Greek word · G2709

καταχθόνιος

katachthonios

subterranean

"Beneath the earth, subterranean". In Greek religion it was a standard term for the realm of the dead and its deities (theoi katachthonioi, "gods of the underworld") and for the departed. It is not a technical term for a place of punishment.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

κατα-χθόνιος, -ον

(χθών, the earth),

subterranean, under the earth (in cl., of the infernal gods): of the departed in Hades, opposite to ἐπουράνιος, ἐπίγειος, Philippians 2:10.†

(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 Philippians 2:10

Range of meaning

"Beneath the earth, subterranean". In Greek religion it was a standard term for the realm of the dead and its deities (theoi katachthonioi, "gods of the underworld") and for the departed. It is not a technical term for a place of punishment.

Against the English

"Under the earth" is accurate. Modern readers, and readers of the Latin infernorum, often hear "hell" or "demons". The Greek points more broadly to the world of the dead.

How it drifted

The Latin Vulgate rendered it infernorum, "of those below". In medieval and later usage "infernal" came to mean hellish. So the verse was often read as the damned or the devils bowing.

Used elsewhere in the period

Homer, Iliad 9.457 ("Zeus katachthonios" = Hades); funerary inscriptions invoking underworld gods. Ignatius, To the Trallians 9.1 uses the same three-part list (heavenly, earthly, under the earth) for those who witnessed Christ's death. Revelation 5:13 has praise from creatures "in heaven and on earth and under the earth."

Similar words

Where it appears

Philippians · 1

  1. Philippians 2:10 καταχθονίων, under the earth,

    that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

    Here: "Of those beneath the earth". In Greek usage this word meant the realm of the dead and its powers. Most likely it means the dead in the underworld (Hades, Hebrew Sheol), not specifically a place of punishment. The word appears only here in the New Testament.

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