Greek · Strong's G2602
καταβολή
katabolḗ (kat-ab-ol-AY)
noun, feminine
A casting down or laying down—used almost exclusively in the New Testament for the founding of the world.
Katabolē comes from kataballō ("to throw down, lay down"). It can describe the casting of a seed into the ground, or—the dominant biblical sense—the laying of a foundation, the founding of a structure. The phrase katabolē kosmou, "the foundation of the world," appears ten times in the New Testament and once on its own (Hebrews 11:11 of Sarah, in a different sense).
The phrase reaches back behind creation itself. Some things are said to have happened before the foundation of the world: the Father loved the Son (John 17:24), Christ was foreknown as the Lamb (1 Peter 1:20), the elect were chosen in Him (Ephesians 1:4), the kingdom was prepared for them (Matthew 25:34), and their names were written in the Lamb's book of life (Revelation 13:8; 17:8). Other things are dated from the foundation of the world: hidden things to be revealed (Matthew 13:35), the blood of the prophets shed (Luke 11:50), the rest available to faith (Hebrews 4:3), and Christ's once-for-all sacrifice (Hebrews 9:26).
The doctrinal weight is enormous. Before there was a creation to redeem, the triune God had already determined to redeem it in Christ. The cross is not a contingency plan; it is the eternal counsel of God breaking into time.
Common English renderings
- foundation
- conception
Key verses
"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:"
Read in context →
"Father, I desire that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."
Read in context →
"even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love:"
Read in context →
"For we who have believed do enter into that rest; even as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world."
Read in context →
"who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the times for your sake,"
Read in context →
"And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain."
Read in context →