Greek word · G4363

προσπίπτω

prospiptō

to fall/beat

To fall toward or against. It can mean to fall at someone's feet (Mark 5:33; 7:25, Luke 8:28) or to rush at, strike against, assault. Classical writers use it of attacks and of waves or winds hitting something.

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 31, 2026

What it means

προσ-πίπτω

[in LXX for נָפַל, נָגַע hi., כָּרַע ;]

1. to fall upon, strike against: with dative, of wind, Matthew 7:25.

2. to fall down at one's feet, fall prostrate before: absol., before πρός, Mark 7:25; with dative of person(s), Mark 3:11 5:33, Luke 8:28, Acts 16:29; τ. γόνασιν, Luke 5:8.†

(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 Matthew 7:25

Range of meaning: To fall toward or against. It can mean to fall at someone's feet (Mark 5:33; 7:25, Luke 8:28) or to rush at, strike against, assault. Classical writers use it of attacks and of waves or winds hitting something.
Against the English: 'Beat upon' (KJV), 'beat against' (BSB/WEB/most). This is accurate, but English cannot carry the link between 'fell against' and 'did not fall'.
Used elsewhere in the period: BDAG gives 'fall upon, strike against' for this verse, and 'fall down before' elsewhere. In v. 27 Matthew changes the verb to prosekopsan ('struck against, dashed against') for the foolish man's house. That verb fits a house that is about to go down.

From the study of Acts 16:29

Range of meaning: To fall toward or before someone, to throw oneself down in front of a person, usually to plead or show reverence. It can also mean to strike against something, as when wind 'beats against' a house in Matthew 7:25.
Against the English: 'Fell down before' (KJV, YLT, WEB, ESV, NASB) and 'fell before' (BSB, NIV). Both are accurate, but in modern English 'fell down' can suggest losing one's balance. The Greek describes a deliberate prostration.
How it drifted: In older English 'to fall down before' someone was standard for kneeling or prostrating. Today 'fell' mostly means an accidental fall, so the act of bowing can be lost.
Used elsewhere in the period: Luke uses the word for people throwing themselves down before Jesus in fear or pleading: Peter in Luke 5:8 ('fell at Jesus' knees'), the man with demons in Luke 8:28, and especially the woman healed of bleeding in Luke 8:47, who 'came trembling and fell down before him'. Mark 5:33 has the same pairing of trembling and falling down. In ordinary Greek of the period the posture belongs to petitioners before officials and to worshippers before gods.

From the study of Luke 5:8

Range of meaning: προσπίπτω: to fall toward or before someone. It is used for a suppliant's or worshipper's prostration, and also for a storm 'beating against' a house (Matt 7:25). γόνυ: knee. To kneel or fall at the knees was a standard gesture of begging and submission.
Against the English: 'Fell at Jesus' knees' is accurate. Some readers picture a calm kneeling in prayer, but the verb pictures a sudden collapse.
Used elsewhere in the period: In Greek literature, suppliants clasped the knees of the person they begged (a common motif in Homer). In Luke, people fall before Jesus when they meet his power: the possessed man (8:28), Jairus (8:41, a related verb), the healed woman (8:47), the Samaritan leper (17:16).

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

Matthew 7:25 προσέπεσαν beat

The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock.

Here: Literally 'fell against'. All three forces throw themselves at the house. The verb is built on 'fall' (piptō), which sets up the wordplay with 'it did not fall' a moment later.

Mark · 3

Mark 3:11 προσέπιπτον they were falling down

And when the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!”

Here: Throwing oneself down at someone's feet. In the ancient world this was the posture of a subject before a superior power, or of someone begging for mercy. Here it shows the spirits giving way before Jesus' superior authority. It is not a sign of devotion.
Mark 5:33 προσέπεσεν she fell down

Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him trembling in fear, and she told Him the whole truth.
Mark 7:25 προσέπεσεν she fell

Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit soon heard about Jesus, and she came and fell at His feet.

Here: She threw herself down before him, the posture of a desperate petitioner. It is the main verb of the sentence, so everything else leads up to this act.

Luke · 3

Luke 5:8 προσέπεσεν fell at

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”

Here: He throws himself down in front of someone. Luke uses the same verb for the possessed man (8:28) and the bleeding woman (8:47) falling before Jesus. It is the posture of someone overwhelmed by superior power, either begging or bowing in submission.
Luke 8:28 προσέπεσεν he fell down before

When the man saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, shouting in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You not to torture me!”

Here: He throws himself down at Jesus' feet. This is the posture of someone beaten or begging a superior for mercy. It does not have to mean worship.
Luke 8:47 προσπεσοῦσα having fallen down

Then the woman, seeing that she could not escape notice, came trembling and fell down before Him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched Him and how she had immediately been healed.

Acts · 1

Acts 16:29 προσέπεσεν he fell down before

Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

Here: He threw himself down in front of them. This is a deliberate bow to the ground, the posture of someone pleading with or honouring a superior. He did not simply collapse.

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