StrongerBible

katexousiazō

κατεξουσιάζω

GreekG2715“exercise authority over, lord it over, ...”

Appears 2 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 20:25Mrk 10:42
Compound of
kataκατάaccording to484G2596
exousiazōἐξουσιάζωto have authority4G1850
Word studyResearch-gradekat-ex-oo-see-AH-zoverb

What katexousiazō means

to exercise authority over people: to rule others, in both its uses picturing the heavy-handed, top-down way worldly rulers throw their weight around

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This word appears only twice in the Bible, and both times in the same scene: Jesus contrasting how "the rulers of the nations" wield power with how his followers should lead by serving (Matthew 20:25, Mark 10:42). It is essentially a word coined in the Gospels. It shows up nowhere in the Greek Old Testament and in no known Greek writing before the New Testament, which is why its exact shade of meaning is debated.

It is built from a common verb meaning "to exercise authority" (ἐξουσιάζω) with the small word "down" attached to the front. Jesus pairs it with a twin verb, κατακυριεύω ("to lord over"), and the two together hammer a single idea: powerful people using their position to bear down on those beneath them.

What Jesus criticizes is not authority itself but the manner of it. In the same breath he tells his disciples that true greatness among them looks like serving, not ruling. Scholars debate whether the added prefix builds a domineering flavor into the word itself or simply intensifies it, leaving the negative edge to come from the surrounding contrast ("it shall not be so among you"). Either way, the point of the sentence is the same.

Mat 20:25Mrk 10:42

Disputed

Whether the κατά- prefix gives the verb a built-in pejorative sense (to domineer, tyrannize) or is merely intensive or perfective, with the negative force supplied by the Gospel context rather than the lexeme.

  • contestedThe κατά- prefix carries a downward, adversative, bearing-down force, so the verb itself connotes domineering or tyrannical rule.; R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew (NICNT), Eerdmans, 2007, 759-760; BDAG, s.v. κατεξουσιάζω ("exercise authority, perhaps tyrannize")
  • contestedThe κατά- prefix is intensive or perfective (fully exercise authority), functionally equivalent to the simplex ἐξουσιάζω; any negative sense arises from context, not the word. The parallel κατακυριεύω describes positive dominion in Gen 1:28 LXX and Ps 110:2 LXX, and 1 Pet 5:3 turns negative only by explicit contrast.; J. H. Moulton, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, vol. 1: Prolegomena, 3rd ed., T&T Clark, 1908, 111-115; Moisés Silva, Biblical Words and Their Meaning, rev. ed., Zondervan, 1994, 44-51; Louw & Nida, Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domains, 2nd ed., 1989, 37.48

What scholars say about katexousiazō

κατεξουσιάζω is effectively a New Testament coinage, occurring only at Matt 20:25 and Mark 10:42 (both κατεξουσιάζουσιν, present indicative with genitive object αὐτῶν), absent from the LXX, Philo, Josephus, the papyri (Moulton-Milligan find only the noun κατεξουσία in inscriptions), and unattested before the Gospels; the earliest external literary use is Julian, Contra Galilaeos 100C (c. 362 CE). The lexica converge on a narrow gloss, "exercise authority over": BDAG hedges "perhaps tyrannize," LSJ gives simply "exercise authority over," and Louw-Nida (37.48) treat it as functionally synonymous with the simplex ἐξουσιάζω. Scholarship divides over the force of the κατά- prefix. One camp (France, NICNT/NIGTC; Grundmann; and BDAG's cautious note) reads it as adversative/perfective with a bearing-down, domineering coloring; the other, methodologically stronger among Koine grammarians (Moulton; Robertson on the perfective κατά; Smyth; with Barr and Silva warning against the etymological fallacy), takes it as intensive, the negativity coming from context. The parallel κατακυριεύω is the key comparandum: it renders positive dominion in Gen 1:28 (kabash) and the messianic reign of Ps 110:2 LXX, yet oppression in Ps 10 LXX, showing the κατά- compound is not lexically pejorative; 1 Pet 5:3 ("not lording it over") is negative only by its explicit contrast with exemplary leadership (Grudem; Jobes; Achtemeier). The interpretive consensus across Matthew and Mark commentators (France, Luz, Boring, Collins, Marcus, Keener, Nolland) is that Jesus targets the Gentile manner of rule, coercive and self-aggrandizing, not authority as such.

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • BDAG (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 3rd ed., Univ. of Chicago Press, 2000, s.v. κατεξουσιάζωlexicon
  • Louw & Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the NT Based on Semantic Domains, 2nd ed., 1989, 37.48lexicon
  • Werner Foerster, "ἐξουσία," in TDNT, vol. 2, Eerdmans, 1964, 560-575 (esp. 575)theological-dictionary
  • J. H. Moulton, A Grammar of New Testament Greek, vol. 1: Prolegomena, 3rd ed., T&T Clark, 1908, 111-115grammar
  • Moisés Silva, Biblical Words and Their Meaning, rev. ed., Zondervan, 1994, 44-51, 87-91monograph
  • R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew (NICNT), Eerdmans, 2007, 759-760commentary
  • R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark (NIGTC), Eerdmans, 2002, 418-419commentary
  • Karen H. Jobes, 1 Peter (Baker Exegetical Commentary), Baker Academic, 2005, 302-305commentary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of κατεξουσιάζω

present active indicative 3p

κατεξουσιάζουσιν

Mat 20:25, Mrk 10:42