can be contrasted with the doer who 'looks intently' in v. 25. The verb does not suggest a glance.

Used elsewhere in the period

Luke 12:24, 27 ('consider the ravens… the lilies'); Acts 7:31–32 (Moses going closer 'to look' at the bush); Acts 11:6 ('looking at it closely'); Romans 4:19 (Abraham 'considered' his own body as good as dead); Hebrews 3:1; 10:24. It can mean simply 'notice' (Luke 6:41; Acts 27:39), but attentive looking is the main sense (BDAG).

From the study of Hebrews 10:24

Range of meaning

To look at closely and take in fully; to notice; to study something until you understand it; to consider carefully. The prefix kata- adds intensity to noeō ('perceive, think'): this is looking that goes all the way down.

Against the English

BSB, NIV, ESV and NASB all add 'how to' ('consider how to spur…'). That makes the object of thought a strategy. KJV and YLT ('consider one another') keep the Greek structure, where the object is the people themselves. English 'consider' also tends to sound like 'ponder' or 'weigh options', when the Greek is closer to 'fix your gaze on'.

How it drifted

The 'how to' wording smooths out the grammar of the English sentence. Modern 'consider' has also weakened toward 'think about, take into account'.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Gospels it is used for looking hard at the ravens and lilies (Luke 12:24, 27) and for noticing the log in your own eye (Luke 6:41). Moses uses it when he goes closer to look at the burning bush (Acts 7:31–32), and James for a man studying his face in a mirror (Jas 1:23–24). Hebrews used it once before, at 3:1: 'consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.'

From the study of Matthew 7:3

Range of meaning

To notice, perceive, observe closely, consider carefully, fix the mind on (BDAG). The kata- prefix makes 'perceive' more intense: you look at something until you take it in.

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'consider' keep the idea of thinking it over. BSB 'fail to notice', ESV/NASB 'do not notice' and NIV 'pay no attention to' all work. The Latin Vulgate apparently uses the same verb (videre) for both halves of the verse, which blurs the contrast.

Used elsewhere in the period

Luke 12:24, 27 'consider the ravens… consider the lilies'. Acts 7:31–32, Moses goes closer 'to look into' the burning bush. Hebrews 3:1 'consider Jesus'. James 1:23–24 uses it of a man who looks at his face in a mirror, then goes away and forgets: a close parallel about not looking at yourself properly.

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 7:3 κατανοεῖς; notice?

    Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?

    Here: A stronger verb than 'look at' (blepō). It means to fix your attention on something and think it over. You glance easily at his speck, but you never stop to take in your own beam. Present tense: this keeps happening.

Luke · 4

  1. Luke 6:41 κατανοεῖς; notice?

    Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?

    Here: A stronger verb than 'look at': to fix one's attention on and think about. You glance at the splinter but never stop to take in the beam. Present tense: a habit.

  2. Luke 12:24 κατανοήσατε do consider

    Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds!

    Here: A command to look at something carefully and think it through, not to glance at it. The single, decisive form of the command means 'take a proper look, once and for all'. Luke repeats it for the lilies in v. 27.

  3. Luke 12:27 κατανοήσατε do consider

    Consider how the lilies grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.

  4. Luke 20:23 κατανοήσας having perceived

    But Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them,

Acts · 4

  1. Acts 7:31 κατανοῆσαι, to behold [it],

    When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight. As he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came to him:

  2. Acts 7:32 κατανοῆσαι. to look.

    ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.

    Here: The same verb as in v. 31, where Moses approached 'to examine' the bush. The curiosity that drew him in now stops: he no longer dares to study what is in front of him.

  3. Acts 11:6 κατενόουν I was observing [it]

    I looked at it closely and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air.

  4. Acts 27:39 κατενόουν they were noticing

    When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they sighted a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.

    Here: To look hard and take something in. As the light grew, the sailors studied the coast and made out the bay. The tense pictures them scanning the shoreline.

Romans · 1

  1. Romans 4:19 κατενόησεν he considered

    Without weakening in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the lifelessness of Sarah’s womb.

    Here: A strong verb of fixing your gaze and mind on something: 'he took a hard look at.' In the best-supported text Abraham looked his physical situation full in the face.

Hebrews · 2

  1. Hebrews 3:1 κατανοήσατε do carefully consider

    Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

    Here: A command (aorist imperative) to turn one's full attention on something and think it through, as in 'consider the ravens' (Luke 12:24). The aorist form presents it as a decisive act of looking hard, not a passing glance.

  2. Hebrews 10:24 κατανοῶμεν we may think

    And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.

    Here: 'Let us keep our eyes on…' The form is a call to the whole group ('let us'). The present tense pictures an ongoing habit, not a single act. It means looking hard at something until you understand it, and here what you look at is people.

James · 2

  1. James 1:23 κατανοοῦντι looking

    For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,

    Here: To look at something with attention and take it in. The man is actually studying his face, not just glancing. The present participle pictures him in the act of looking.

  2. James 1:24 κατενόησεν he has viewed

    and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

    Here: He really did look. The verb means to fix your eyes or mind on something, not to glance. The aorist tense presents the look as one complete act, a snapshot. Here it describes what typically happens, not one past event.

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