Greek word · G2736

κάτω

katō

under

κάτω: down, below, beneath, the lower region. ἄνω: up, above, the upper region. With a plural article, each becomes a noun phrase: 'the things/regions below' and 'the things/regions above.' In Jewish speech 'above' meant heaven and so could stand in for God himself.

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

κάτω

adv. (κατά), [in LXX for מַטָּה, תַּחַת and cogn. forms ;]

1. down, downwards (with verbs of motion), Matthew 4:6, Luke 4:9, John 8:6, 8, Acts 20:9.

2. below, beneath: Mark 14:66, Acts 2:19" (LXX) ; ἕως κ. (Ezekiel 1:27, al.), Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38. τὰ κ. (opposite to τ. ἄνω), John 8:23. Compar. κατωτέρω: ἀπὸ διετοῦς καὶ κ. (cf. 1 Chronicles 27:21), Matthew 2:16.†

(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 John 8:23

Range of meaning

κάτω: down, below, beneath, the lower region. ἄνω: up, above, the upper region. With a plural article, each becomes a noun phrase: 'the things/regions below' and 'the things/regions above.' In Jewish speech 'above' meant heaven and so could stand in for God himself.

Against the English

Most versions say 'from below / from above.' The KJV 'from beneath' can make a modern reader think of the underworld or hell. In this verse the parallel clause shows that 'below' means 'this world' (earth, the human sphere), not hell.

How it drifted

In popular imagination 'beneath' and 'below' became associated with hell. That association comes from later picture-language about the afterlife, not from this verse's own parallelism.

Used elsewhere in the period

John 3:31: 'the one who comes from above (anōthen) is above all; the one who is of the earth is of the earth and speaks as one of the earth.' 'Born from above' (anōthen, 3:3, 7) plays on the same up/down picture. Paul has 'the Jerusalem above' (Gal 4:26) and 'seek the things above' (ta anō, Col 3:1-2). Jewish writings of the time say the same thing about who can know what: 'those who dwell upon earth can understand only what is on earth, and he who is above the heavens can understand what is above the heavens' (4 Ezra 4:21). See also Wisdom of Solomon 9:16-17, where heavenly knowledge needs wisdom 'sent from on high.'

Where it appears

Matthew · 2

  1. Matthew 4:6 κάτω· down;

    “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

    Here: An adverb, 'downward': off the high edge of the temple complex.

  2. Matthew 27:51 κάτω bottom

    At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, and the rocks were split.

    Here: 'To the bottom.' Together with anōthen it describes a complete split, top to bottom.

Mark · 2

  1. Mark 14:66 κάτω below

    While Peter was in the courtyard below, one of the servant girls of the high priest came down

  2. Mark 15:38 κάτω. bottom.

    And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

    Here: 'Below, the bottom'. With 'from above' it makes the tear total and gives its direction: downward, the way an act from above would go, not upward like something torn by hands on the ground.

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 4:9 κάτω· down;

    Then the devil led Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down from here.

John · 1

  1. John 8:23 κάτω below

    Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.

    Here: 'The things below': the lower realm, meaning the earth as opposed to heaven. Verse 23 itself treats it as another way of saying 'this world' in the next clause.

Acts · 2

  1. Acts 2:19 κάτω, below,

    I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.

    Here: Luke's addition, matching 'above'. The two words frame the line: portents fill the whole world.

  2. Acts 20:9 κάτω down

    And a certain young man named Eutychus, seated in the window, was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third story and was picked up dead.

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