Matthew 26:74

καταθεματίζειν for καταναθεματίζειν of textus receptus with preponderating authority. The second word is scarcely supported.

74. καταθεματίζειν. See critical notes supra. Cp. Revelation 22:3, where κατάθεμα is restored for κατανάθεμα. No other instance is cited either of noun or verb. They appear to be used as synonymous with ἀνάθεμα, ‘an accursed thing,’ and ἀναθεματίζειν, ‘to devote to destruction,’ ‘to curse.’ Two explanations may be given: (1) the meanings of ἀνὰ and κατὰ in composition so often coincide that an interchange of the two prepositions in noun- or verb-forms is quite explicable; (2) the original forms may have been κατανάθεμα, καταναθεματίζειν, and have fallen by usage to κατάθεμα, καταθεματίζειν, the Greek language shrinking from the union of κατὰ and ἀνὰ in composition, of which the instances are extremely rare.