What does καταισχύνω (kataischýnō) mean in the Bible?
G2617 means to put to shame, humiliate, dishonor, or leave a confidence disappointed. Its thirteen forms occur in twelve verses across five books.
Greek · G2617
καταισχύνω
To dishonor
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καταισχύνω G2617
Pronunciation kataischýnō
What does καταισχύνω (kataischýnō) mean in the Bible?
G2617 means to put to shame, humiliate, dishonor, or leave a confidence disappointed. Its thirteen forms occur in twelve verses across five books.
Reader summary
Full entry for καταισχύνω (G2617) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2617?
The BSB source-word alignment has 13 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include dishonors (2), shame (2), will never be put to shame (2), be put to shame (1), does not disappoint [us] (1).
Where does καταισχύνω (kataischýnō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 13:17. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (5), Romans (3), 1 Peter (2), 2 Corinthians (2).
What This Word Actually Means
G2617 means to put to shame, humiliate, dishonor, or leave a confidence disappointed. Its thirteen forms occur in twelve verses across five books. The subjects, objects, and moral direction vary. Jesus' opponents are humiliated when His healing answer exposes their inconsistency. Romans and 1 Peter promise that those who trust God's chosen cornerstone will not be put to shame. First Corinthians says God shames proud worldly standards, addresses conduct that dishonors one's head, and condemns humiliating poor members at the Lord's Supper. Second Corinthians uses ordinary embarrassment about whether confidence in the churches proves warranted.
The verb therefore does not make shame either always righteous or always abusive. Some passages describe God's reversal of pride or the failure of hostile accusation. Others rebuke people for bringing disgrace or humiliating the vulnerable. The promises that believers will not be put to shame ground confidence in Christ; they do not promise exemption from every experience of public ridicule, suffering, or temporary embarrassment.
How the Bible Uses It
G2617 can describe exposed opposition, disappointed confidence, dishonor, humiliation of the vulnerable, or the final vindication of those who trust Christ. Agency and context determine the moral direction.
- Rom.5.5
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
Christian hope does not end in disappointed shame because Paul grounds it in God's love given through the Spirit.
- Rom.10.11
It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
The promise attaches confidence to the Lord in whom the person believes, not to self-confidence or social standing.
- 1Cor.1.27
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
God overturns proud status systems so that human beings cannot boast before Him.
- 1Cor.11.22
Don’t you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? No, I will not!
Paul condemns a communal practice that publicly humiliates poorer believers rather than treating shame as a ministry tool.
- 1Pe.3.16
Keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.
The answer to slander is good conduct and clear conscience, not retaliatory humiliation.
Passage context
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It dishonors 2× 1 Corinthians 11:4, 1 Corinthians 11:5
shame 2× 1 Corinthians 1:27
will never be put to shame 2× Romans 9:33, 1 Peter 2:6
be put to shame 1× Romans 10:11
does not disappoint [us] 1× Romans 5:5
humiliate 1× 1 Corinthians 11:22
I was not embarrassed 1× 2 Corinthians 7:14
may be put to shame 1× 1 Peter 3:16
were humiliated 1× Luke 13:17
would be ashamed of 1× 2 Corinthians 9:4
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 13:17 κατῃσχύνοντο to were humiliated Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Plural Romans 5:5 καταισχύνει to does not disappoint [us] Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular Romans 9:33 καταισχυνθήσεται to will never be put to shame Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular Romans 10:11 καταισχυνθήσεται to be put to shame Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1 Corinthians 1:27 καταισχύνῃ to shame Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular 1 Corinthians 1:27 καταισχύνῃ to shame Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular 1 Corinthians 11:4 καταισχύνει to dishonors Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1 Corinthians 11:5 καταισχύνει to dishonors Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 1 Corinthians 11:22 καταισχύνετε to humiliate Verb - Present Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural 2 Corinthians 7:14 κατῃσχύνθην to I was not embarrassed Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 1st Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Luke 13:17
Aligned rows 13
Books represented 5
Luke 1 Romans 3 1 Corinthians 5 2 Corinthians 2 1 Peter 2
Source forms
καταισχύνει 3x kataischynei Romans 5:5, 1 Corinthians 11:4, 1 Corinthians 11:5
καταισχύνῃ 2x kataischynē 1 Corinthians 1:27
καταισχυνθήσεται 2x kataischynthēsetai Romans 9:33, Romans 10:11
καταισχύνετε 1x kataischynete 1 Corinthians 11:22
καταισχυνθῇ 1x kataischynthē 1 Peter 2:6
καταισχυνθῶμεν 1x kataischynthōmen 2 Corinthians 9:4
καταισχυνθῶσιν 1x kataischynthōsin 1 Peter 3:16
κατῃσχύνθην 1x katēschynthēn 2 Corinthians 7:14
Parsing patterns
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular 3x Romans 5:5, 1 Corinthians 11:4, 1 Corinthians 11:5
Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular 2x Romans 9:33, Romans 10:11
Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular 2x 1 Corinthians 1:27
Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 1st Person Singular 1x 2 Corinthians 7:14
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 1st Person Plural 1x 2 Corinthians 9:4
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 3rd Person Plural 1x 1 Peter 3:16
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 3rd Person Singular 1x 1 Peter 2:6
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Plural 1x Luke 13:17
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Ground assurance in Christ rather than social approval or personal confidence.
- Protect people from degrading treatment while allowing Scripture to expose pride and harmful conduct.
- Answer slander with good conduct and clear conscience rather than retaliatory humiliation.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim shame is always righteous or always abusive without identifying the passage's agents and outcome.
- Do not claim faith guarantees freedom from every embarrassing or painful public experience.
- Do not use G2617 as permission for public humiliation in correction.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Shame rooted in public disgrace or exposure of failure; often involves unfulfilled hopes.
Strong's G2617
Lexical occurrences 13 verses Greek text appearances 13 times Word forms 2 forms 13 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link 1 Corinthians 11:4-5 Source Gloss
to dishonor
Extended definition Source: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Shame rooted in public disgrace or exposure of failure; often involves unfulfilled hopes.
to disgrace, dishonour, put to shame: with accusative of thing(s), 1Co.11:4-5; with accusative of person(s), 1Co.1:27 11:22; pass., to be ashamed: Luk.13:17, 2Co.7:14 9:4, 1Pe.3:16; as in LXX (Psa.22:6 25:2-3, al.), of unfulfilled hopes: Rom.5:5; pass., Rom.9:33 10:11, 1Pe.2:6" (LXX) .
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
13 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 13:17 Verb Third Person Plural Imperfect Passive Indicative
κατῃσχύνοντο kathscunonto
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verse Romans 5:5 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
καταισχύνει, kataiscunei
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verse Romans 9:33 Verb Third Person Singular Future Passive Indicative
καταισχυνθήσεται. kataiscunqhsetai
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verse Romans 10:11 Verb Third Person Singular Future Passive Indicative
καταισχυνθήσεται. kataiscunqhsetai
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verse 1 Corinthians 1:27 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Subjunctive
καταισχύνῃ· kataiscunh
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verse 1 Corinthians 1:27 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Subjunctive
καταισχύνῃ kataiscunh
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verse 1 Corinthians 11:4 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
καταισχύνει kataiscunei
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verse 1 Corinthians 11:5 Verb Third Person Singular Present Active Indicative
καταισχύνει kataiscunei
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verse 1 Corinthians 11:22 Verb Second Person Plural Present Active Indicative
καταισχύνετε kataiscunete
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verse 2 Corinthians 7:14 Verb First Person Singular Aorist Passive Indicative
κατῃσχύνθην· kathscunqhn
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verse 2 Corinthians 9:4 Verb First Person Plural Aorist Passive Subjunctive
καταισχυνθῶμεν kataiscunqwmen
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verse 1 Peter 2:6 Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Passive Subjunctive
καταισχυνθῇ. kataiscunqh
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verse 1 Peter 3:16 Verb Third Person Plural Aorist Passive Subjunctive
καταισχυνθῶσιν kataiscunqwsin
I shame, disgrace, put to utter confusion
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups 2 Aligned forms 13 Tenses Present, Future, Imperfect, Aorist Voices Active, Passive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicative states a fact or reality 8×
Present Active Rom 5:5 · 1 Cor 11:4 · 1 Cor 11:5 · 1 Cor 11:22 4×
Future Passive Rom 9:33 · Rom 10:11 2×
Imperfect Passive Luke 13:17 1×
Aorist Passive 2 Cor 7:14 1×
Subjunctive possibility, probability, or purpose 5×
Aorist Passive 2 Cor 9:4 · 1 Pet 2:6 · 1 Pet 3:16 3×
Present Active 1 Cor 1:27 2×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 13 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
present 6 aorist 4 future 2 imperfect 1
Voice
passive 7 active 6
Mood
indicative 8 subjunctive 5
NT Occurrences
Luke 13:17 κατῃσχύνοντο imperfect passive indicative background Romans 5:5 καταισχύνει present active indicative ongoing Romans 9:33 καταισχυνθήσεται future passive indicative prospective Romans 10:11 καταισχυνθήσεται future passive indicative prospective 1 Corinthians 1:27 καταισχύνῃ present active subjunctive subjunctive 1 Corinthians 1:27 καταισχύνῃ present active subjunctive subjunctive 1 Corinthians 11:22 καταισχύνετε present active indicative ongoing 1 Corinthians 11:4 καταισχύνει present active indicative ongoing 1 Corinthians 11:5 καταισχύνει present active indicative ongoing 2 Corinthians 7:14 κατῃσχύνθην aorist passive indicative completed 2 Corinthians 9:4 καταισχυνθῶμεν aorist passive subjunctive subjunctive 1 Peter 2:6 καταισχυνθῇ aorist passive subjunctive subjunctive 1 Peter 3:16 καταισχυνθῶσιν aorist passive subjunctive subjunctive
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
to bring shame or disgrace upon someone through improper conduct
God chooses the shameful things to put to shame the things that are honorable
adversaries are put to shame by Christ's healing on the Sabbath
hope does not disappoint or shame those who trust in God's love
those who believe in Christ will not be put to shame or disappointed
Showing 5 selected witnesses from 13 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
καταισχύνω is built from these roots:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
G2617 reveals that shame language has agents, objects, causes, and moral direction. Scripture can say that opposition is exposed, proud standards are overturned, and trust in Christ will not end in disappointed shame. It can also condemn a church for humiliating those who have nothing and direct slandered believers toward good conduct rather than retaliation.
A preacher should therefore neither erase every biblical warning about shame nor use shame as a method of spiritual control. Romans and 1 Peter locate safety in God's cornerstone; First Corinthians removes boasting and protects vulnerable members. The word calls leaders to distinguish gospel vindication from public degradation, loving correction from manipulation, and temporary embarrassment from final disappointment.
Anchor passage
Rom.10.11
Doctrinal connections
- Luk.13.10-17 - Jesus' healing exposes opponents and brings joy to the crowd.
- Rom.5.1-5 - hope rests on God's love poured out through the Spirit.
- Rom.9.30-10.13 - trust in the cornerstone will not end in shame.
- 1Cor.1.18-31 - the cross overturns wisdom, strength, and boasting.
- 1Cor.11.17-34 - the Lord's Supper cannot coexist with humiliation of poorer believers.
- 2Cor.7.13-16; 9.1-5 - confidence in a church can involve ordinary human embarrassment if preparations fail.
- 1Pe.2.4-10 - the chosen cornerstone defines the honor of God's people.
- 1Pe.3.13-17 - clear conscience and good conduct answer unjust slander.
Thirteen verb forms occupy nine morphology patterns. Active forms can describe God shaming proud standards or people dishonoring others, while passive forms describe being put to shame or disappointed. Future passive forms carry the assurance statements in Romans 9 and 10. Voice and subject matter, but grammar alone does not determine whether the shaming action is righteous, abusive, ordinary, or eschatological.
From Old to New Testament
The cited cornerstone promise comes from Isaiah and is applied to trust in Christ in Romans and 1 Peter. That canonical line supports assurance, while broader Old Testament honor and shame themes should be joined only where the New Testament passage itself makes the connection.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain