καταλείπω
kataleipō
to leave behind
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word cataleipō (G2641) has a short definition that captures its core meaning: to leave behind. Its 24 occurrences in the Bible across various contexts reveal a range of usage. Cataleipō is often associated with abandonment or forgetting, such as leaving something or someone behind in a literal or metaphorical sense. In the biblical account, cataleipō can also imply a sense of neglect or omission. The frequency and distribution of cataleipō's occurrences suggest its significance in biblical discourse. Its use in accounts of God's relationship with His people, as well as in descriptions of human actions and behaviors, indicates its importance in exploring themes of responsibility, connection, and the consequences of one's choices. While this analysis does not exhaust the nuances of cataleipō's meaning, its consistent association with leaving or abandoning something underscores its role in the biblical narrative. A closer examination of cataleipō's usage might provide further insight into its significance, such as exploring its connections to other words related to possession, separation, or memory. Nevertheless, its definition and range of usage as recorded here offer a foundation for understanding this word and its contribution to the biblical text.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
24 total occurrences across the text
Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,
Matthew 16:4An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” He left them, and departed.
Matthew 19:5and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh?’
Matthew 21:17He left them, and went out of the city to Bethany, and camped there.
Mark 10:7For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will join to his wife,
Mark 12:19“Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies, and leaves a wife behind him, and leaves no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.’
Mark 12:21The second took her, and died, leaving no children behind him. The third likewise;
Mark 14:52but he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.
Luke 5:28He left everything, and rose up and followed him.
Luke 10:40But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me.”
Luke 15:4“Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?
Luke 20:31The third took her, and likewise the seven all left no children, and died.
John 8:9They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle.
Acts 6:2The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables.
Acts 18:19He came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.
Acts 21:3When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left hand, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for the ship was there to unload her cargo.
Acts 24:27But when two years were fulfilled, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and desiring to gain favor with the Jews, Felix left Paul in bonds.
Acts 25:14As he stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a certain man left a prisoner by Felix;
Romans 11:4But how does God answer him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”
Ephesians 5:31“For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh.”
1 Thessalonians 3:1Therefore when we couldn’t stand it any longer, we thought it good to be left behind at Athens alone,
Hebrews 4:1Let’s fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest.
Hebrews 11:27By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
2 Peter 2:15forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;