καταλύω
katalýō · G2647 · Greek · 17 occurrences
Meanings
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to destroy, to tear down, destruction
To destroy completely by tearing down and dismantling
ExamplesMatthew 24:2 But He responded and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”
Matthew 26:61 and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.’”
Matthew 27:40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”
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to destroy, to ruin utterly
To destroy completely the efforts or work of someone else
ExamplesRomans 14:20 Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the person who eats and causes offense.
2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens.
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to cause to come to an end, to cause to become nothing, to put an end to
To cause to cease to exist
ExamplesActs 5:38 “And so in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, for if the source of this plan or movement is men, it will be overthrown;
Acts 5:39 but if the source is God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”
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to do away with, to invalidate, to make invalid
To completely invalidate something which has been in force
ExamplesMatthew 5:17 “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.
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to be a guest
To experience the hospitality of someone, with principal focus upon lodging
ExamplesLuke 9:12 Now the day was ending, and the twelve came up and said to Him, “Dismiss the crowd, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; because here, we are in a secluded place.”
Luke 19:7 When the people saw this, they all began to complain, saying, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!”
How it’s used In 6 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
17 occurrences in 10 groups
- Not stated (infinitive) 5
- ὅςwho, which, that 3
- Other words · 8 groups that occur once or twice (9) 9
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
9 occurrences in 7 groups
- ναόςtemple, sanctuary 4
- ἔργονwork, deed 1
- νόμοςlaw, the Law 1
- ὅςwho, which, that 1
- προφήτηςprophet 1
- τόποςplace 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- ἕνεκαbecause of, for the sake of+ βρῶμαfood 1
- παράfrom, with, beside+ ἀνήρman, husband 1
With adverbsAdverbs
4 occurrences in 2 groups
- οὐnot 3
- μήnot 1
Named alongside itApposition
3 occurrences in 1 groups
- λίθοςstone 3
What is done to itIt is the object
5 occurrences in 2 groups
- λέγωto say 3
- δύναμαιcan 2
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 2 words
- καθαιρέω kathairéō · G2507 · to bring down, to lower, to take down
- Both verbs describe acts of demolishing or destroying, whether literal structures or figurative institutions. καταλύω (katalýō, G2647) emphasizes the disintegration or loosening apart of what is destroyed and extends to halting/lodging for the night, while καθαιρέω (kathairéō, G2507) emphasizes the downward motion of lowering or bringing down what is demolished.
- καταργέω katargéō · G2673 · to cause to come to an end, to cause to become nothing, to put an end to
- Both verbs denote causing something to cease or become invalid, but καταλύω emphasizes physical or structural dismantling (demolition, disintegration) while καταργέω focuses on rendering something inactive or operationally void without necessarily implying physical destruction. The overlap is strongest in their shared legal/covenantal sense of abolishing or invalidating.
Semantic domains 5 entries
- To cause to come to an end, to cause to become nothing, to put an end to13.100
- In Matthew 5:17, Jesus says, “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill,” using this word for the act of bringing something to an end or nullifying it.
- To destroy, to tear down, destruction20.54
- In Matthew 24:2, Jesus foretells the temple's destruction, “not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down,” using this word for the physical demolition of a structure.
- To destroy, to ruin utterly20.55
- In Luke 19:7, of Jesus and Zaccheus it is written, “When the people saw this, they all began to complain, saying, ‘He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner!’” using this word for the specific act of lodging as a guest in someone's home.
- To be a guest34.61
- In Luke 9:12, before the feeding of the five thousand the disciples tell Jesus, “Dismiss the crowd, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat,” using this word for the act of finding a place to stay overnight.
- To do away with, to invalidate, to make invalid76.23
- In Galatians 2:18, Paul writes, “For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a wrongdoer,” using this word for the act of dismantling something previously constructed.
Word family 23 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon future καταλύσω; 1 aorist κατέλυσα; 1 aorist passive κατελυθην; 1 future passive 3 person…
a. (what has been joined together) equivalent to to destroy, demolish: λίθους (A. V. throw down), Mt 24:2; Mk 13:2; Lk 21:6; τόν ναόν, Mt 26:61; Mt 27:40; Mk 14:58; Mk 15:29; Acts 6:14; οἰκίαν, 2 Cor 5:1; universally opposed to οἰκοδομεῖν, Gal 2:18 (2 Esdr. 5:12; Homer, Iliad 9, 24f; 2, 117; τευχη, Euripides, Tro. 819; γέφυραν, Herodian, 8, 4, 4 (2 edition, Bekker)).
b. metaphorically, to overthrow, i. e. to render vain, to deprive of success, to bring to naught: τήν βουλήν ἤ τό ἔργον, Acts 5:38 (τάς ἀπειλάς, 4 Macc. 4:16); τινα, to render fruitless one's desires, endeavors, etc. ibid. 39 G L T Tr WH (Plato, legg. 4, p. 714 c.); to subvert, overthrow: τό ἔργον τοῦ Θεοῦ (see ἀγαθός, 2), Rom 14:20. As in classical Greek from Herodotus down, of institutions, forms of government, laws, etc., to deprive of force, annul, abrogate, discard: τόν νόμον, Mt 5:17 (2 Macc. 2:22; Xenophon, mem. 4, 4, 14; Isocrates paneg. § 55; Philost. v., Apoll. 4, 40).
c. of travelers, to halt on a journey, to put up, lodge (the figurative expression originating in the circumstance that, to put up for the night, the straps and packs of the beasts of burden are unbound and taken off; or, perhaps more correctly, from the fact that the traveler's garments, tied up when he is on the journey, are unloosed at its end; cf. ἀναλύω, 2): Lk 9:12; Lk 19:7; so in Greek writings from Thucydides, Xenophon, Plato down; the Sept. for לוּן, Gen 19:2; Gen 24:23, Gen 24:25, etc.; Sir. 14:25, 27 Sir. 36:31; (cf. Buttmann, 145 (127)).
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 4 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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