UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: to lie, lying down

Semantic entry: 17.27

Semantic domains: Stances and Events Related to Stances

Subdomains: Lie

Definition: to lie down, often with the implication of some degree of incapacity

Sense 2: to recline, to eat, to be at table, to dine, to sit down to eat

Semantic entry: 17.23

Semantic domains: Stances and Events Related to Stances

Subdomains: Recline [to eat]

Definition: to be in a reclining position as one eats (with the focus either upon the position or the act of eating)

Notes: For the interpretation of ἀνάκειμαι and κατάκειμαι focusing upon eating, see 23.21: ἀνάκειμαι / 23.21: κατάκειμαι.

Sense 3: to eat a meal

Semantic entry: 23.21

Semantic domains: Physiological Processes and States

Subdomains: Eat, Drink

Definition: to eat a meal, with possible reference to the fact of the people reclining to eat{N:001}

Notes: In biblical times there were apparently three different positions involved in the eating of a meal. People might, for example, (1) be seated on cushions around a low table or (2) be seated on chairs around a table or (3) recline on couches facing a table. Meals which involved reclining on couches would normally have been more elaborate, but the verbs ἀνάκειμαι[b] and κατάκειμαι[c] have been generalized in meaning to denote the eating of a meal without necessarily specifying the particular reclining position of those who participated in the meal.|For the translator, it may be extremely awkward to speak of ‘reclining to eat,’ since this may have connotations of people who are too lazy to sit up at the table or who are too sick to partake of an ordinary meal. It is for that reason that instead of rendering ἀνάκειμαι[b] or κατάκειμαι[c] as ‘to recline to eat,’ translators use expressions such as ‘to sit down to eat’ or ‘to eat a meal.’