verb
katesthiamō
Strong’sG2719
I eat till it is finished
stem katesthi-14 times in the New Testamentin 7 of 27 books10 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
κατεσθίω means to eat up or devour something completely, consuming it entirely rather than eating only part of it 1234. It is used of birds eating seed that has fallen, of animals of prey devouring their kill, and of a scroll or small book being eaten and consumed 13.
By extension it also means to consume or use up someone's substance or livelihood, as when a person's estate, living, or property is eaten away, and to devour a person, whether through hostile rivalry, exploitation, or destruction 12.
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-εσθίω
("perfective" comp. of ἐσθίω, q.v., and cf. M, Pr., 111), [in LXX chiefly for אכל;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2719 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
poetry and later κατερῡκ-έσθω NT+5th c.BC+ (passive, 1.5, Refs 4th c.AD+: future κατέδομαι Refs 8th c.BC+aorist κατέφαγον (see. καταφαγεῖν): perfect κατεδήδοκα Refs; participle κατὰ.. ἐδηδώς Refs 8th c.BC+:—passive, perfect κατεδήδεσμαι Refs 5th c.BC+: aorist κατηδέσθην Refs 5th c.BC+:—eat up, devour, in Refs 8th c.BC+ frequently of animals of prey, λέων κατὰ ταῦρον ἐδηδώς Refs 8th c.BC+; of a serpent, [νεοσσοὺς] κατήσθιε Refs 8th c.BC+; of a dolphin, κατεσθίει ὅν κε λάβῃσιν Refs 8th c.BC+; also of men, οἳ κατὰ βοῦς.. ἤσθιον Refs 8th c.BC+; τοὺς γονέας Refs 5th c.BC+; κατεδηδόκασι τὰ λάχαν᾽ Refs 5th c.BC+
2 eat up, devour one's substance, τὰ κοινά, τὰ πατρῷα, Refs 5th c.BC+
3 corrode, [ῥεύματα] κ. γνάθους Refs 5th c.BC+; λίθοι κατεδηδεσμένοι ὑπὸ σηπεδόνος Pl.[same place],Refs 5th c.BC+; of the wind, κ. τὰ ἄνθη Refs 4th c.BC+:—passive, to be gnawed, Refs
4 bite, τοῦ παλαιστοῦ τὸ οὖς Refs 2nd c.AD+
5 κ. ἑαυτόν, metaphorically, of remorse, Refs 4th c.AD+
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| katesthiatōκατεσθίει | happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular | devours | 2× |
| katesthiavōκατεσθίετε | happening now · yepresent active indicative 2nd person plural | devour | 1× |
| katesthialōκατεσθίουσιν | happening now · theypresent active indicative 3rd person plural | devour | 1× |
| katesthietiκαταφάγεταί | will happen · he/she/itfuture middle indicative 3rd person singular | consume | 1× |
| katesthiamaκατέφαγον | happened · Iaorist active indicative 1st person singular | ate | 1× |
| katesthiataκατέφαγεν | happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular | devoured | 4× |
| katesthiateiaκαταφάγῃ | happened · he/she/itaorist active subjunctive 3rd person singular | devour | 1× |
| katesthiasarκατάφαγε | happened · youaorist active imperative 2nd person singular | eat | 1× |
| katesthiarōntoisκατεσθίοντες | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine | devour | 1× |
| katesthiarantosκαταφαγών | happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine | devoured | 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 172, by mood, including the ones the New Testament never uses
Statements — indicative mood, 10 occurrences
the subject acts active voice
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katesthiamō | katesthiame | katesthiami | katesthiama1×κατέφαγον | katesthiamē | katesthiamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | katesthiasō | katesthiase | katesthiasi | katesthiasa | katesthiasē | katesthiaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katesthiatō2×κατεσθίει | katesthiate | katesthiati | katesthiata4×κατέφαγεν | katesthiatē | katesthiatelē |
| we 1st person plural | katesthianō | katesthiane | katesthiani | katesthiana | katesthianē | katesthianelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | katesthiavō1×κατεσθίετε | katesthiave | katesthiavi | katesthiava | katesthiavē | katesthiavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | katesthialō1×κατεσθίουσιν | katesthiale | katesthiali | katesthiala | katesthialē | katesthialelē |
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katesthiomō | katesthiome | katesthiomē | katesthiomelē |
| you 2nd person singular | katesthiosō | katesthiose | katesthiosē | katesthioselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katesthiotō | katesthiote | katesthiotē | katesthiotelē |
| we 1st person plural | katesthionō | katesthione | katesthionē | katesthionelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | katesthiovō | katesthiove | katesthiovē | katesthiovelē |
| they 3rd person plural | katesthiolō | katesthiole | katesthiolē | katesthiolelē |
acts on or for itself middle voice
| Who person | will happen future | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katesthiemi | katesthiema |
| you 2nd person singular | katesthiesi | katesthiesa |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katesthieti1×καταφάγεταί | katesthieta |
| we 1st person plural | katesthieni | katesthiena |
| ye 2nd person plural | katesthievi | katesthieva |
| they 3rd person plural | katesthieli | katesthiela |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 1 occurrence
the subject acts active voice
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katesthiameiō | katesthiameia | katesthiameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | katesthiaseiō | katesthiaseia | katesthiaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katesthiateiō | katesthiateia1×καταφάγῃ | katesthiateiē |
| we 1st person plural | katesthianeiō | katesthianeia | katesthianeiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | katesthiaveiō | katesthiaveia | katesthiaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | katesthialeiō | katesthialeia | katesthialeiē |
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katesthiomeiō | katesthiomeiē |
| you 2nd person singular | katesthioseiō | katesthioseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katesthioteiō | katesthioteiē |
| we 1st person plural | katesthioneiō | katesthioneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | katesthioveiō | katesthioveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | katesthioleiō | katesthioleiē |
acts on or for itself middle voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katesthiemeia |
| you 2nd person singular | katesthieseia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katesthieteia |
| we 1st person plural | katesthieneia |
| ye 2nd person plural | katesthieveia |
| they 3rd person plural | katesthieleia |
Commands — imperative mood, 1 occurrence
the subject acts active voice
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | katesthiasōr | katesthiasar1×κατάφαγε | katesthiasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katesthiatōr | katesthiatar | katesthiatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | katesthiavōr | katesthiavar | katesthiavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | katesthialōr | katesthialar | katesthialēr |
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | katesthiosōr | katesthiosēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katesthiotōr | katesthiotēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | katesthiovōr | katesthiovēr |
| they 3rd person plural | katesthiolōr | katesthiolēr |
acts on or for itself middle voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | katesthiesar |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katesthietar |
| ye 2nd person plural | katesthievar |
| they 3rd person plural | katesthielar |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
the subject acts active voice
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katesthiamoiō | katesthiamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | katesthiasoiō | katesthiasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katesthiatoiō | katesthiatoia |
| we 1st person plural | katesthianoiō | katesthianoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | katesthiavoiō | katesthiavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | katesthialoiō | katesthialoia |
acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice
| Who person | happening now present |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katesthiomoiō |
| you 2nd person singular | katesthiosoiō |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katesthiotoiō |
| we 1st person plural | katesthionoiō |
| ye 2nd person plural | katesthiovoiō |
| they 3rd person plural | katesthioloiō |
acts on or for itself middle voice
| Who person | happened aorist |
|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katesthiemoia |
| you 2nd person singular | katesthiesoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katesthietoia |
| we 1st person plural | katesthienoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | katesthievoia |
| they 3rd person plural | katesthieloia |
The “to …” form — infinitive, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | katesthiarō | katesthiari | katesthiara | katesthiarē |
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | katesthiorō | katesthiorē | ||
| acts on or for itself middle voice | katesthieri | katesthiera |
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 | katesthiarōntos1× | katesthiarintos | katesthiarantos1×καταφαγών | katesthiarēntos |
| acts on itself, or is acted on middle or passive voice | katesthiorōntos | katesthiorēntos | ||
| acts on or for itself middle voice | katesthierintos | katesthierantos |
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
katesthi 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
katesthiatō“devours”happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular2×
2 Corinthians 11:20“devours”… ei tinos vin katadoulatō, ei tinos katesthiatō, ei tinos labatō, ei tinos eparotō, …… anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or …
Revelation 11:5“consumes”… ekporeuotō ek teu stomeu autoiu kai katesthiatō toin echthroin autoiu; kai ei tinos …… fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants …
katesthiavō“devour”happening now · yepresent active indicative 2nd person plural1×
Galatians 5:15“devour”ei de allēloin daknavō kai katesthiavō, blepavōr mē hupo allēloiu analiskiveia.But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.
katesthialō“devour”happening now · theypresent active indicative 3rd person plural1×
Luke 20:47“devour”hois katesthialō tain oikiain taiu chēraiu kai profasia …They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy …
katesthieti“consume”will happen · he/she/itfuture middle indicative 3rd person singular1×
John 2:17… atō; Tos zēlos tou oikou su katesthieti min.… written: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.”
katesthiama“ate”happened · Iaorist active indicative 1st person singular1×
Revelation 10:10… ek tau cheirau tou angelou kai katesthiama autem, kai ate en te stome …… scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet …
katesthiata“devoured”happened · he/she/itaorist active indicative 3rd person singular4×
Matthew 13:4… tan hodan, kai ercharanteim teim peteineim katesthiata auteim.… path, and the birds came and devoured it.
Mark 4:4… hodan, kai erchata teim peteineim kai katesthiata autem.… path, and the birds came and devoured it.
Luke 8:5… katapatita kai teim peteineim tou ouranou katesthiata autem.… and the birds of the air devoured it.
Revelation 20:9… katabainata purem ek tou ouranou kai katesthiata autoin;… fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
katesthiateia“devour”happened · he/she/itaorist active subjunctive 3rd person singular1×
Revelation 12:4… hina hotan tiktateia tem teknem autau katesthiateia.… about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she …
katesthiasar“eat”happened · youaorist active imperative 2nd person singular1×
Revelation 10:9… biblaridiem. kai legatō mi; Labasar kai katesthiasar autem, kai pikranati su tan koilian, …… the small scroll.” “Take it and eat it,” he said. “It will make …
katesthiarōntois“devour”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine1×
Mark 12:40“devour”tois katesthiarōntois tain oikiain taiu chēraiu kai profasia …They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy …
katesthiarantos“devoured”happened · subjectaorist active participle nominative singular masculine1×
Luke 15:30“devoured”… de tos huios su houtos tos katesthiarantos su ton bion meta pornaiu erchata, …But when this son of yours returns from squandering your wealth with prostitutes, you kill …