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Greek

To sit

κάθημαιStrong’s G2521

kathēmai

Appears in 89 verses of the New Testament

In short

Kathēmai is the Greek word usually translated “sitting”, “was sitting” and “do sit”. It appears in 89 verses of the New Testament.

“The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”
Matthew 4:16 KJV
Meaning

Usually translated “sitting”, “was sitting” and “do sit”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.

How it's translated
  • sitting 55
  • was sitting 7
  • do sit 7
  • he was sitting 4
  • is sitting 3
  • will sit 2
  • when was sitting 2
  • sitting by 2

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • Revelation 33
  • Matthew 18
  • Luke 13
  • Mark 11
  • Acts 6
  • John 4

10 books in all.

Related words
Explore in Scripture
All 89 verses, by book
1 Corinthians 1
14:30
Colossians 1
3:1
Hebrews 1
1:13
James 1
2:3
Greek dictionary

κάθημαι kathēmai · to sit

κάθ-ημαι [in LXX chiefly for יָשַׁב ;] in cl. present and imperfect only (prop. pf. and plpf. of καθέζομαι; cf. Bl., § 24), in LXX and NT fut. also, to sit, be seated: Mat.11:16 22:44" (LXX), Mrk.2:6, Jhn.6:3, Act.2:2, Jas.2:3 (on the vulgar imper. κάθου, see Kennedy, Sources, 162), Rev.4:3, al.; before prep. with accusative, ἐπί, Mat.9:9, Mrk.2:14, Jhn.12:16; παρά, Mat.13:1, Mrk.10:46; περί, Mrk.3:32, 34; πρός, Luk.22:56; ὑπό, Jas.2:3; εἰς, Mrk.13:3; μετά, with genitive of person(s), Mat.26:58; ἐκ δεξιῶν, Mat.22:44; ἐπάνω, with genitive, Mat.28:2; ἀπέναντι, with genitive, Mat.27:61; ἐπί, wi …

From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “sit” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

SIT, verb intransitive

preterit tense sat; old participle passive sitten [Latin sedeo.]

  1. To rest upon the buttocks, as animals; as, to sit on a sofa or on the ground.
  2. To perch; to rest on the feet; as fowls.
  3. To occupy a seat or place in an official capacity. Matthew 23:2“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat” Matthew 23:2
  4. To be in a state of rest or idleness. Numbers 32:6“Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?” Numbers 32:6
All definitions and other forms of “sit”
  1. To rest, lie or bear on, as a weight or burned; as, grief sits heavy on his heart.
  2. To settle; to rest; to abide.
  3. To incubate; to cover and warm eggs for hatching; as a fowl.“As the partridge sitteth on eggs and hatcheth them not-” Jeremiah 17:11
  4. To be adjusted; to be, with respect to fitness or unfitness; as, a coat sits well or ill.
  5. To be placed in order to be painted; as, to sit for one's picture.
  6. To be in any situation or condition.
  7. To hold a session; to be officially engaged in public business; as judges, legislators or officers of any kind.
  8. To exercise authority; as, to sit in judgment.
  9. To be in any assembly or council as a member; to have a seat.
  10. To be in a local position.
  11. to place one's self on a chair or other seat; as, to sit down at a meal.
  12. To begin a siege.
  13. To settle; to fix a permanent abode.
  14. To rest; to cease as satisfied.
  15. To rise or be raised from a recumbent posture.“He that was dead sat up, and began to speak” Luke 7:15
  16. Not to go to bed; as, to sit up late at night; also, to watch; as, to sit up with a sick person.

SIT, verb transitive

  1. To keep the seat upon.
  2. To sit me down, To sit him down, to sit them down, equivalent to I seated myself, _ c. are familiar phrases used by good writers, though deviation from strict propriety.
  3. 'The court was sat, ' an expression of Addison, is a gross impropriety.

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.