verb
anakeiomō
Strong’sG345
I recline, especially at a dinner-table
stem anakei-14 times in the New Testamentin 4 of 27 books6 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
To recline, especially at a dinner table, is the meaning the word carries throughout the New Testament: it describes a guest lying or sitting down to eat, and is often used as a participle meaning something like "one reclining at table" or simply "a guest" 1234. The same word can also describe lying down more generally, as a body lying still, such as a corpse 2.
In earlier Greek usage the word could also function as the passive counterpart of a verb meaning "to dedicate," so that it meant to be laid up or set down as an offering; this older sense turns up in one New Testament manuscript variant as well 1.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
** ἀνά-κειμαι
[in LXX: I Es 4:10, To 9:6 א*;]
SYN.: ἀνακλίνω, ἀναπίπτω, the latter denoting an act rather than a state and thus in Jo 13:25 differing from ἀνάκειμαι (see. Jo 13:23) by indicating a change of position.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G345 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
poetry ἄγκ-, serving as passive to ἀνατίθημι, to be laid up as a votive offering in the temple, to be dedicated, κρητῆρές οἱ.. ἓξ χρύσεοι ἀνακέαταιRefs 5th c.BC+; λόγος τῷ θεῷ ἀ, Refs 5th c.BC+
b to be set up as a statue in public, Σόλων ἀνάκειται παράδειγμαRefs 4th c.BC+
2 to be ascribed or offered, αἱ πράξεις ἀ. τινιRefs 1st c.AD+
II πᾶν or πάντα ἀνάκειται ἔς τινα everything is referred to a person, depends on his will, Refs 5th c.BC+ since they had their whole fortunes depending on their ships, Refs 5th c.BC+; of persons, σοὶ ἀνακείμεσθαRefs 5th c.BC+; εἰς θάνατον ἦν ἀνακείμενα τοῖς ἀλογήσασι the death penalty was reserved for.., Refs 1st c.AD+
II.2 to be put aside, ταῦτα ἀνακείσθωRefs 4th c.AD+
III lie at table, recline, NT+5th c.BC+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
What the New Testament actually uses, first — the whole system this verb is built from is one click further down.
| Form and the Greek behind it | What it is | Usually | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| anakeioteἀνέκειτο | was happening · he/she/itimperfect middle or passive indicative 3rd person singular | reclining at the table | 1× |
| anakeiorōntosἀνακείμενος | happening now · subjectpresent middle or passive participle nominative singular masculine | at the table | 3× |
| anakeiorōntouἀνακειμένου | happening now · of, belonging topresent middle or passive participle genitive singular masculine | sat at dinner | 2× |
| anakeiorōntoinἀνακειμένους | happening now · objectpresent middle or passive participle accusative plural masculine | guests | 2× |
| anakeiorōntoiuἀνακειμένων | happening now · of, belonging topresent middle or passive participle genitive plural masculine | guests | 4× |
| anakeiorōntoiἀνακειμένοις | happening now · to, forpresent middle or passive participle dative plural masculine | seated | 2× |
Every form the New Testament uses, in paradigm order. What the system can build beyond them — the whole of this verb, whether the text happens to use it or not — is in the tables below.
Every form the system can build — all 54, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 1 occurrence
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | anakeiomō | anakeiome | anakeiomē | anakeiomelē |
| you 2nd person singular | anakeiosō | anakeiose | anakeiosē | anakeioselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | anakeiotō | anakeiote1×ἀνέκειτο | anakeiotē | anakeiotelē |
| we 1st person plural | anakeionō | anakeione | anakeionē | anakeionelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | anakeiovō | anakeiove | anakeiovē | anakeiovelē |
| they 3rd person plural | anakeiolō | anakeiole | anakeiolē | anakeiolelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | anakeiomeiō | anakeiomeiē |
| you 2nd person singular | anakeioseiō | anakeioseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | anakeioteiō | anakeioteiē |
| we 1st person plural | anakeioneiō | anakeioneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | anakeioveiō | anakeioveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | anakeioleiō | anakeioleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | anakeiosōr | anakeiosēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | anakeiotōr | anakeiotēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | anakeiovōr | anakeiovēr |
| they 3rd person plural | anakeiolōr | anakeiolēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | anakeiomoiō |
| you 2nd person singular | anakeiosoiō |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | anakeiotoiō |
| we 1st person plural | anakeionoiō |
| ye 2nd person plural | anakeiovoiō |
| they 3rd person plural | anakeioloiō |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | anakeiorō | anakeiorē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 13 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | anakeiorōntos13×ἀνακείμενος | anakeiorēntos |
Each is given in the form it takes as a subject. From there a participle carries the ordinary noun endings, in every case, number and gender — so these four columns are the whole of what the verb contributes.
How every form is built — the slots that make them
anakei is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
anakeiote“reclining at the table”was happening · he/she/itimperfect middle or passive indicative 3rd person singular1×
Matthew 26:20“reclining at the table”Opsēau de generantau anakeiote meta toiu dōdeka mathētoiuWhen evening came, Jesus was reclining with the twelve disciples.
anakeiorōntos“at the table”happening now · subjectpresent middle or passive participle nominative singular masculine3×
Luke 22:27tinos gar megoteros, tos anakeiorōntos ē tos diakonarōntos? ouchi tos anakeiorōntos? …… is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is …
Luke 22:27“at the table”… anakeiorōntos ē tos diakonarōntos? ouchi tos anakeiorōntos? mis de en mese vu amō …… who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines? But I am among you as one …
John 13:23ate anakeiorōntos henos ek toiu mathētoiu autou en …… the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at His side.
anakeiorōntou“sat at dinner”happening now · of, belonging topresent middle or passive participle genitive singular masculine2×
Matthew 9:10“sat at dinner”Kai geneta autou anakeiorōntou en ta oikia, kai idou pollois …… at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came …
Matthew 26:7“sat at the table”… kai katachata epi tau kefalau autou anakeiorōntou.… which she poured on His head as He reclined at the table.
anakeiorōntoin“guests”happening now · objectpresent middle or passive participle accusative plural masculine2×
Matthew 22:11eisercharantos de tos basilevos theasera toin anakeiorōntoin horata ekei anthrōpon ouk enduorēnton endumem …… king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was …
Mark 6:26… basilevos dia toin horkoin kai toin anakeiorōntoin ouk thelata athetara autan;… because of his oaths and his guests, he did not want to refuse …
anakeiorōntoiu“guests”happening now · of, belonging topresent middle or passive participle genitive plural masculine4×
Matthew 22:10… kai agathoin; kai pimplēita tos gamos anakeiorōntoiu.… the wedding hall was filled with guests.
Mark 14:18kai anakeiorōntoiu autoiu kai esthiarōntoiu tos Iēsus legata; …And while they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I …
John 12:2… de Lazaros henos ate ek toiu anakeiorōntoiu sun auto;… served, and Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with Him.
John 13:28houtem de oudenos gnōskata toiu anakeiorōntoiu pros tinem legata auto;But no one at the table knew why Jesus had said this …
anakeiorōntoi“seated”happening now · to, forpresent middle or passive participle dative plural masculine2×
Mark 16:14“reclining at table”Husterem de anakeiorōntoi autoi toi hendeka fanerita, kai oneidizata …Later, as they were eating, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of …
John 6:11… tos Iēsus kai eucharistarantos diadōata toi anakeiorōntoi, homoiōs kai ek teiu opsarieiu hosem …… and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.