verb
kathairamō
Strong’sG2508
I cleanse, purify, prune
stem kathair-once in the New Testament1 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
καθαίρω
(< καθαρός), [in LXX: Is 28:27 (דּוּשׁ ho.), II Ki 4:6, Je 51:39 א*;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2508 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidkath-ah'-ee-ro
to cleanse, i.e. (specially) to prune; figuratively, to expiate
Fromfrom G2513;
King Jamespurge.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
future κᾰθᾰρῶ Refs 5th c.BC+: aorist 1 ἐκάθηρα Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐκάθᾱρα is found in codices of Refs 5th c.BC+, and commonly in later Gr., Refs 4th c.BC+; see below middle: perfect κεκάθαρκα (ἐκ-) Refs 5th c.BC+:— middle, future καθαροῦμαι Refs 5th c.BC+: aorist ἐκαθηράμην Refs 5th c.BC+; later ἐκαθᾱράμην Refs 4th c.BC+: passive, future καθαρθήσομαι Refs 2nd c.AD+: aorist ἐκαθάρθην Refs 5th c.BC+ is falsa lectio in Refs 2nd c.AD+: perfect κεκάθαρμαι Refs 5th c.BC+: (καθαρός):
I cleanse, of things, καθήρατε δὲ κρητῆρας Refs 8th c.BC+ [prev. cited]; of wounds, Refs 5th c.BC+; γῆν clear of weeds,Refs 3rd c.BC+, etc.; χρυσόν purify, refine, Refs 5th c.BC+: metaphorically, purge, clear a land of monsters and robbers, Refs 5th c.BC+:—passive, τὴν νηδὺν ἀνασχισθεῖσαν καὶ καθαρθεῖσαν Refs 5th c.BC+
I.2 in religious sense, purify, [δέπας] ἐκάθηρε θεείῳ by fumigating with sulphur, Refs 8th c.BC+; κ. τινὰ φόνου purify him from blood, Refs 5th c.BC+; Δῆλον κ. Refs 5th c.BC+; στόλον κ., Latin classem lustrare, Refs 1st c.BC+:— middle, purify oneself, get purified, Refs 5th c.BC+; καθήρασθαι στόμα keep one's tongue pure, Refs 4th c.BC+:—passive, κεκαθαρμένος καὶ τετελεσμένος Refs 5th c.BC+
I.3 in Medicine texts, purge, evacuate, either by purgatives or emetics, κ. κάτω ἢ ἄνω Refs 5th c.BC+:—middle, κατὰ κύστιν ἐκαθήρατο Refs 5th c.BC+ —passive Refs, etc.; also of menstruation, Refs; of the after-birth, τὰ λοχεῖα κ. Refs; καθαίρων, ὁ, name for ἶρις, Ps.-Refs 1st c.AD+
I.4 prune a tree,i.e.clear it of superfluous wood, NT
I.5 sift, winnow grain, Refs 2nd c.AD+
I.6 metaphorically, ={μαστιγόω}, Refs 3rd c.BC+
II of the thing removed by purification, purge away, wash off, λύματα πάντα κάθηρεν Refs 8th c.BC+; clear away, τὰ λῃστικά Refs 4th c.BC+; also perhaps, clear up, explain an action, τὴν σύστασιν Refs 4th c.BC+
III with double accusative, αἷμα κάθηρον.. Σαρπηδόνα cleanse him of blood, wash the blood off him, Refs 8th c.BC+ —passive, καθαίρομαι γῆρας I am purged of old age, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| kathairatōκαθαίρει | happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular | prunes | 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, 1 occurrence
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | kathairamō | kathairame | kathairami | kathairama | kathairamē | kathairamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | kathairasō | kathairase | kathairasi | kathairasa | kathairasē | kathairaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | kathairatō1×καθαίρει | kathairate | kathairati | kathairata | kathairatē | kathairatelē |
| we 1st person plural | kathairanō | kathairane | kathairani | kathairana | kathairanē | kathairanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | kathairavō | kathairave | kathairavi | kathairava | kathairavē | kathairavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | kathairalō | kathairale | kathairali | kathairala | kathairalē | kathairalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | kathairameiō | kathairameia | kathairameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | kathairaseiō | kathairaseia | kathairaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | kathairateiō | kathairateia | kathairateiē |
| we 1st person plural | kathairaneiō | kathairaneia | kathairaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | kathairaveiō | kathairaveia | kathairaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | kathairaleiō | kathairaleia | kathairaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | kathairasōr | kathairasar | kathairasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | kathairatōr | kathairatar | kathairatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | kathairavōr | kathairavar | kathairavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | kathairalōr | kathairalar | kathairalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | kathairamoiō | kathairamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | kathairasoiō | kathairasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | kathairatoiō | kathairatoia |
| we 1st person plural | kathairanoiō | kathairanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | kathairavoiō | kathairavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | kathairaloiō | kathairaloia |
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 | kathairarō | kathairari | kathairara | kathairarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, no occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | kathairarōntos | kathairarintos | kathairarantos | kathairarēntos |
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
kathair 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
Words built on the same stem
Other words sharing the exact same stem — not merely related in meaning.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
1 occurrence, every one of them listed
kathairatō“prunes”happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular1×
John 15:2… autem, kai pantem tem karpon ferarōntem kathairatō autem hina karpon polloteron ferateiō.… branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.