verb
anapiptamō
Strong’sG377
I lie down, recline, fall back upon
stem anapipt-12 times in the New Testamentin 4 of 27 books5 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
ἀναπίπτω means to lie down or recline, especially at a meal or on the ground, and can also mean to lean back against someone 1234. In the New Testament it describes reclining at table for a meal, reclining on the ground to eat, or leaning back against another person while at table 13.
In earlier (classical) Greek the word's basic sense was simply to fall back 13, a use not found in the New Testament 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
ἀνα-πίπτω,
[in LXX: Ge 49:9 (כּרע) To 2:1 7:8, Jth 12:10, Si 25:18 35 (32):2, Da TH Sus 37*;]
SYN.: ἀνάκειμαι (q.v.), ἀνακλίνομαι.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G377 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
poetry ἀμπ-, fall back, Refs 5th c.BC+; lay oneself back, like rowers, Refs 5th c.BC+, compare e; of riders, ὑπτίους ἀναπεπτωκότας ἐλαύνεινRefs 5th c.BC+
2 metaphorically, fall back, give ground, Refs 5th c.BC+; flag, lose heart, Refs 4th c.BC+; ταῖς σπουδαῖς (vulgar form σπονδ-) ἀναπεπτωκέναιRefs 1st c.BC+
2.b perfect participle ἀναπεπτωκώς lifeless, of style, σχῆμα ἀ.Refs 2nd c.AD+
3 of a plan, to be given up, ἀνεπεπτώκει τὰ τῆς ἐξόδουRefs 4th c.BC+
4 ἀ. ἀπ᾽ οἴκων to be banished from one's house, poetical cited in Athenagoraspro Christo 22.
5 recline at meals, like{ἀνάκειμαι}, NT+2nd c.AD+
5.b take to one's bed in sickness, Refs
6 recoil, of the arms of torsion-engines, Refs 2nd 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| anapiptataἀνέπεσεν | happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular | reclined at the table | 4× |
| anapiptalaἀνέπεσαν | happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural | sat down | 2× |
| anapiptasarἀνάπεσε | happened · youaorist active imperative 2nd person singular | sit down | 2× |
| anapiptaraἀναπεσεῖν | happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive | sit down | 3× |
| anapiptarantosἀναπεσὼν | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine | leaning back | 1× |
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 86, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 6 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | anapiptamō | anapiptame | anapiptami | anapiptama | anapiptamē | anapiptamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | anapiptasō | anapiptase | anapiptasi | anapiptasa | anapiptasē | anapiptaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | anapiptatō | anapiptate | anapiptati | anapiptata4×ἀνέπεσεν | anapiptatē | anapiptatelē |
| we 1st person plural | anapiptanō | anapiptane | anapiptani | anapiptana | anapiptanē | anapiptanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | anapiptavō | anapiptave | anapiptavi | anapiptava | anapiptavē | anapiptavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | anapiptalō | anapiptale | anapiptali | anapiptala2×ἀνέπεσαν | anapiptalē | anapiptalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | anapiptameiō | anapiptameia | anapiptameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | anapiptaseiō | anapiptaseia | anapiptaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | anapiptateiō | anapiptateia | anapiptateiē |
| we 1st person plural | anapiptaneiō | anapiptaneia | anapiptaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | anapiptaveiō | anapiptaveia | anapiptaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | anapiptaleiō | anapiptaleia | anapiptaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, 2 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | anapiptasōr | anapiptasar2×ἀνάπεσε | anapiptasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | anapiptatōr | anapiptatar | anapiptatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | anapiptavōr | anapiptavar | anapiptavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | anapiptalōr | anapiptalar | anapiptalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | anapiptamoiō | anapiptamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | anapiptasoiō | anapiptasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | anapiptatoiō | anapiptatoia |
| we 1st person plural | anapiptanoiō | anapiptanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | anapiptavoiō | anapiptavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | anapiptaloiō | anapiptaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 3 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | anapiptarō | anapiptari | anapiptara3×ἀναπεσεῖν | anapiptarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 1 occurrence
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | anapiptarōntos | anapiptarintos | anapiptarantos1×ἀναπεσὼν | anapiptarēntos |
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
anapipt 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.
12 occurrences, every one of them listed
anapiptata“reclined at the table”happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular4×
Luke 11:37… hopōs aristateia para auto; eisercharantos de anapiptata.… him; so He went in and reclined at the table.
Luke 22:14Kai hote geneta tas hōras, anapiptata kai tois apostolois sun auto.When the hour had come, Jesus reclined at the table with His apostles.
John 13:12… kai labata teim himatieim autou kai anapiptata, palin legata autoi; Gnōskavō tinem poiamē …… put on His outer garments, He reclined with them again and asked, “Do …
John 21:20… agapate tos Iēsus akoloutharōnton, hos kai anapiptata en te deipne epi tem stēthem …… He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper to …
anapiptala“sat down”happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural2×
Mark 6:40kai anapiptala prasiais prasiais kata hekaton kai kata …So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
John 6:10… de chortos pollos en to topo. anapiptala oun tois androis ton arithmon hōs …… in that place, so the men sat down, about five thousand of them.
anapiptasar“sit down”happened · youaorist active imperative 2nd person singular2×
Luke 14:10“sit down”alla hotan kaliseia poreuirantos anapiptasar eis ton eschaton topon, hina hotan …But when you are invited, go and sit in the last place, so that your host …
Luke 17:7… tou agrou legati auto; Eutheōs parercharantos anapiptasar,… to him, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’?
anapiptara“sit down”happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive3×
Matthew 15:35kai parangelarantos to ochlo anapiptara epi tan gēanAnd He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Mark 8:6kai parangelatō to ochlo anapiptara epi tau gēau; kai labarantos toin …And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took …
John 6:10legata tos Iēsus; Poiavar toin anthrōpoin anapiptara. ate de chortos pollos en to …“Have the people sit down,” Jesus said. Now there was plenty …
anapiptarantos“leaning back”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine1×
John 13:25anapiptarantos ekeinos houtōs epi tem stēthem tou …Leaning back against Jesus, he asked, “Lord, who …