verb
katheudamō
Strong’sG2518
I sleep, am sleeping
stem katheud-22 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books13 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
Sleep, in the ordinary physical sense of lying down and sleeping 1234, including simply passing the night asleep 3.
Used figuratively of death, describing those who have died as "sleeping" 13.
Used figuratively of moral or spiritual insensibility, describing a lack of watchfulness or alertness 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
καθεύδω,
[in LXX chiefly for שׁכב, Ge 28:13, Ps 87 (88):5, al.; also for יָשֵׁן, Ca 5:2, Da LXX TH 12:2, al.; for ישׁב, I Ki 19:9;]
SYN.: κοιμάω.
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2518 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidkath-yoo'-do
to lie down to rest, i.e. (by implication) to fall asleep (literally or figuratively)
Fromfrom G2596 and εὕδω (to sleep);
King James(be a-)sleep.
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
so also in Ionic dialect, Refs 5th c.BC+imperfect καθεῦδον Refs 8th c.BC+; ἐκάθευδον Refs 5th c.BC+: future καθευδήσω Refs 5th c.BC+aorist ἐκαθεύδησα (not in Attic dialect), Refs 2nd c.AD+; infinitive καθευδῆσαι Refs:— lie down to sleep, sleep, Refs 8th c.BC+; opposed to ἀγρυπνέω, ἐγρήγορα, Refs 6th c.BC+; νυκτὸς κ. to sleep by night, Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. τὰς νύκτας to sleep all one's nights, Refs 3rd c.BC+; μαλακῶς, σκληρῶς κ., Refs 4th c.BC+; of male and female, ἵνα τώ γε καθεύδετον ἐν φιλότητι Refs 8th c.BC+: generally, pass the night, τὴν βουλὴν εἰς ἀκρόπολιν ἰέναι κἀκεῖ κ. Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. ἐπὶ ξύλου roost, of a fowl, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐκ τοῦ καθεύδοντος from a sleeping state, Refs 5th c.BC+
II metaphorically, lie asleep, lie idle, Χερί Refs 5th c.BC+; κ. τὸν βίον to be asleep all one's life, sleep away one's life, Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to ἐνεργεῖν, Refs 4th c.BC+; opposed to προσέχειν τοῖς πράγμασι, Refs 1st c.AD+
II.2 of things, lie still, be at rest, ἐλπίδες οὔπω κ. Refs 5th c.BC+
II.3 of the sleep of death, καθεύδοντες ἐν τάφῳ LXX+NT
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| katheudasōκαθεύδεις | happening now · youpresent active indicative 2nd person singular | asleep | 1× |
| katheudatōκαθεύδει | happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular | sleeping | 3× |
| katheudavōΚαθεύδετε | happening now · yepresent active indicative 2nd person plural | sleeping | 3× |
| katheudalōκαθεύδουσιν | happening now · theypresent active indicative 3rd person plural | sleep | 1× |
| katheudateἐκάθευδεν | was happening · he/she/itimperfect active indicative 3rd person singular | asleep | 1× |
| katheudaleἐκάθευδον | was happening · theyimperfect active indicative 3rd person plural | fell asleep | 1× |
| katheudateiōκαθεύδῃ | happening now · he/she/itpresent active subjunctive 3rd person singular | sleeps | 1× |
| katheudaneiōκαθεύδωμεν | happening now · wepresent active subjunctive 1st person plural | sleep | 2× |
| katheudarōκαθεύδειν | happening now · the “to …” formpresent active infinitive | sleeping | 1× |
| katheudarōntosκαθεύδων | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative singular masculine | asleep | 1× |
| katheudarōntorκαθεύδων | happening now · direct addresspresent active participle vocative singular masculine | sleeper | 1× |
| katheudarōntoisκαθεύδοντες | happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine | sleep | 1× |
| katheudarōntoinκαθεύδοντας | happening now · objectpresent active participle accusative plural masculine | sleeping | 5× |
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, 10 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | was happening imperfect | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect | had happened pluperfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katheudamō | katheudame | katheudami | katheudama | katheudamē | katheudamelē |
| you 2nd person singular | katheudasō1×καθεύδεις | katheudase | katheudasi | katheudasa | katheudasē | katheudaselē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katheudatō3×καθεύδει | katheudate1×ἐκάθευδεν | katheudati | katheudata | katheudatē | katheudatelē |
| we 1st person plural | katheudanō | katheudane | katheudani | katheudana | katheudanē | katheudanelē |
| ye 2nd person plural | katheudavō3×Καθεύδετε | katheudave | katheudavi | katheudava | katheudavē | katheudavelē |
| they 3rd person plural | katheudalō1×καθεύδουσιν | katheudale1×ἐκάθευδον | katheudali | katheudala | katheudalē | katheudalelē |
May, might — subjunctive mood, 3 occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katheudameiō | katheudameia | katheudameiē |
| you 2nd person singular | katheudaseiō | katheudaseia | katheudaseiē |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katheudateiō1×καθεύδῃ | katheudateia | katheudateiē |
| we 1st person plural | katheudaneiō2×καθεύδωμεν | katheudaneia | katheudaneiē |
| ye 2nd person plural | katheudaveiō | katheudaveia | katheudaveiē |
| they 3rd person plural | katheudaleiō | katheudaleia | katheudaleiē |
Commands — imperative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|
| you 2nd person singular | katheudasōr | katheudasar | katheudasēr |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katheudatōr | katheudatar | katheudatēr |
| ye 2nd person plural | katheudavōr | katheudavar | katheudavēr |
| they 3rd person plural | katheudalōr | katheudalar | katheudalēr |
Wishes — optative mood, no occurrences
| Who person | happening now present | happened aorist |
|---|---|---|
| I 1st person singular | katheudamoiō | katheudamoia |
| you 2nd person singular | katheudasoiō | katheudasoia |
| he/she/it 3rd person singular | katheudatoiō | katheudatoia |
| we 1st person plural | katheudanoiō | katheudanoia |
| ye 2nd person plural | katheudavoiō | katheudavoia |
| they 3rd person plural | katheudaloiō | katheudaloia |
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 | katheudarō1×καθεύδειν | katheudari | katheudara | katheudarē |
Used as an adjective — participle, 8 occurrences
| Who is acting voice | happening now present | will happen future | happened aorist | has happened perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the subject acts active voice | katheudarōntos8×καθεύδων | katheudarintos | katheudarantos | katheudarēntos |
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
katheud 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.
22 occurrences, every one of them listed
katheudasō“asleep”happening now · youpresent active indicative 2nd person singular1×
Mark 14:37… katheudarōntoin, kai legatō to Petro; Simōnor, katheudasō? ouk ischuasa henan hōran grēgorara?… found them sleeping. “Simon, are you asleep?” He asked. “Were you not able …
katheudatō“sleeping”happening now · he/she/itpresent active indicative 3rd person singular3×
Matthew 9:24“sleeping”… ouk gar apothnēskata tem korasiem alla katheudatō; kai katagelale autou.… told them. “The girl is not dead, but asleep.” And they laughed at Him.
Mark 5:39“sleeping”… klaiavō? tem paidiem ouk apothnēskata alla katheudatō.… commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep.”
Luke 8:52“sleeping”… Mē klaiavōr, ouk gar apothnēskata alla katheudatō.… and mourning for her. But Jesus said, “Stop weeping; she is not dead but asleep.”
katheudavō“sleeping”happening now · yepresent active indicative 2nd person plural3×
Matthew 26:45… pros toin mathētoin kai legatō autoi; Katheudavō tem loipem kai anapauovō; idou engizatē …… disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is …
Mark 14:41… erchotō tem tritem kai legatō autoi; Katheudavō tem loipem kai anapauovō; apechatō; erchata …… time, He said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough! The …
Luke 22:46kai legata autoi; Tinem katheudavō? anastēarantois proseuchovōr, hina mē eiserchaveia eis …“Why are you sleeping?” He asked. “Get up and pray …
katheudalō“sleep”happening now · theypresent active indicative 3rd person plural1×
1 Thessalonians 5:7tois gar katheudarōntois nuktau katheudalō, kai tois methuskorōntois nuktau methualō;For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get …
katheudate“asleep”was happening · he/she/itimperfect active indicative 3rd person singular1×
Matthew 8:24“asleep”… kaluptorō hupo teiu kumeiu, autos de katheudate.… was engulfed by the waves. But Jesus was …
katheudale“fell asleep”was happening · theyimperfect active indicative 3rd person plural1×
Matthew 25:5… de tou numfiou nustazala pantais kai katheudale.… delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
katheudateiō“sleeps”happening now · he/she/itpresent active subjunctive 3rd person singular1×
Mark 4:27kai katheudateiō kai egeroteiō nuktan kai hēmeran, kai …Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts …
katheudaneiō“sleep”happening now · wepresent active subjunctive 1st person plural2×
1 Thessalonians 5:6ara oun mē katheudaneiō hōs tois loipois, alla grēgoraneiō kai …So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let …
1 Thessalonians 5:10… peri nu hina eite grēgoraneiō eite katheudaneiō hama sun auto zōaneia.… that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
katheudarō“sleeping”happening now · the “to …” formpresent active infinitive1×
Matthew 13:25“sleeping”en de te katheudarō toin anthrōpoin erchata autou tos echthros …But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed …
katheudarōntos“asleep”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative singular masculine1×
Mark 4:38“asleep”… en ta prumna epi tem proskefalaiem katheudarōntos; kai egeralō auton kai legalō auto; …… Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him and said, “Teacher, don’t …
katheudarōntor“sleeper”happening now · direct addresspresent active participle vocative singular masculine1×
Ephesians 5:14… fōtem atō. dio legatō; Egerasōr, tos katheudarōntor, kai anastēasar ek toiu nekroiu, kai …… it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and …
katheudarōntois“sleep”happening now · subjectpresent active participle nominative plural masculine1×
1 Thessalonians 5:7tois gar katheudarōntois nuktau katheudalō, kai tois methuskorōntois nuktau …For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who …
katheudarōntoin“sleeping”happening now · objectpresent active participle accusative plural masculine5×
Matthew 26:40… pros toin mathētoin kai heuriskatō autoin katheudarōntoin, kai legatō to Petro; Houtōs ouk …… to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep …
Matthew 26:43kai ercharantos palin heuriskata autoin katheudarōntoin, ale gar autoiu tois ofthalmois barorēntois.… again Jesus returned and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
Mark 13:36mē ercharantos exaifnōs heuriskateia vin katheudarōntoin;… arrive without notice and find you sleeping.
Mark 14:37kai erchotō kai heuriskatō autoin katheudarōntoin, kai legatō to Petro; Simōnor, katheudasō? …Then Jesus returned and found them sleeping. “Simon, are you asleep?” He asked …
Mark 14:40kai palin ercharantos heuriskata autoin katheudarōntoin, ale gar autoiu tois ofthalmois katabarunorōntois, …… again Jesus returned and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And …