To descend (literally or figuratively)
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Katabaino means to go down, descend, come down, or move from a higher place to a lower one. Matthew uses it for the Spirit descending on Jesus, rain coming down against a house, Jesus descending from a mountain, and Capernaum going down to Hades in judgment.
Reader summary
Full entry for καταβαίνω (G2597) · Open the biblical lexicon
Katabaino means to go down, descend, come down, or move from a higher place to a lower one. Matthew uses it for the Spirit descending on Jesus, rain coming down against a house, Jesus descending from a mountain, and Capernaum going down to Hades in judgment.
The BSB source-word alignment has 81 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include came down (7), come down (7), coming down (5), descending (5), went down (5).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 3:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (19), John (17), Luke (13), Matthew (11).
This entry includes 3 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
Katabaino means to go down, descend, come down, or move from a higher place to a lower one. Matthew uses it for the Spirit descending on Jesus, rain coming down against a house, Jesus descending from a mountain, and Capernaum going down to Hades in judgment. The verb can name physical movement, divine manifestation, natural action, or figurative abasement; descent is not inherently humiliation or evil.
Readers should resist turning every downward motion into incarnation, judgment, or spiritual decline. Each passage supplies the mover, starting point, destination, manner, and outcome. Canonically, God's condescension and Jesus' path give some descents theological weight, while ordinary movement remains ordinary.
Katabaino names downward movement. Matthew's witnesses range from the Spirit's descent and falling rain to geographic travel and a city's figurative descent under judgment.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him.
Matthew 3:16 says Jesus sees the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him after baptism. The movement marks divine anointing and revelation.
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.
Matthew 7:25 says rain came down, floods rose, and winds struck the wise builder's house, which stood because it was founded on rock.
The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”
Matthew 7:27 repeats the descending rain against the foolish builder's house, whose collapse reveals the consequence of hearing without doing.
When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him.
Matthew 8:1 says Jesus came down from the mountain and large crowds followed Him. The geographic transition carries the Sermon into enacted ministry.
And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.
Matthew 11:23 says exalted Capernaum will go down to Hades because it failed to repent despite mighty works. The vertical image expresses judgment and reversal.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Descent from a higher to lower position, often emphasizing movement from heaven or elevated status downward.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 80 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I go down, come down
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
How this verb appears across 79 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 80 lexical occurrence verses.
καταβαίνω is built from these roots:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Katabaino reminds interpreters that motion words serve stories before they become themes. The Spirit's descent at Jesus' baptism is a revelatory act identifying and empowering the beloved Son. Rain descends on both houses, so the difference lies not in exposure to storms but in whether hearing becomes obedience. Jesus simply comes down from the mountain, moving authoritative teaching into healing and encounter.
Capernaum's descent to Hades is figurative judgment against self-exaltation and unrepentance. Churches should teach these distinctions rather than making down automatically negative or every descent a type of incarnation. When canonical synthesis is warranted, God's gracious movement toward His people and the reversal of pride can be named with textual anchors.
Matt.3.16
Katabaino combines kata, down, with baino, to go or step. It denotes descending or coming down and can be used literally, naturally, or figuratively according to subject and destination.
God descends at Sinai, rain descends as blessing or judgment, prophets descend from mountains, and proud cities are brought low. These patterns remain distinct.