Bible Lexicons

ἡμέρα, ἡμέρας, ἡ (from ἥμερος, ἡμορον, properly, ἡμέρα ὥρα the mild time, cf. Lob. Paral., p. 359; (but cf. Curtius, p. 594f; Vanicek, p. 943)); Hebrew יום; day; used

1. of the natural day, or the interval between sunrise and sunset, as distinguished from and contrasted with night;

a. properly, ἡμέρας, by day, in the daytime (cf. colloquial English of a day; Winers Grammar, § 30, 11; Buttmann, § 132, 26), Revelation 21:25; ἡμέρας καί νυκτός, day and night (cf. Winer's Grammar, 552 (513f); Lob. Paralip., p. 62f; Ellicott on 1 Timothy 5:5), Mark 5:5; Luke 18:7; Acts 9:24; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 3:10; (2 Thessalonians 3:8 L text T Tr WH); 1 Timothy 5:5; 2 Timothy 1:3; Revelation 4:8; Revelation 7:15; Revelation 12:10; Revelation 14:11; Revelation 20:10; ἡμέρας μέσης, at midday, Acts 26:13; νύκτα καί ἡμέραν (Winers Grammar, 230 (216); Buttmann, § 131, 11), Mark 4:27; Acts 20:31; 2 Thessalonians 3:8 R G; hyperbolically equivalent to without intermission, λατρεύειν, Luke 2:37; Acts 26:7; ἡμέρας ὁδός, a day's journey, Luke 2:44 (Genesis 31:23 (μιᾶς ἡμέρας ὁδόν, Josephus, contra Apion 2, 2, 9; cf. Winers Grammar, 188 (177); B. D. American edition, under the phrase, Day's Journey)); τάς ἡμέρας, accusative of time (Winers Grammar, and Buttmanns Grammar, as above), during the days, Luke 21:37; ἐκείνην τήν ἡμέραν, John 1:39 (40); πᾶσαν ἡμέραν, daily, Acts 5:42; ἐκ δηναρίου τήν ἡμέραν, so sometimes we say, for a shilling the day, Matthew 20:2; δώδεκα σισιν ὧραι τῆς ἡμέρας, John 20:9; to the number of days are added as many nights, Matthew 4:2; Matthew 12:40; γίνεται ἡμέρα, day dawns, it grows light, Luke 4:42; Luke 6:13; Luke 22:66; Acts 12:18; Acts 16:35; Acts 23:12; Acts 27:29, 33, 39 (Xenophon, an. 2, 2, 13; 7, 2, 34); περιπατεῖν ἐν τήν ἡμέρα, John 11:9; ἡ ἡμέρα φαίνει, Revelation 8:12; ἡ ἡμέρα κλινεῖ, the day declines, it is toward evening, Luke 9:12; Luke 24:29.

b. metaphorically, the 'day' is regarded as the time for abstaining from indulgence, vice, crime, because acts of the sort are perpetrated at night and in darkness: 1 Thessalonians 5:5, 8; hence ὁ αἰών οὗτος (see αἰών, 3) is likened to the night, αἰών μέλλων, to day, and Christians are admonished to live decorously as though it were light, i. e. as if ὁ αἰών ὁ μέλλων were already come, Romans 13:12f ἕως ἡμέρα ἐστιν while it is day, i. e. while life gives one an opportunity to work, John 9:4. of the light of knowledge, 2 Peter 1:19.

2. of the civil day, or the space of twenty-four hours (thus including the night): Matthew 6:34; Mark 6:21; Luke 13:14, etc.; opposed to an hour, Matthew 25:13; to hours, months, years, Revelation 9:15; Galatians 4:10; ἡ ἐν ἡμέρα τρυφή, the revelling of a day, i. e. ephemeral, very brief, 2 Peter 2:13 (others refer this to 1 b. above); ἑπτάκις τῆς ἡμέρας seven times in the (space of a) day, Luke 17:4; the dative ἡμέρα of the day on (in) which (cf. Winers Grammar, § 31, 9; Buttmann, § 133 (26)): as τρίτῃ ἡμέρα, Matthew 16:21; Mark 9:31 (Rec.); Luke 17:29; Acts 2:41, etc.; ἡμέρα καί ἡμέρα, day by day, every day, 2 Corinthians 4:16 (after the Hebrew וָיום יום Esther 3:4, where the Sept. καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, and יום יום Psalm 67:20 (), where the Sept. ἡμέραν καθ' ἡμέραν; (cf. Winer's Grammar, 463 (432))); ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας (see ἐκ, IV. 2), 2 Peter 2:8; as an accusative of time (Winers Grammar, 230 (215f); Buttmann, § 131, 11): ὅλην τήν ἡμέραν, Romans 8:36; Romans 10:21; μίαν ἡμέραν, Acts 21:7; and in the plural, John 2:12; John 4:40; John 11:6; Acts 9:19; Acts 10:48; Acts 16:12; Acts 20:6; Acts 21:4, 10; Acts 25:6, 14; Acts 28:7, 12 (L dative), 14; Galatians 1:18; Revelation 11:3, 9. joined with prepositions: ἀπό with the genitive from ... forth, from ... on, Matthew 22:46; John 11:53; Acts 10:30; Acts 20:18; Philippians 1:5; ἄχρι with the genitive until, up to, Matthew 24:38; Luke 1:20; Luke 17:27; Acts 1:2 ( Tdf.); ; ἄχρι πέντε ἡμερῶν, until five days had passed, i. e. after five days, Acts 20:6; μέχρι with the genitive until, Matthew 28:15 (L Tr, WH in brackets); ἕως with the genitive until, Matthew 27:64; Acts 1:22 (T ἄχρι); Romans 11:8; διά with the genitive, see διά, A. II.; πρό with the genitive before, John 12:1 (on which see πρό, b.); ἐν with the dative singular, Matthew 24:50; Luke 1:59; John 5:9; 1 Corinthians 10:8 (L T Tr WH text omit ἐν); Hebrews 4:4, etc.; ἐν with the dative plural, Matthew 27:40; Mark 15:29 (L T Tr omit; WH brackets ἐν); John 2:19 (Tr WH brackets ἐν), 20, etc.; εἰς, unto (against), John 12:7; Revelation 9:15; ἐπί with the accusative for, (German auf ...hin), Acts 13:31 (for many days successively); ; Hebrews 11:30; καθ' ἡμέραν, daily (Winer's Grammar, 401 (374f)), Matthew 26:55; Mark 14:49; Luke 16:19; Luke 22:53; Acts 2:46; Acts 3:2; Acts 16:5; Acts 19:9; 1 Corinthians 15:31; 2 Corinthians 11:28; Hebrews 7:27; Hebrews 10:11; also τό καθ' ἡμέραν, Luke 11:3; Luke 19:47; Acts 17:11 (L T Tr text omit; WH brackets τό), (Polybius 4, 18, 2; cf. Matthiae, ii., p. 734; (Jelf, § 456); Bernhardy (1829), p. 329; Buttmann, 96 (84)); καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, every day, Hebrews 3:13 (Xenophon, mem. 4, 2, 12); also κατά πᾶσαν ἡμέραν, Acts 17:17; μετά, after, Matthew 17:1; Matthew 26:2; Matthew 27:63; Mark 8:31; Luke 1:24; John 4:43; John 20:26; Acts 1:5; Acts 15:36, etc. οὐ πλείους εἰσιν ἐμοί ἡμέραι ἀφ' ἧς, namely, ἡμέρας, Acts 24:11. A specification of the number of days is thrust into the discourse in the nominative, as it were adverbially and without any grammatical connection (cf. Fritzsche on Mark, p. 310f; Winers Grammar, 518 (481) and § 62, 2; (Buttmann, 139 (122))): ἤδη ἡμέραι (Rec. ἡμέρας, by correction) τρεῖς, Matthew 15:32; Mark 8:2; ὡσεί ἡμέραι ὀκτώ, Luke 9:28. ἡμερῶν διαγενομένων τινων, certain days having intervened, Acts 25:13. ἡμέρα and ἡμέραι are used with the genitive of a noun denoting a festival or some solemnity usually celebrated on a fixed day: τῶν ἀζύμων, Acts 12:3; τῆς πεντεκοστης, Acts 2:1; Acts 20:16; τοῦ σαββάτου, Luke 13:14, 16; John 19:31; ἡ κυριακῇ ἡμέρα, the Lord's day, i. e. the day on which Christ returned to life, Sunday therefore, Revelation 1:10; the following phrases also have reference to sacred or festival days: κρίνειν ἡμέραν παῥ ἡμέραν, to exalt one day above another, and κρίνειν πᾶσαν ἡμέραν, to esteem every day sacred, Romans 14:5; φρονεῖν τήν ἡμέραν, to regard a particular day that is selected for religious services, Romans 14:6; ἡμέρας παρατηρεῖσθαι, to observe days, Galatians 4:10. After the Hebrew usage, which in reference to a definite period of time now elapsed speaks of a certain number of days as fulfilled or completed (see Gesenius under the word מָלֵא), we have the phrases ἐπλήσθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι τῆς λειτουργίας, the days spent in priestly service, Luke 1:23 (when he had been employed in sacred duties for the appointed time); τοῦ περιτεμεῖν αὐτόν, for him to be circumcised, Luke 2:21; τοῦ καθαρισμοῦ αὐτῶν, Luke 2:22; συντελεσθεισῶν ἡμερῶν, Luke 4:2; τελειωσάντων τάς ἡμέρας, when they had spent there the time appointed, Luke 2:43; ἐν τῷ συμπληροῦσθαι τάς ἡμέρας τῆς ἀναλήψεως αὐτοῦ, when the number of days was now being completed which the reception of Jesus into heaven required, i. e. before which that reception could not occur, Luke 9:51; ἡ ἐκπλήρωσις τῶν ἡμερῶν τοῦ ἁγνισμοῦ, the fulfilment of the days required for the purification, Acts 21:26; συντελοῦνται αἱ ἡμέραι, Acts 21:27; ἐν τῷ συμπληροῦσθαι τήν ἡμέραν τῆς Πεντεκοστης, when the measure of time needed for the day of Pentecost was being completed, i. e. on the very day of Pentecost, Acts 2:1. As in some of the examples just adduced ἡμέρα is joined to the genitive of a thing to be done or to happen on a certain day, so also in ἡμέραν τοῦ ἐνταφιασμοῦ, John 12:7; ἀναδείξεως, Luke 1:80. with the genitive of person, ἐν τῇ ἡμέρα σου (but L T Tr WH omit σου) in the day favorable for thee, the day on which salvation is offered thee and can be obtained, Luke 19:42 (Polybius 18, 5, 8 μή παρῇς τόν καιρόν ... σῇ νῦν ἐστιν ἡμέρα, σός ὁ καιρός; meus dies est, tempore accepto utimur Seneca, Med. 1017).

3. of the lust day of the present age (see αἰών, 3), the day in which Christ will return from heaven, raise the dead, hold the final judgment, and perfect his kingdom, the following expressions are used: ἡ ἡμέρα, simply, Romans 13:12; Hebrews 10:25, cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:4; (ἡ) ἡμέρα τοῦ κυρίου, Χριστοῦ, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, Luke 17:24 R G T Tr WH marginal reading; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 1 Corinthians 5:5; 2 Corinthians 1:14; Philippians 1:6, 10; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2 Peter 3:10; ἡμέρα κυρίου ἡ μεγάλη, Acts 2:20 (from Joel 2:31 ()); ἡμέρα ἡ ὁ υἱός τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀποκαλύπτεται, Luke 17:30; ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ Θεοῦ, 2 Peter 3:12; ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνῃ ἡ μεγάλη τοῦ παντοκράτορος, Revelation 16:14 (even in the prophecies of the O. T. the day of Jehovah is spoken of, in which Jehovah will execute terrible judgment upon his adversaries, as Joel 1:15; Joel 2:1, 11; Isaiah 2:12; Isaiah 13:6, 9; Amos 5:18, 20; Jeremiah 26:10 (); Ezekiel 13:5; Ezekiel 30:2ff; Obadiah 1:15; Zephaniah 1:7ff; Malachi 3:17); ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνῃ and ἐκείνῃ ἡ ἡμέρα, Matthew 7:22; Luke 6:23; Luke 10:12; Luke 21:34; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Timothy 1:12, 18; 2 Timothy 4:8; ἡ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρα, John 6:39f, 44, 54; John 11:24; John 12:48; ἡμέρα ἀπολυτρώσεως, Ephesians 4:30; ἐπισκοπῆς (see ἐπισκοπή, b.), 1 Peter 2:12; κρίσεως, Matthew 10:15; Matthew 11:22, 24; Matthew 12:36; Mark 6:11 R L brackets; 2 Peter 2:9; 2 Peter 3:7, cf. Acts 17:31; τῆς κρίσεως, 1 John 4:17; ὀργῆς καί ἀποκαλύψεως δικαιοκρισίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, Romans 2:5 (יום־זַעַם, Ezekiel 22:24; אַף־יְהוָה יום, Zephaniah 2:3f; (עֶבְרָה יום, Proverbs 11:4.; Zephaniah 1:15, 18, etc.)); ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ μεγάλη τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ, Revelation 6:17; ἡμέρα σφαγῆς, of slaughter (of the wicked), James 5:5 ((Jeremiah 12:3, etc.)). Paul, in allusion to the phrase ἡμέρα κυρίου, uses the expression ἀνθρωπίνῃ ἡμέρα for a tribunal of assembled judges on the day of trial (A. V. man's judgment) (cf. the German Landtag,Reichstag), 1 Corinthians 4:3.

4. By a Hebraistic usage (though one not entirely unknown to Greek writers; cf. Sophocles Aj. 131, 623; Euripides, Ion 720) it is used of time in general (as the Latindies is sometimes): John 14:20; John 16:23, 26; Hebrews 8:9 (cf. Buttmann, 316 (271); Winer's Grammar, 571 (531)); τήν ἐμήν ἡμέραν, the time when I should appear among men as Messiah, John 8:56; ἐν τῇ ἡμέρα τῇ πονηρά, in the time of troubles and assaults with which demons try Christians, Ephesians 6:13; ἡμέρα σωτηρίας, the time when anyone is or can be saved, 2 Corinthians 6:2; εἰς ἡμέραν αἰῶνος, for all time, forever (see αἰών, 1 a.), 2 Peter 3:18; much more often in the plural: ἡμέραι πονηραί, Ephesians 5:16; ἀφ' ἡμερῶν ἀρχαίων, Acts 15:7; αἱ πρότερον ἡμέραι Hebrews 10:32; πάσας τάς ἡμέρας, through all days, always, Matthew 28:20 (כָּל־הַיָמִים, Deuteronomy 4:40; Deuteronomy 5:26 (29), and very often; ἠματα πάντα, Homer, Iliad 8, 539; 12, 133; 13, 826, etc.); αἱ ἔσχαται ἡμέραι (see ἔσχατος, 1 under the end), Acts 2:17; 2 Timothy 3:1; James 5:3; αἱ ἡμέραι αὗται, the present time, Acts 3:24; the time now spoken of, Luke 1:39; Luke 6:12; Acts 1:15, etc.; ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις (see ἐκεῖνος, 2 b., p. 195a); πρό τούτων τῶν ἡμερῶν, Acts 5:36; Acts 21:38; πρός ὀλίγας ἡμέρας, for a short time, Hebrews 12:10; ἐλεύσονται ... ἡμέραι ὅταν etc., Matthew 9:15; Mark 2:20; Luke 5:35; ὅτε etc. Luke 17:22; ἥξουσιν ἡμέραι ἐπί σε, καί, followed by a future, Luke 19:43; ἔρχονται ἡμέραι, καί, followed by future, Hebrews 8:8; ἐλεύσονται or ἔρχονται ἡμέραι, ἐν αἷς etc., Luke 21:6; Luke 23:29, with a genitive of the thing done or to happen: τῆς ἀπογραφῆς, Acts 5:37; τῆς φωνῆς, Revelation 10:7; τῆς σαρκός αὐτοῦ, of his earthly life, Hebrews 5:7. αἱ ἡμέραι with the genitive of a person, one's time, one's days, i. e. in which he lived, or held office: Matthew 2:1; Matthew 11:12; Matthew 23:30; Matthew 24:37; Luke 1:5; Luke 4:25; Luke 17:26, 28; Acts 7:45; Acts 13:41; 1 Peter 3:20 (Genesis 26:1; 1 Samuel 17:10; 2 Samuel 21:1; 1 Kings 10:21; Esther 1:1; Sir. 44:7 Sir. 46:7; Tobit 1:2; 1 Macc. 14:36, etc.); αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, the time immediately preceding the return of Jesus Christ from heaven, Luke 17:26; μίαν τῶν ἡμερῶν τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, a single day of that most blessed future time when, all hostile powers subdued, the Messiah will reign, Luke 17:22. Finally, the Hebrews and the Hellenists who imitate them measure the duration and length also of human life by the number of days: πάσας τάς ἡμέρας (L mrg Tr marginal reading WH dative) τῆς ζωῆς (G L T Tr WH omit) ἡμῶν, during all our life, Luke 1:75 Rec. (Genesis 47:8f; Judith 10:3; Tobit 1:2 (3); Sir. 22:12 Sir. 30:32 (24); 1 Macc. 9:71); προβεβηκώς ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ, far advanced in age, Luke 1:7, 18; Luke 2:36 (בַּיָמִים בָּא (the Sept., προβεβηκώς ἡμερῶν or ἡμέραις), Genesis 18:11; Genesis 24:1; Joshua 13:1; (Joshua 23:1; 1 Kings 1:1; see προβαίνω, at the end)); ἀρχή ἡμερῶν, beginning of life, Hebrews 7:3 (αἱ ἔσχαται ἡμέραι τίνος, one's last days, his old age, Protevangelium Jacobi,

c. 1); ἡμέραι ἀγαθαί, 1 Peter 3:10.