What does κατακυριεύω (katakyrieúō) mean in the Bible?
κατακυριεύω (katakyrieúō): Dominion exercised coercively or tyrannically over others; contrasts with legitimate authority.
Greek · G2634
κατακυριεύω
To master
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κατακυριεύωG2634
Pronunciationkatakyrieúō
What does κατακυριεύω (katakyrieúō) mean in the Bible?
κατακυριεύω (katakyrieúō): Dominion exercised coercively or tyrannically over others; contrasts with legitimate authority.
Full entry for κατακυριεύω (G2634) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2634?
The BSB source-word alignment has 4 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include lord it over (2), [and] overpowered (1), lording it over (1).
Where does κατακυριεύω (katakyrieúō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 20:25. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Peter (1), Acts (1), Mark (1), Matthew (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itlord it over2×Matthew 20:25, Mark 10:42
[and] overpowered1×Acts 19:16
lording it over1×1 Peter 5:3
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 20:25κατακυριεύουσινtolord it overVerb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person PluralMark 10:42κατακυριεύουσινtolord it overVerb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person PluralActs 19:16κατακυριεύσαςto[and] overpoweredVerb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular1 Peter 5:3κατακυριεύοντεςtolording it overVerb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 20:25
Aligned rows4
Books represented4
Matthew1Mark1Acts11 Peter1
Source forms
κατακυριεύουσιν2xkatakyrieuousinMatthew 20:25, Mark 10:42
κατακυριεύοντες1xkatakyrieuontes1 Peter 5:3
κατακυριεύσας1xkatakyrieusasActs 19:16
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural2xMatthew 20:25, Mark 10:42
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular1xActs 19:16
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural1x1 Peter 5:3
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Dominion exercised coercively or tyrannically over others; contrasts with legitimate authority.
Strong'sG2634
Lexical occurrences4 versesGreek text appearances4 timesWord forms2 forms4 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
to master
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Dominion exercised coercively or tyrannically over others; contrasts with legitimate authority.
to gain or exercise dominion (over);
aabsol. (Arist.);
Synonyms(κατεξουσιάζω) (see Swete, Mk., l.with)
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
4 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 20:25Verb Third Person Plural Present Active Indicative
κατακυριεύουσινkatakurieuousin
I exercise authority over, overpower
Read verseMark 10:42Verb Third Person Plural Present Active Indicative
κατακυριεύουσινkatakurieuousin
I exercise authority over, overpower
Read verseActs 19:16Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
κατακυριεύσαςkatakurieusav
I exercise authority over, overpower
Read verse1 Peter 5:3Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
κατακυριεύοντεςkatakurieuontev
I exercise authority over, overpower
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.
Grammatical Forms
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.
Form groups2Aligned forms4TensesPresent, AoristVoicesActive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicativestates a fact or reality2×
Present ActiveMatt 20:25 · Mark 10:422×
Participleverbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality2×
Aorist ActiveActs 19:161×
Present Active1 Pet 5:31×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 4 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present3aorist1
Voice
active4
Mood
participle2indicative2
NT Occurrences
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)
Word Origins
κατακυριεύω is built from these roots: