verb
katantamō
Strong’sG2658
I come down, arrive at, reach
stem katant-13 times in the New Testamentin 4 of 27 books8 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
καταντάω means to come to, arrive at, or reach a place, whether by traveling or by a route described in a narrative 1234. It is used with "into" plus a place name for literal journeys ending at a destination, and also of a journey's course, as in "arriving opposite" a place 1.
The word is also used metaphorically, of reaching or attaining something non-physical, such as a state, standard, or goal, or of a message or event reaching a person 1. In this figurative use it can mean to attain to a condition or result 12.
Beyond biblical usage, the word can also describe an inheritance falling to someone's share 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
† κατ-αντάω, -ῶ,
[in LXX: II Ki 3:29 (חוּל), II Mac 4:21, 24, 44 6:14*;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2658 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
come down to, arrive, εἰς τὰ βασίλεια, ἐπὶ κοίτην, Refs 1st c.BC+
2 in a speech or narrative, come to, arrive at a point, Refs 2nd c.BC+; have recourse to, ἐπὶ [τὴν ἡδονήν] Refs 4th c.BC+ O.
3 of persons, κ. εἰς ἑαυτούς attack, commence hostilities against each other, Refs 2nd c.BC+
4 of events, come upon, Refs 2nd c.AD+; κ. εἴς τινα affect him, Refs 1st c.BC+.83 W.; of blood-guiltiness, fall, Refs.
4.b turn out, result, Refs 2nd c.BC+; so of numbers, to be reduced, Refs 2nd c.AD+
5 of an inheritance, κ. εἴς τινα fall to one's share, NT+2nd c.AD+
II transitive, make to come back, bring back, τινα Refs 4th c.AD+ (so intransitive in perfect, return, Refs 1st 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| katantataκατήντησεν | happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular | came | 3× |
| katantanaκατηντήσαμεν | happened · weaorist active indicative 1st person plural | arrived | 3× |
| katantalaκατήντησαν | happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural | came | 2× |
| katantatēκατήντηκεν | has happened · he/she/itperfect active indicative 3rd person singular | come | 1× |
| katantameiaκαταντήσω | happened · Iaorist active subjunctive 1st person singular | attain | 1× |
| katantaneiaκαταντήσωμεν | happened · weaorist active subjunctive 1st person plural | reach | 1× |
| katantaraκαταντῆσαι | happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive | attain | 1× |
| katantarantoisκαταντήσαντες | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative plural masculine | reach | 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, 9 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katantamō | katantame | katantami | katantama | katantamē | katantamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | katantasō | katantase | katantasi | katantasa | katantasē | katantaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katantatō | katantate | katantati | katantata3×κατήντησεν | katantatē1×κατήντηκεν | katantatelē |
| we 1st person plural | katantanō | katantane | katantani | katantana3×κατηντήσαμεν | katantanē | katantanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | katantavō | katantave | katantavi | katantava | katantavē | katantavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | katantalō | katantale | katantali | katantala2×κατήντησαν | katantalē | katantalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 2 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katantameiō | katantameia1×καταντήσω | katantameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | katantaseiō | katantaseia | katantaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katantateiō | katantateia | katantateiē |
| we 1st person plural | katantaneiō | katantaneia1×καταντήσωμεν | katantaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | katantaveiō | katantaveia | katantaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | katantaleiō | katantaleia | katantaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | katantasōr | katantasar | katantasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katantatōr | katantatar | katantatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | katantavōr | katantavar | katantavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | katantalōr | katantalar | katantalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katantamoiō | katantamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | katantasoiō | katantasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katantatoiō | katantatoia |
| we 1st person plural | katantanoiō | katantanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | katantavoiō | katantavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | katantaloiō | katantaloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, 1 occurrence
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | katantarō | katantari | katantara1×καταντῆσαι | katantarē |
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 | katantarōntos | katantarintos | katantarantos1× | katantarēntos |
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
katant 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.
13 occurrences, every one of them listed
katantata“came”happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular3×
Acts 16:1Katantata de kai eis Derban kai eis …Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra …
Acts 18:24… onome, Alexandrevos te gene, andros logios, katantata eis Efesan, dunatos arōntos en tai …… named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent …
1 Corinthians 14:36… theou exerchata, ē eis vin monoin katantata?… you the only ones it has reached?
katantana“arrived”happened · weaorist active indicative 1st person plural3×
Acts 20:15kakeithen apoplarantois ta epeiarōnta katantana antikrus Chiau, ta de hetera paraballana …Sailing on from there, we arrived the next day opposite Chios. The …
Acts 21:7“arrived”… de ton plouon dianuarantois apo Turau katantana eis Ptolemaidan, kai aspazerantois toin adelfoin …… we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with …
Acts 28:13hothen periairarantois katantana eis Rēgiem. kai meta henan hēmeran …… and on the second day we arrived at Puteoli.
katantala“came”happened · theyaorist active indicative 3rd person plural2×
Acts 18:19“came”katantala de eis Efesan, kakeinoin kataleipata autou, …… they reached Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue there and reasoned …
Acts 25:13“arrived”… tinaiu Agrippos tos basilevos kai Bernikas katantala eis Kaisareian aspazerantois ton Fēston.… had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice came down to Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus.
katantatē“come”has happened · he/she/itperfect active indicative 3rd person singular1×
1 Corinthians 10:11… eis hoin teim teleim toiu aiōnoiu katantatē.… the fulfillment of the ages has come.
katantameia“attain”happened · Iaorist active subjunctive 1st person singular1×
Philippians 3:11ei pōs katantameia eis tan exanastasian tan ek nekroiu.and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
katantaneia“reach”happened · weaorist active subjunctive 1st person plural1×
Ephesians 4:13mechris katantaneia tois pantois eis tan henotan tau …until we all reach unity in the faith and in …
katantara“attain”happened · the “to …” formaorist active infinitive1×
Acts 26:7“attain”… ekteneia nuktan kai hēmeran latreuarōntem elpizatō katantara; peri hau elpidau enkalomō hupo Ioudaioiu, …… they earnestly serve God day and night. It is because of this hope, O king, that I am accused by the Jews.
katantarantois“reach”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative plural masculine1×
Acts 27:12… boulan anagira ekeithen, ei pōs dunoloiō katantarantois eis Foinixon paracheimazara, limenon tau Krētau …… on, hoping that somehow they could reach Phoenix to winter there. Phoenix was …