What does κλίνω (klínō) mean in the Bible?
Κλίνω (klínō) means to incline, bend, bow, or lay something down. Its New Testament uses are concrete and varied: the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head (Matt.
Greek · G2827
κλίνω
To bow/lay down
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κλίνω G2827
Pronunciation klínō
What does κλίνω (klínō) mean in the Bible?
Κλίνω (klínō) means to incline, bend, bow, or lay something down. Its New Testament uses are concrete and varied: the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head (Matt.
Reader summary
Full entry for κλίνω (G2827) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2827?
The BSB source-word alignment has 7 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include to lay (2), [and] put (1), bowed (1), bowing (1), is almost over (1).
Where does κλίνω (klínō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 8:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Luke (4), Hebrews (1), John (1), Matthew (1).
What This Word Actually Means
Κλίνω (klínō) means to incline, bend, bow, or lay something down. Its New Testament uses are concrete and varied: the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head (Matt. 8:20), the day bends toward evening (Luke 9:12), the women bow their faces at the empty tomb (Luke 24:5), and Jesus bows His head as He yields up His spirit (John 19:30).
John's passion narrative gives the word its most solemn setting. After receiving the sour wine and declaring, “It is finished,” Jesus bows His head and yields His spirit. The verb contributes to the bodily description of His real death, while the surrounding Gospel reveals that His death completes the work entrusted to Him. The word alone does not prove that Jesus controlled every physiological detail or that bowing itself carries a hidden sacramental meaning. The theological weight comes from John's narrative, Jesus' final declaration, and the Gospel's witness to the Son's willing obedience.
For teaching, κλίνω helps readers attend to embodied details without turning them into speculative codes. Jesus truly suffered and died. His bowed head belongs to the finished work of the crucified Son, and the next movement of the Gospel leads toward the pierced side, burial, empty tomb, and resurrection witness.
Canonical parallelPassage contextBook context
How the Bible Uses It
The verb ranges from ordinary inclining and laying down to the solemn bodily detail of Jesus bowing His head at death.
- Matt.8.20
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”
The verb serves Jesus' warning about the cost and insecurity of following the Son of Man.
- Luke.24.5
As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?
The women's bodily response gives way to the resurrection announcement that redirects their search.
- John.19.30
When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished.” And bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit.
John records Jesus' real death immediately after His declaration that the entrusted work is finished.
- Heb.11.34
Quenched the raging fire, and escaped the edge of the sword; who gained strength from weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.
In this distinct military use, the verb describes armies being turned or put to flight.
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 to lay 2× Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58
[and] put 1× Hebrews 11:34
bowed 1× Luke 24:5
bowing 1× John 19:30
is almost over 1× Luke 24:29
neared its end 1× Luke 9:12
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 8:20 κλίνῃ to to lay Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 9:12 κλίνειν to neared its end Verb - Present Infinitive Active Luke 9:58 κλίνῃ to to lay Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular Luke 24:5 κλινουσῶν to bowed Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Feminine Plural Luke 24:29 κέκλικεν to is almost over Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular John 19:30 κλίνας to bowing Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular Hebrews 11:34 ἔκλιναν to [and] put Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 8:20
Aligned rows 7
Books represented 4
Matthew 1 Luke 4 John 1 Hebrews 1
Source forms
κλίνῃ 2x klinē Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58
ἔκλιναν 1x eklinan Hebrews 11:34
κέκλικεν 1x kekliken Luke 24:29
κλίνας 1x klinas John 19:30
κλίνειν 1x klinein Luke 9:12
κλινουσῶν 1x klinousōn Luke 24:5
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular 2x Matthew 8:20, Luke 9:58
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Plural 1x Hebrews 11:34
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular 1x John 19:30
Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1x Luke 24:29
Verb - Present Infinitive Active 1x Luke 9:12
Verb - Present Participle Active - Genitive Feminine Plural 1x Luke 24:5
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Let John 19's own sequence interpret the bowed head: Jesus' finished work, real death, fulfilled Scripture, and coming resurrection carry the passage's weight.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that κλίνω itself means Jesus sovereignly dismissed His life. The Gospel's wider witness supports His willing obedience, while this verb simply records the bowing of His head.
- Do not claim that every use of κλίνω carries crucifixion symbolism. Other passages use it for laying the head down, bowing, the day's decline, or turning armies.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Bowing of head signals submission, surrender, or life's end; declining describes day's passage toward darkness.
Strong's G2827
Lexical occurrences 7 verses Greek text appearances 7 times Word forms 4 forms 7 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link John 19:30 Source Gloss
to bow/lay down
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Bowing of head signals submission, surrender, or life's end; declining describes day's passage toward darkness.
1to make to bend, to bow: τ. κεφαλήν (of one dying), Jhn.19:30; τ. πρόσωτον (of terrified persons), Luk.24:5.
3As in Hom., of soldiers, to turn (to flight), παρεμβολάς, Heb.11:34.
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
7 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 8:20 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Subjunctive
κλίνῃ. klinh
I rest, recline, make to yield
Read verse Luke 9:12 Verb Present Active Infinitive
κλίνειν· klinein
I rest, recline, make to yield
Read verse Luke 9:58 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Subjunctive
κλίνῃ. klinh
I rest, recline, make to yield
Read verse Luke 24:5 Verb Present Active Participle Genitive Plural Feminine
κλινουσῶν klinouswn
I rest, recline, make to yield
Read verse Luke 24:29 Verb Third Person Singular Perfect Active Indicative
κέκλικεν kekliken
I rest, recline, make to yield
Read verse John 19:30 Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
κλίνας klinav
I rest, recline, make to yield
Read verse Hebrews 11:34 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Active Indicative
ἔκλιναν eklinan
I rest, recline, make to yield
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 4 Aligned forms 7 Tenses Present, Perfect, Aorist Voices Active
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 2×
Present Active Matt 8:20 · Luke 9:58 2×
Infinitive verbal noun — the action in abstract 1×
Present Active Luke 9:12 1×
Participle verbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality 2×
Present Active Luke 24:5 1×
Aorist Active John 19:30 1×
Indicative states a fact or reality 2×
Perfect Active Luke 24:29 1×
Aorist Active Heb 11:34 1×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 7 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 4 aorist 2 perfect 1
Voice
active 7
Mood
indicative 2 participle 2 subjunctive 2 infinitive 1
NT Occurrences
Matthew 8:20 κλίνῃ present active subjunctive subjunctive Luke 9:12 κλίνειν present active infinitive infinitive Luke 9:58 κλίνῃ present active subjunctive subjunctive Luke 24:29 κέκλικεν perfect active indicative resultant Luke 24:5 κλινουσῶν present active participle participle John 19:30 κλίνας aorist active participle participle Hebrews 11:34 ἔκλιναν aorist active indicative completed
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 Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
to bow the head in death, final gesture of expiration
to recline or rest one's head during sleep or repose
to incline downward, of day declining toward evening
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 7 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
κλίνω is a primary verb - no further derivation.
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
John's Gospel does not present the cross as an abstraction. Jesus receives the sour wine, speaks, bows His head, and yields His spirit. κλίνω contributes one concrete detail to the evangelist's witness that the incarnate Son truly died. The phrase “It is finished” gives the moment its redemptive frame: Jesus completes the work the Father gave Him. Teachers should hold bodily realism and theological purpose together.
The bowed head does not invite sentimental speculation, but reverent attention to the obedient Son who loved His own to the end. The proper movement is from the text to worship, repentance, assurance in Christ's completed work, and hope in the resurrection that follows.
Anchor passage
John.19.30
Doctrinal connections
- John 10:17-18 - Jesus lays down His life
- John 17:4 - the work given by the Father
- John 19:28-37 - completion, death, and Scripture fulfilled
- John 20:1-31 - resurrection witness and faith
The verb has a broad physical sense of inclining or turning. Its theological significance in John 19 comes from the narrative sequence, not from an intrinsic sacred meaning in the motion.
From Old to New Testament
John frames Jesus' death through fulfillment of Scripture and the Passover setting. κλίνω itself is not the main lexical bridge; the canonical connection rests in the passion narrative as a whole.
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