Bible Lexicons

καιρός, καιροῦ, ὁ (derived by some from κάρα or κάρη, τό, the head, summit (others besides; cf. Vanicek, p. 118)); the Sept. for עֵת and מועֵד; in Greek writings (from Hesiod down):

1. due measure; nowhere so in the Biblical writings.

2. a measure of time; a larger or smaller portion of time; hence,

a. universally, a fixed and definite time: Romans 13:11; 2 Corinthians 6:2; ὕστεροι καιροί, 1 Timothy 4:1; ἄχρι καιροῦ, up to a certain time, for a season, Luke 4:13 (but in ἄχρι, 1 b. referred apparently to b. below; cf. Fritzsche, Romans, i., p. 309f); Acts 13:11; πρός καιρόν, for a certain time only, for a season, Luke 8:13; 1 Corinthians 7:5; πρός καιρόν ὥρας, for the season of an hour, i. e. for a short season, 1 Thessalonians 2:17; κατά καιρόν, at certain seasons (from time to time), John 5:4 (R G L); at the (divinely) appointed time, Romans 5:6 (others bring this under b.); before the time appointed, Matthew 8:29; 1 Corinthians 4:5; ἔσται καιρός, ὅτε etc. 2 Timothy 4:3; ὀλίγον καιρόν ἔχει, a short time (in which to exercise his power) has been granted him, Revelation 12:12; ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ, Matthew 11:25; Matthew 12:1; Matthew 14:1; Ephesians 2:12; κατ' ἐκεῖνον τῷ καιρῷ, Acts 12:1; Acts 19:23; κατά τῷ καιρῷ τοῦτον, Romans 9:9; ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ καιρῷ Luke 13:1; ἐν ᾧ καιρῷ, Acts 7:20; ἐν τῷ νῦν καιρῷ, Romans 3:26; Romans 11:5; 2 Corinthians 8:14 (13); ἐν παντί καιρῷ always, at every season (Aristotle, top. 3, 2, 4, p. 117{a}, 35), Luke 21:36; Ephesians 6:18; εἰς τινα καιρόν, 1 Peter 1:11. with the genitive of a thing, the time of etc. i. e. at which it will occur: τῆς ἐμῆς ἀναλύσεώς, 2 Timothy 4:6; τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς, 1 Peter 5:6 Lachmann; Luke 19:44; περιασμου, Luke 8:13; τοῦ ἄρξασθαι τό κρίμα, for judgment to begin, 1 Peter 4:17; καιροί τῶν λόγων, of the time when they shall be proved by the event, Luke 1:20; — or when a thing usually comes to pass: τοῦ θερισμοῦ, Matthew 13:30; τῶν καρπῶν, when the fruits ripen, Matthew 21:34, 41; σύκων, Mark 11:13. with the genitive of a person: καιποι ἐθνῶν, the time granted to the Gentiles, until God shall take vengeance on them, Luke 21:24; ὁ ἑαυτοῦ (T Tr WH αὐτοῦ) καιρῷ, the time when antichrist shall show himself openly, 2 Thessalonians 2:6; ὁ καιρός μου, the time appointed for my death, Matthew 26:18; τῶν νεκρῶν κριθῆναι, the time appointed for the dead to be recalled to life and judged, Revelation 11:18 (Buttmann, 260 (224)); ὁ ἐμός, ὁ ὑμέτερος, the time for appearing in public, appointed (by God) for me, for you, John 7:6, 8; καιρῷ ἰδίῳ, the time suited to the thing under consideration, at its proper time, Galatians 6:9; plural, 1 Timothy 2:6; 1 Timothy 6:15; Titus 1:3. ὁ καιρός alone, the time when things are brought to a crisis, the decisive epoch waited for: so of the time when the Messiah will visibly return from heaven, Mark 13:33; ὁ καιρός ἤγγικεν, Luke 21:8; ἐγγύς ἐστιν, Revelation 1:3; Revelation 22:10.

b. opportune or seasonable time: with verbs suggestive of the idea of advantage, καιρόν μεταλαμβάνειν, Acts 24:25; ἔχειν, Galatians 6:10 (Plutarch, Luc. 16); ἐξαγοράζεσθαι, Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5, see ἐξαγοράζω, 2; followed by an infinitive, opportunity to do something, Hebrews 11:15; παρά καιρόν ἡλικίας, past the opportunity of life (A. V. past age), Hebrews 11:11 (simply παρά καιρόν, Pindar Ol. 8, 32; several times in Plato, cf. Ast, Platonic Lexicon, ii., p. 126).

c. the right time: ἐν καιρῷ (often in classical Greek), in due season, Matthew 24:45; Luke 12:42; Luke 20:10 R G L ((stereotype edition only)); 1 Peter 5:6; also καιρῷ, Luke 20:10 L T Tr WH; τό καιρῷ, Mark 12:2.

d. a (limited) period of time: (1 Corinthians 7:29); plural the periods prescribed by God to the nations, and bounded by their rise and fall, Acts 17:26; καιροί καρποφοροι, the seasons of the year in which the fruits grow and ripen, Acts 14:17 (cf. Genesis 1:14, the Sept.); καιρόν καί καιρούς καί ἥμισυ καιροῦ, a year and two years and six months (A. V. a time, and times, and half a time; cf. Winer's Grammar, § 27, 4), Revelation 12:14 (cf. 6; from Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7); stated seasons of the year solemnly kept by the Jews, and comprising several days, as the passover, pentecost, feast of tabernacles, Galatians 4:10 (2 Chronicles 8:13; cf. Baruch 1:14). in the divine arrangement of time adjusted to the economy of salvation: καιρός (πεπλήρωται), the preappointed period which according to the purpose of God must elapse before the divine kingdom could be founded by Christ, Mark 1:15; plural, the several parts of this period, Ephesians 1:10; ὁ καιρός ὁ ἐνεστως, the present period, equivalent to ὁ αἰών οὗτος (see αἰών, 3), Hebrews 9:9, opposed to καιρός διορθώσεως, the time when the whole order of things will be reformed (equivalent to αἰών μέλλων), Hebrews 9:10; ὁ καιρός οὗτος, equivalent to ὁ αἰών οὗτος (see αἰών, 3), Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30; ὁ νῦν καιρός, Romans 8:18; ἐν καιρῷ ἐσχάτῳ, the last period of the present age, the time just before the return of Christ from heaven (see ἔσχατος, 1 under the end, etc.), 1 Peter 1:5; καιροί ἀναψύξεως ἀπό προσώπου τοῦ κυρίου, denotes the time from the return of Christ on, the times of the consummated divine kingdom, Acts 3:20 (19).

e. as often in Greek writings, and like the Latintempus, καιρός; is equivalent to what time brings, the state of the times, the things and events of time: Luke 12:56; δουλεύειν τῷ καιρῷ, Latintempori servire (see δουλεύω, 2 a.), Romans 12:11 Rec.st; τά σημεῖα τῶν καιρῶν, equivalent to ἅ οἱ καιροί σημαινουσι, Matthew 16:3 (here T brackets WH reject the passage); καιροί χαλεποί, 2 Timothy 3:1; χρονοι ἤ καιροί (times or seasons, German Zeitumstände), Acts 1:7; οἱ χρονοι καί οἱ καιροί 1 Thessalonians 5:1; and in the opposite order, Daniel 2:21 the Sept.; Wis. 8:8. [SYNONYMS: καιρός, χρόνος: χρόνος time, in general; καιρός a definitely limited portion of time, with the added notion of suitableness. Yet while, on the one hand, its meaning may be so sharply marked as to permit such a combination as χρόνου καιρός 'the nick of time,' on the other, its distinctive sense may so far recede as to allow it to be used as nearly equivalent to χρόνος; cf. Thomas Magister, Ritschl edition, p. 206, 15ff (after Ammonius under the word); p. 215, 10ff καιρός οὐ μόνον ἐπί χρόνου ἁπλῶς τίθεται, ἀλλά καί ἐπί τοῦ ἁρμοδιου καί πρεποντος, κτλ.; Schmidt, chapter 44; Trench, § lvii.; Tittmann i. 41ff; Cope on Aristotle, rhet. l, 7, 32. "In modern Greek καιρός means weather, χρόνος year. In both words the kernel of meaning has remained unaltered; this in the case of καιρός is changeableness, of χρόνος duration." Curtius, Etym., p. 110f]