καταβολή

καταβολή — katabolḗ

καταβολή, καταβολῆς, ἡ (καταβάλλω, which see);

1. a throwing or laying down: τοῦ σπέρματος (namely, εἰς τήν μήτραν), the injection or depositing of the virile semen in the womb, Lucian, amor. 19; Galen, aphorism. iv. § 1; of the seed of animals and plants, Philo de opif. mund. §§ 22, 45; σπέρματα τά εἰς γῆν ἤ μήτραν καταβαλλομενα, Antoninus 4, 36; accordingly many interpret the words Σάρρα δύναμιν εἰς καταβολήν σπέρματος ἔλαβε in Heb 11:11, she received power to conceive seed. But since it belongs to the male καταβάλλειν τό σπέρμα, not to the female, this interpretation cannot stand ((according to the reading of WH marginal reading αὐτῇ Σάρρα, Abr. remains the subjunctive of ἔλαβεν; but see 2 below)); cf. Bleek (and, on the other side, Kurtz) at the passage

2. a founding (laying down a foundation): εἰς καταβολήν σπέρματος, to found a posterity, Heb 11:11 (but compare above) (πυραννιδος, Polybius 13, 6, 2; ἅμα τῇ πρώτη καταβολή τῶν ἀνθρώπων, Plato, aquae et ignis comp. C. 2). ἀπό καταβολῆς κόσμου, from the foundation of the world: Mat 13:35 (L T Tr WH omit κόσμου);; Luk 11:50; Heb 4:3; Heb 9:28; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8; πρό καταβολῆς κόσμου, Joh 17:24; Eph 1:4; 1Pe 1:20.