The Greek verb kathistemi (καθίστημι) means to appoint, set over, establish, or constitute someone in a position. It combines kata (down/according to) and histemi (to stand/set) and conveys the formal installation of someone in an office or role. It appears 21 times in the New Testament in contexts of appointment to leadership, judicial settings, and theological statements.
Kathistemi is the standard verb for official appointment in the New Testament church. The apostles use it to appoint the seven deacons in Acts 6:3. Titus is instructed to kathistemi elders in every town (Titus 1:5). Theologically, the word reaches its deepest significance in Romans 5:19, where Paul uses it in his Adam-Christ parallel: 'through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, and through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.' This is not arbitrary appointment but covenantal representation — the head acts and the body is constituted in his act. Christ's obedience legally constitutes believers as righteous.