BIBLE GREEK WORD STUDY
kagō — Meaning & Usage in the Bible
kagō (κἀγώ) is a Greek crasis blending kai ('and/also') with egō ('I'), forming 'and I' or 'I also,' used to join the speaker's action to a prior statement.
Meaning of the word
kagō is a grammatical crasis—a contraction—joining the conjunction kai with the first-person pronoun egō. Rather than appearing as two separate words (kai egō), they merge into the single form κἀγώ, producing the meaning 'and I,' 'I also,' or, with case variation, 'and (to) me' in the dative or accusative. This merging is a small but distinctive feature of koine Greek style.
Because the word is a crasis, it carries the same grammatical range as egō itself: nominative ('I also'), dative ('to me also,' κἀμοί), and accusative ('me also,' κἀμέ). The form is therefore functional and lightweight—the speaker's chief contribution is the act of linking their own words or deeds to someone else's by emphasizing inclusion or shared participation.
Where plain egō would simply say 'I,' kagō deliberately highlights the parallel: the speaker is joining something done by another person. It often introduces promises, identifications, or actions that echo a divine or prior human act.
Usage in Scripture
In the New Testament κἀγώ appears 18 times across 18 verses, overwhelmingly concentrated in John's Gospel and the Farewell Discourse (John 13–17). Here Jesus repeatedly uses the word to bind his own action to that of the Father: 'I also have loved you' (John 15:9), 'as thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them' (John 17:18), 'the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them' (John 17:22). The crasis becomes a structural marker of the Son's alignment with the Father's mission.
It also appears at the opening of John's Gospel as John the Baptist identifies himself with the baptismal mission he was given: 'I knew him not,' yet 'I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God' (John 1:33, 1:34). Here κἀγώ carries confessional weight—I too, in my own role, belong to the same revelatory work God is doing. Readers should notice that the word is rarely incidental; it always joins one 'I' to another.
A useful cross-reference is John 16:32 where the accusative form κἀμέ ('me also') appears in Jesus' remark that his disciples will leave him alone—reminding readers that the crasis covers all cases of the personal pronoun, not only the nominative.
The word in detail
- G2504 kagō is a crasis, not an independent root word. It only functions as a contraction of kai (and/also) plus egō (I), serving all cases of the personal pronoun in this joined form. Its meaning should always be read alongside the verb or construction it modifies, since it primarily highlights inclusion rather than adding new semantic content.
Example verses
- John 1:33 The Baptist uses κἀγώ to assert his participation in the Father's revelatory plan—he too is part of the witness, though he did not personally know the Messiah beforehand.
- John 15:9 Here κἀγώ marks Jesus' self-conscious alignment with the Father's love: just as the Father loved the Son, 'I also' have loved the disciples—linking his action to a divine pattern.
- John 17:18 The crasis joins Jesus' sending of the disciples to the Father's sending of the Son, making the mission structurally parallel across the two persons.
- John 17:22 κἀγώ marks the transfer of the Father's glory to believers 'I also have given,' showing Jesus as the deliberate agent who joins divine gift to human recipients.
Common questions
Is kagō a separate Greek word or a contraction?
It is a contraction (crasis) of kai ('and/also') and egō ('I'). The two words merge into one, so the lexical entry recognizes a single form even though it is historically compound.
How is kagō different from egō alone?
Plain egō simply means 'I.' Adding the kai element (through crasis) emphasizes inclusion—'I too,' 'I also,' placing the speaker alongside another agent or action mentioned nearby.
Where does kagō appear most in the New Testament?
It is heavily concentrated in John's Gospel, especially in chapters 14–17 where Jesus aligns his mission with the Father's, and at John 1:33–34 in John the Baptist's witness.