What does καταφιλέω (kataphiléō) mean in the Bible?
καταφιλέω (kataphiléō) is a Greek word meaning "to kiss earnestly".
Greek · G2705
καταφιλέω
To kiss earnestly
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καταφιλέω G2705
Pronunciation kataphiléō
What does καταφιλέω (kataphiléō) mean in the Bible?
καταφιλέω (kataphiléō) is a Greek word meaning "to kiss earnestly".
Full entry for καταφιλέω (G2705) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2705?
The BSB source-word alignment has 6 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include kissed (3), [and] kissed (1), kissing (1), she kissed (1).
Where does καταφιλέω (kataphiléō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 26:49. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (3), 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 It kissed 3× Matthew 26:49, Mark 14:45, Luke 15:20
[and] kissed 1× Acts 20:37
kissing 1× Luke 7:45
she kissed 1× Luke 7:38
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 26:49 κατεφίλησεν to kissed Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Mark 14:45 κατεφίλησεν to kissed Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 7:38 κατεφίλει to she kissed Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 7:45 καταφιλοῦσά to kissing Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Feminine Singular Luke 15:20 κατεφίλησεν to kissed Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Acts 20:37 κατεφίλουν to [and] kissed Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 26:49
Aligned rows 6
Books represented 4
Matthew 1 Mark 1 Luke 3 Acts 1
Source forms
κατεφίλησεν 3x katephilēsen Matthew 26:49, Mark 14:45, Luke 15:20
καταφιλοῦσά 1x kataphilousa Luke 7:45
κατεφίλει 1x katephilei Luke 7:38
κατεφίλουν 1x katephiloun Acts 20:37
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 3x Matthew 26:49, Mark 14:45, Luke 15:20
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Acts 20:37
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Luke 7:38
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Feminine Singular 1x Luke 7:45
Evidence Summary
Greek word. to kiss earnestly
Strong's G2705
Lexical occurrences 6 verses Greek text appearances 6 times Word forms 2 forms 6 references Verse guides 0 guides
Source Gloss
to kiss earnestly
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
6 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 26:49 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
κατεφίλησεν katefilhsen
I kiss affectionately
Read verse Mark 14:45 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
κατεφίλησεν katefilhsen
I kiss affectionately
Read verse Luke 7:38 Verb Third Person Singular Imperfect Active Indicative
κατεφίλει katefilei
I kiss affectionately
Read verse Luke 7:45 Verb Present Active Participle Nominative Singular Feminine
καταφιλοῦσά katafilousa
I kiss affectionately
Read verse Luke 15:20 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
κατεφίλησεν katefilhsen
I kiss affectionately
Read verse Acts 20:37 Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Active Indicative
κατεφίλουν katefiloun
I kiss affectionately
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 groups 2 Aligned forms 6 Tenses Aorist, Imperfect, Present Voices Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 5×
Aorist Active Matt 26:49 · Mark 14:45 · Luke 15:20 3×
Imperfect Active Luke 7:38 · Acts 20:37 2×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 1×
Present Active Luke 7:45 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 6 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist 3 imperfect 2 present 1
Voice
active 6
Mood
indicative 5 participle 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 26:49 κατεφίλησεν aorist active indicative completed Mark 14:45 κατεφίλησεν aorist active indicative completed Luke 7:38 κατεφίλει imperfect active indicative background Luke 7:45 καταφιλοῦσά present active participle participle Luke 15:20 κατεφίλησεν aorist active indicative completed Acts 20:37 κατεφίλουν imperfect active indicative background
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)
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain