Greek word · G4782
συγκαταβαίνω
synkatabainō
to descend with
'To go down together with' (syn, 'with', + kata, 'down', + bainō, 'go'). In other Greek writers it can also mean to stoop or condescend, and the related noun later became a theological word for God 'stooping' to human level. Here it is purely physical travel.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
συν-κατα-βαίνω
(Rec. συγκ-), [in LXX: Psalms 49:17 (יָרַד), Wisdom of Solomon 10:13, Dan LXX TH 3:49 * ;]
to go down with: Acts 25:5. In late writers also metaphorically (Wis, l.with), to condescend, on WH. see Rutherford, NPhr., 485 f.†
(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 go down together with' (syn, 'with', + kata, 'down', + bainō, 'go'). In other Greek writers it can also mean to stoop or condescend, and the related noun later became a theological word for God 'stooping' to human level. Here it is purely physical travel.
- Against the English
'Go down with me' (KJV, WEB); BSB 'come down with me'. NIV and NLT drop the 'down', which loses a detail of the geography.
- Used elsewhere in the period
This is its only use in the New Testament. 'Going down' from Jerusalem is standard Jewish and biblical idiom, since Jerusalem stands high in the hills (about 750 m) and Caesarea is on the coast (Acts 25:6, 7; compare 'go up to Jerusalem', 25:1, 9).
Where it appears
Acts · 1
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Acts 25:5 συγκαταβάντες, having gone down too,
So if this man has done anything wrong, let some of your leaders come down with me and accuse him there.”
Here: 'Having gone down together [with me]': to travel down from Jerusalem in the hills to Caesarea on the coast in Festus' company. The 'with' is built into the verb.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.