καταδυναστεύω
to oppress
‘to oppress’ is one of 2 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Thayer's Greek Lexicon
From Thayer's Greek Lexicon
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Tense
- Present
- Ongoing or general action in present time (imperfective aspect).
Voice
- Active
- The subject performs the action.
- Passive
- The subject receives the action.
Mood
- Indicative
- States a fact or asks a factual question (the mood of reality).
- Participle
- A verbal adjective (“writing,” “having written”).
Case
- Accusative
- The case of the direct object and of extent.
Person
- 3rd person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Plural
- More than one.
Every verse where G2616 appears in the Book of Acts — 1 distinct verse. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Greek form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Greek New Testament; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences of this word are not indexed here.
Acts
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
καταδυναστευω (katadynasteúō) is a Greek verb most often rendered “to oppress.” It is rare — just 2 verses in the entire Greek New Testament. Acts dominates its distribution — 1 of 2 verses. It first appears in Acts 10:38. Ranging over 2 senses, it is not a single-sense word. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's G2616 catalogs a Greek word from the Greek New Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Greek New Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 2
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 2 distinct verses.
- 2 / 27
- NT books
- The word appears in 2 of 27 New Testament books.
- #2,678
- by frequency
- Top 5000 most frequent Greek words (rank 2,678 of 5,347 Greek words by occurrence).
View all 2 occurrences in the concordance →
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Some books belong to more than one corpus (Luke is in both the Gospels and the Lukan corpus, and so on), so these shares overlap and need not total 100%. Each figure is a share of the word’s 2 distinct verses.
- Lukan (Luke–Acts) 1 verse · 50%
- General (Catholic) Epistles 1 verse · 50%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Do 1×, Oppress 1×, Were oppressed 1×
- American Standard Version: Man 1×, Oppress 1×, Were oppressed 1×
- Berean Standard Bible: Oppress 1×, Were oppressed 1×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Being oppressed 1×, Do 1×, Overpower 1×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders G2616 across 3 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders G2616 across 3 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders G2616 across 2 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders G2616 across 3 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Senses in Thayer's
The 2 senses Thayer's distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency or importance). The full entry — with sub-senses — is in the Lexicon Entry tab.
- to exercise harsh control over one, to use one's power against one
- to oppress one
Word origin
Derived from κατα (katá) (G2596) — down.
Forms in the corpus
The 2 distinct written forms G2616 takes in the Greek New Testament, most frequent first — each parse links to that tense’s occurrences in the concordance.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| καταδυναστευομένους katadynasteuoménous | Verb, Present, Passive, Participle, Accusative, Plural, Masculine | Acts 10:38 | 1 |
| καταδυναστεύουσιν katadynasteúousin | Verb, Present, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Plural | James 2:6 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other Thayer's entries built from the same root as G2616, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
- καθα kathá G2505 according as
- καθαιρεω kathairéō G2507 to tear down
- καθαπτω katháptō G2510 to fasten down
- καθεδρα kathédra G2515 seat
- καθεζομαι kathézomai G2516 to sit down
- καθεξης kathexēs G2517 in order
- καθευδω katheúdō G2518 to fall asleep
- καθηγητης kathēgētḗs G2519 guide
- καθηκω kathḗkō G2520 to come down
- καθημαι káthēmai G2521 to sit down
- καθημερινος kathēmerinós G2522 daily
- καθιημι kathíēmi G2524 to send down
- καθιστημι kathístēmi G2525 to place
- καθο kathó G2526 according to what
- καθολου kathólou G2527 wholly
- καθοπλιζω kathoplízō G2528 to arm
- καθοραω kathoráō G2529 to see clearly
- καθοτι kathóti G2530 according to what
- καθως kathṓs G2531 according as
- καμμυω kammýō G2576 to close eyes
- καταβαινω katabaínō G2597 to descend
- καταβαλλω katabállō G2598 to cast down
- καταβαρεω katabaréō G2599 to weigh down
- καταβιβαζω katabibázō G2601 to bring down
+103 more words share this root (not shown).
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 129 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint usage
The same Greek word καταδυναστευω appears 28 times in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), across 26 verses in 14 books.
- 28
- LXX occurrences
- Tagged occurrences of this Greek word in the Septuagint.
- 26
- verses
- Distinct Septuagint verses containing this word.
- 14 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 14 of the 39 Old Testament books.
Sample Septuagint occurrences
- Exodus 1:13 καταδυναστεύω
- Deuteronomy 24:7 καταδυναστεύω
- 1 Samuel 12:3 καταδυναστεύω
- 2 Samuel 8:11 καταδυναστεύω
- 2 Chronicles 21:17 καταδυναστεύω
- Ezra 15:5 καταδυναστεύω
- Jeremiah 7:6 καταδυναστεύω
- Ezekiel 18:7 καταδυναστεύω
- Hosea 5:11 καταδυναστεύω
- Amos 4:1 καταδυναστεύω
- Micah 2:2 καταδυναστεύω
- Habakkuk 1:4 καταδυναστεύω
Septuagint occurrences (same lexeme)
Every verse where the same Strong’s number (G2616) appears in the Greek Septuagint. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context; the Greek form is the matched word — the English is not keyword-highlighted.
- Exodus 1:13 καταδυναστεύω The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve,
- Exodus 21:17 καταδυναστεύω "Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
- Deuteronomy 24:7 καταδυναστεύω If a man be found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and he deal with him as a slave, or sell him; then that thief shall die: so shall you put away the evil from the midst of you.
- 1 Samuel 12:3 καταδυναστεύω Here I am: witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose donkey have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind my eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
- 1 Samuel 12:4 καταδυναστεύω They said, You have not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither have you taken anything of any man's hand.
- 2 Samuel 8:11 καταδυναστεύω These also did king David dedicate to Yahweh, with the silver and gold that he dedicated of all the nations which he subdued;
- 2 Chronicles 21:17 καταδυναστεύω and they came up against Judah, and broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
- Ezra 15:5 καταδυναστεύω
- Jeremiah 7:6 καταδυναστεύω if you don't oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and don't shed innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:
- Jeremiah 22:3 καταδυναστεύω Thus says Yahweh: Execute you justice and righteousness, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence, to the foreigner, the fatherless, nor the widow; neither shed innocent blood in this place.
- Jeremiah 27:33 καταδυναστεύω
- Ezekiel 18:7 καταδυναστεύω and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
- Ezekiel 18:12 καταδυναστεύω has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination,
- Ezekiel 18:16 καταδυναστεύω neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
- Ezekiel 22:7 καταδυναστεύω In you have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the foreigner; in you have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.
- Ezekiel 22:29 καταδυναστεύω The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yes, they have vexed the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.
- Ezekiel 45:8 καταδυναστεύω In the land it shall be to him for a possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.
- Ezekiel 46:18 καταδυναστεύω Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance, to thrust them out of their possession; he shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people not be scattered every man from his possession.
- Hosea 5:11 καταδυναστεύω Ephraim is oppressed, He is crushed in judgment; Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.
- Hosea 12:8 καταδυναστεύω Ephraim said, "Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won't find in me any iniquity that is sin."
- Amos 4:1 καταδυναστεύω Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who tell their lords, "Bring, and let us drink."
- Amos 8:4 καταδυναστεύω Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, And cause the poor of the land to fail,
- Micah 2:2 καταδυναστεύω They covet fields, and seize them; And houses, and take them away: And they oppress a man and his house, Even a man and his heritage.
- Habakkuk 1:4 καταδυναστεύω Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth; for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice goes forth perverted.
- Zechariah 7:10 καταδυναστεύω Don't oppress the widow, nor the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.'
- Malachi 3:5 καταδυναστεύω I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the perjurers, and against those who oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and who deprive the foreigner of justice, and don't fear me," says Yahweh of Hosts.
These are occurrences of the same Greek lexeme (G2616) in the Septuagint — not a translation of any one Hebrew word. The store carries no word-level Hebrew↔Greek alignment, so no Hebrew original is asserted here. Counts come from the recovered LXX Strong's tagging — high-frequency vocabulary is well covered, while rare or late forms may be untagged — so they reflect tagged occurrences and may slightly undercount.
