Word study
Recline
6 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: reclining, reclined, recline, reclines. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “recline” or one of its forms.
Compare the Greek words side by side
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀνακεῖμαι anakeîmaiI recline, especially at a dinner-tabletranslated this way 7 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G345Verb · Translated: guests 3, reclining 3Full study and all 12 verses →
Matthew 26:7 a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, which she poured on His head as He reclined at the table.
Mark 14:18 And while they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you who is eating with Me will betray Me.”
- ἀναπίπτω anapíptōI lie down, recline, fall back upontranslated this way 3 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G377Verb · Translated: sit 4, sat 2, reclined at the table 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Luke 11:37 As Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to dine with him; so He went in and reclined at the table.
John 13:12 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His outer garments, He reclined with them again and asked, “Do you know what I have done for you?
- κατακλίνω kataklínōI recline, cause to reclinetranslated this way 2 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G2625Verb · Translated: sit 2, reclined at the table 1, seated 1, reclining 1Full study and all 5 verses →
Luke 7:36 Then one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.
Luke 24:30 While He was reclining at the table with them, He took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to them.
- ἀνακλίνω anaklínōI make to recline, I recline at a tabletranslated this way 2 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s G347Verb · Translated: recline at the table 2, share the banquet 1, sit 1, to have 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Luke 12:37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.
Luke 13:29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.
- κατάκειμαι katákeimaiI recline, am lying illtranslated this way 1 time of its 11 uses · Strong’s G2621Verb · Translated: sick in bed 2, dining 2, lying 2, eating 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Mark 14:3 While Jesus was in Bethany reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke open the jar and poured it on Jesus’ head.
- συνανάκειμαι synanákeimaiI recline at table withtranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s G4873Verb · Translated: guests 2, table 2, ate 1, eating 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Luke 14:15 When one of those reclining with Him heard this, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is everyone who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Short definition: Dodson Greek Lexicon (2010, public domain). Full entry: G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922, public domain). Strong’s Greek Dictionary (1890) in the edition by Ulrik Sandborg-Petersen (CC0). These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.