verb
katanoamō
Strong’sG2657
I understand, perceive, consider
stem katano-14 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 books9 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
κατανοέω means to look at, take note of, and think carefully about something or someone - to perceive, observe, or consider it attentively 1234. It can describe simply noticing or discovering a thing 23, or the fuller act of examining and reflecting on what one sees or hears 134, used of things such as a plank in someone's eye or the ravens and lilies, and of people, such as considering Jesus or one another 1.
In Greek usage outside the Bible, the word could also describe being in one's right mind, i.e. sane 3.
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
κατα-νοέω, -ῶ,
[in LXX for נבט hi., ראה, etc.;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2657 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
observe well, understand, apprehend, Refs 6th c.BC+; κατανοεῖς τίς ποτ᾽ ἐστίν..; Refs 4th c.BC+:—passive, of a doctrine, to be grasped and hence accepted, μᾶλλον μᾶλλον κ. Refs 4th c.BC+ is understood of.., Refs 4th c.AD+
2 perceive, τῷ κατανοουμένῳ τὸ κατανοοῦν ἐξομοιῶσαι the percipient to the perceived, Refs 5th c.BC+, etc.: with participle, κ. οὐ πολλοὺς ὄντας Refs 5th c.BC+
3 learn, Refs.
4 consider, Refs 6th c.BC+.
5 look at, view, Refs 2nd c.AD+.
II to be in one's right mind, in one's senses, Refs 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| katanoasōκατανοεῖς | happening now · youpresent active indicative 2nd person singular | notice | 2× |
| katanoameκατενόουν | was happening · Iimperfect active indicative 1st person singular | considering | 1× |
| katanoaleκατενόουν | was happening · theyimperfect active indicative 3rd person plural | noticed | 1× |
| katanoataκατενόησεν | happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular | looks at | 2× |
| katanoaneiōκατανοῶμεν | happening now · wepresent active subjunctive 1st person plural | consider | 1× |
| katanoavarκατανοήσατε | happened · yeaorist active imperative 2nd person plural | consider | 3× |
| katanoaraκατανοῆσαι | happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive | look | 2× |
| katanoarōntoκατανοοῦντι | happening now · to, forpresent active participle dative singular masculine | looks | 1× |
| katanoarantosκατανοήσας | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine | perceived | 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 | katanoamō | katanoame1×κατενόουν | katanoami | katanoama | katanoamē | katanoamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | katanoasō2×κατανοεῖς | katanoase | katanoasi | katanoasa | katanoasē | katanoaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katanoatō | katanoate | katanoati | katanoata2×κατενόησεν | katanoatē | katanoatelē |
| we 1st person plural | katanoanō | katanoane | katanoani | katanoana | katanoanē | katanoanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | katanoavō | katanoave | katanoavi | katanoava | katanoavē | katanoavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | katanoalō | katanoale1×κατενόουν | katanoali | katanoala | katanoalē | katanoalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 1 occurrence
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katanoameiō | katanoameia | katanoameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | katanoaseiō | katanoaseia | katanoaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katanoateiō | katanoateia | katanoateiē |
| we 1st person plural | katanoaneiō1×κατανοῶμεν | katanoaneia | katanoaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | katanoaveiō | katanoaveia | katanoaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | katanoaleiō | katanoaleia | katanoaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, 3 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | katanoasōr | katanoasar | katanoasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katanoatōr | katanoatar | katanoatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | katanoavōr | katanoavar3×κατανοήσατε | katanoavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | katanoalōr | katanoalar | katanoalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katanoamoiō | katanoamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | katanoasoiō | katanoasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katanoatoiō | katanoatoia |
| we 1st person plural | katanoanoiō | katanoanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | katanoavoiō | katanoavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | katanoaloiō | katanoaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 2 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | katanoarō | katanoari | katanoara2×κατανοῆσαι | katanoarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 2 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | katanoarōntos1× | katanoarintos | katanoarantos1×κατανοήσας | katanoarēntos |
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
katano 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
katanoasō“notice”happening now · youpresent active indicative 2nd person singular2×
Matthew 7:3… en to so ofthalmo dokan ouk katanoasō?… your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?
Luke 6:41… tan en to idio ofthalmo ouk katanoasō?… your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?
katanoame“considering”was happening · Iimperfect active indicative 1st person singular1×
Acts 11:6“considering”eis han atenizarantos katanoame kai horama teim tetrapodeim tau gēau …… looked at it closely and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air.
katanoale“noticed”was happening · theyimperfect active indicative 3rd person plural1×
Acts 27:39“noticed”… gēan ouk epignōskale, kolpon de tinon katanoale echarōnton aigialon eis hon bouleuole ei …… they did not recognize the land, but they sighted a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.
katanoata“looks at”happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular2×
Romans 4:19“considered”kai mē asthenarantos ta pistia katanoata tem heautou sōmem nekrorēntem, hekatontaetos pou …… in his faith, he acknowledged the decrepitness of his body (since he was about a hundred years old) and …
James 1:24“looks at”katanoata gar heauton kai aperchatē kai eutheōs …and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what …
katanoaneiō“consider”happening now · wepresent active subjunctive 1st person plural1×
Hebrews 10:24kai katanoaneiō allēloin eis paroxusmon agapau kai kaleiu …And let us consider how to spur one another on …
katanoavar“consider”happened · yeaorist active imperative 2nd person plural3×
Luke 12:24katanoavar toin korakoin hoti ouk speralō oude …Consider the ravens: They do not sow …
Luke 12:27katanoavar teim krineim pōs auxanatō; ouk kopiatō …Consider how the lilies grow: They do …
Hebrews 3:1“consider”Hothen, adelfoir hagioir, klēsiau epouranau metochoir, katanoavar ton apostolon kai archierevon tau homologiau …Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we …
katanoara“look”happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive2×
Acts 7:31… thaumazata tem horamem. proserchorōntou de autou katanoara geneta fōnas kuriou;… the sight. As he approached to look more closely, the voice of the …
Acts 7:32… entromos de generantos Mōusos ouk tolmate katanoara.… fear and did not dare to look.
katanoarōnto“looks”happening now · to, forpresent active participle dative singular masculine1×
James 1:23… kai ouk poiētos, houtos eoikatē andro katanoarōnto tem prosōpem tau genesiau autou en …… out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,
katanoarantos“perceived”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine1×
Luke 20:23“perceived”katanoarantos de autoiu tan panourgian legata pros …But Jesus saw through their duplicity and said to them,