Greek word · G2718
κατέρχομαι
katerchomai
to descend
To come or go down: down in height (from hills to coast, from land to sea), and by extension 'to arrive at' a place lower than where one started.
Appears 16 times in 16 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
κατ-έρχομαι
[in LXX: Tobit 1:22, א Tobit 2:1, Esther 3:13, Wisdom of Solomon 11:22, 2Ma.11:29 * ;]
to come down, go down: before εἰς, Luke 4:31, Acts 8:5 13:4 15:30 19:1, Τ; ἀπό, Luke 9:37, Acts 15:1 18:5 21:10; ἀπό and εἰς, Acts 11:27 12:10; of coming to port by ship, Acts 18:22 21:3 27:5; before πρός, with accusative of person(s), Acts 9:32; metaphorically, of gifts from God, James 3:15.†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
To come or go down: down in height (from hills to coast, from land to sea), and by extension 'to arrive at' a place lower than where one started.
- Against the English
Most versions keep 'came down'. NLT's 'arrived' loses the picture of descending from Jerusalem.
- How it drifted
Modern readers think of maps with north at the top and may take 'down' to mean 'south'. Caesarea is north-west of Jerusalem. The 'down' is about height and about where Jerusalem stood in people's minds: one always went 'up' to Jerusalem and 'down' from it.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Luke uses the same pattern elsewhere: Herod 'went down from Judea to Caesarea' (Acts 12:19); 'some men came down from Judea' to Antioch (15:1); prophets 'came down from Jerusalem to Antioch' (11:27, with the related verb κατῆλθον). The Septuagint and Jewish usage consistently speak of 'going up' (ἀναβαίνω) to Jerusalem and the temple.
- Range of meaning
To come or go down, whether from higher ground to lower, inland to coast, or capital to province.
- Against the English
All the major versions say "went down." The phrase is accurate, but modern readers can take "down" as "south" on a map. Samaria is north of Jerusalem.
- How it drifted
English map habits (north is "up"). Biblical "up" and "down" follow the land and the temple: people go "up" to Jerusalem and "down" from it.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Luke uses it for trips away from Jerusalem and Judea (Luke 4:31; Acts 9:32; 11:27; 12:19; 15:1). The matching phrase "go up to Jerusalem" is standard in the Septuagint and Luke-Acts.
Where it appears
Luke · 2
Acts · 13
-
Acts 8:5 κατελθὼν having gone down
Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them.
Here: An aorist participle: the going-down is finished before the proclaiming starts. Jerusalem stands high in the hill country, so in Luke-Acts every trip away from it is "down." The word describes the terrain. It is not a judgment on Samaria.
-
Acts 9:32 κατελθεῖν descending
As Peter traveled throughout the area, he went to visit the saints in Lydda.
-
Acts 11:27 κατῆλθον came down
In those days some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
-
Acts 12:19 κατελθὼν having gone down
After Herod had searched for him unsuccessfully, he examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent some time there.
-
Acts 13:4 κατῆλθον went down
So Barnabas and Saul, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.
-
Acts 15:1 κατελθόντες having come down
Then some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
Here: 'Having come down.' People 'went up' to Jerusalem in the hills and 'came down' from it (compare 'go up' in 15:2). The direction also carries a hint of coming from the centre of Jewish authority.
-
Acts 15:30 κατῆλθον went
So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they assembled the congregation and delivered the letter.
Here: Jerusalem sits high in the hills and was the religious centre, so travel away from it is always described as going "down" (compare 11:27; 12:19).
-
Acts 18:5 κατῆλθον came down
And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself fully to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.
Here: 'They came down.' Travellers in Greek regularly 'went down' when heading south or toward the coast, and here they come south from Macedonia to Corinth. It is ordinary travel language with no religious meaning.
-
Acts 18:22 κατελθὼν having landed
When Paul had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church at Jerusalem. Then he went down to Antioch.
-
Acts 19:1 κατελθεῖν to come down
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples
-
Acts 21:3 κατήλθομεν we disembarked
After sighting Cyprus and passing south of it, we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre, where the ship was to unload its cargo.
-
Acts 21:10 κατῆλθέν came down
After we had been there several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
Here: 'Came down': down in height, from the Judean hill country around Jerusalem to the coast. Caesarea actually lies north-west of Jerusalem, so this is not 'down' on a map.
-
Acts 27:5 κατήλθομεν we came
And when we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.
James · 1
-
James 3:15 κατερχομένη, coming down,
Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.
Here: Present participle of 'to come down, descend'. It pictures true wisdom as a gift that keeps coming down from God to people, not something they produce themselves.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.