Greek word · G2726
κατήφεια
katēpheia
gloominess
Dejection or gloom, specifically the downcast look: head bowed, eyes on the ground. The related adjective κατηφής means "with downcast eyes," and the word was used for the look of shame, embarrassment or deep sorrow.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
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
Dejection or gloom, specifically the downcast look: head bowed, eyes on the ground. The related adjective κατηφής means "with downcast eyes," and the word was used for the look of shame, embarrassment or deep sorrow.
- Against the English
"Gloom" (BSB, WEB) and "heaviness" (KJV) describe a mood. The Greek also describes a posture you can see, the bowed head of someone ashamed before a superior.
- How it drifted
English "gloom" now suggests depression or a dark mood that just settles on someone. The Greek points to a deliberate humbling, a refusal to look up as though you had standing.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Found in Greek writers of the period such as Plutarch, and in Hellenistic Jewish writers, for dejection and shame (per BDAG). Compare the tax collector in Luke 18:13, who "would not even lift up his eyes to heaven."
Where it appears
James · 1
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James 4:9 κατήφειαν. gloom.
Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
Here: The look of someone with head bowed and eyes on the ground, the posture of shame and humbling. It leads straight into "Humble yourselves" in verse 10. The word appears only here in the New Testament.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.