ἄχρι and
ἄχρις (the latter of which in the
N. T. is nowhere placed before a consonant, but the former before both vowels and consonants, although euphony is so far regarded that we almost constantly find
ἄχρι ἧς ἡμέρας,
ἄχρις οὗ, cf. Buttmann, 10 (9); [Winer's Grammar, 42]; and
ἄχρι οὗ is not used except in
Acts 7:18 and
Revelation 2:25 by
L T Tr WH and
Luke 21:24 by
T Tr WH; [to these instances must now be added
1 Corinthians 11:26 T WH;
1 Cor 15:25 T WH;
Romans 11:25 WH (see their Appendix, p. 148); on the usage in secular authors ('where
-ρι is the only Attic form, but in later authors the epic
-ρις prevailed', Liddell and Scott, under the word) cf.
Lobeck, Pathol. Elementa, vol. ii., p. 210f;
Rutherford, New Phryn., p. 64; further,
Klotz ad Devar. vol. ii. 1, p. 230f]); a particle indicating the terminus ad quem. (On its use in the Greek writings cf. Klotz as above, p. 224ff). It has the force now of a preposition now of a conjunction,
even to; until, to the time that; (on its derivation see below).
1. as a preposition it takes the genitive [cf. Winer's Grammar, § 54, 6], and is used
a. of place:
Acts 11:5;
Acts 13:6;
Acts 20:4 [T Tr marginal reading WH omit; Tr text brackets];
Acts 28:15;
2 Corinthians 10:13;
Hebrews 4:12 (see
μερισμός, 2);
Revelation 14:20;
Revelation 18:5.
b. of Time:
ἄχρι καιροῦ, until a season that seemed to him opportune,
Luke 4:13 [but cf.
καιρός, 2 a.]; until a certain time,
for a season, Acts 13:11; [
ἄχρι (vel
μέχρι, which see 1 a.)
τοῦ θερισμοῦ,
Matthew 13:30 WH marginal reading cf.
ἕως, II. 5];
ἄχρι ἧς ἡμέρας until the day that etc.
Matthew 24:38;
Luke 1:20;
Luke 17:27;
Acts 1:2; [
ἄχρι (
Rec. et al.
ἕως)
τῆς ἡμέρας ἧς,
Acts 1:22 Tdf.];
ἄχρι ταύτης τῆς ἡμέρας and
ἄχρι τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης,
Acts 2:29;
Acts 23:1;
Acts 26:22;
ἄχρι [
-ρις R G]
ἡμερῶν πέντε even to the space of five days,
i. e. after
[A. V. in] five days,
Acts 20:6;
ἄχρις [
-ρι T Tr WH] αὐγῆς,
Acts 20:11;
ἄχρι τοῦ νῦν,
Romans 8:22;
Philippians 1:5;
ἄχρι τέλους,
Hebrews 6:11;
Revelation 2:26; see besides,
Acts 3:21; [
Acts 22:22];
Romans 1:13;
Romans 5:13;
1 Corinthians 4:11;
2 Corinthians 3:14;
Galatians 4:2;
Philippians 1:6 [
-ρι L T WH].
c. of Manner and Degree:
ἄχρι θανάτου,
Acts 22:4 (even to delivering unto death);
Revelation 2:10 (to the enduring of death itself);
Revelation 12:11; and, in the opinion of many interpreters,
Hebrews 4:12 [see
μερισμός, 2].
d. joined to the relative
οὗ (
ἄχρις οὗ for
ἄχρι τούτου,
ᾧ) it has the force of a conjunction,
until, to the time that: followed by the indicative preterite, of things that actually occurred and up to the beginning of which something continued,
Acts 7:18 (ἄχρις οὗ ἀνέστη βασιλεύς);
Acts 27:33. followed by a subjunctive aorist having the force of a future perfect,
Luke 21:24 L T Tr WH; Romans 11:25;
1 Corinthians 11:26 [
Rec. ἄχρις οὗ ἄν];
Galatians 3:19 [not WH text (see 2 below)];
Galatians 4:19 [T Tr WH
μέχρις];
Revelation 7:3 Rec.elz G;
ἄχρις οὗ ἄν until, whenever it may be [cf. Winer's Grammar, § 42, 5 b.],
1 Corinthians 15:25 [
Rec.];
Revelation 2:25. with indicative present
as long as:
Hebrews 3:13; cf. Bleek at the passage and Buttmann, 231 (199).
2. ἄχρις without
οὗ has the force of a simple conjunction,
until, to the time that: followed by subjunctive aorist,
Luke 21:24 R G;
Revelation 7:3 L T Tr WH;
Rev 15:8; [
Revelation 17:17 Rec.];
Revelation 20:3 [
Rev 20:5 G L T Tr WH]; with indicative future,
Revelation 17:17 [L T Tr WH]; [
ἄχρις ἄν followed by subjunctive aorist,
Galatians 3:19 WH text (see 1 d. above)]. Since
ἄχρι is akin to
ἀκή and
ἀκρός [but cf. Vanicek, p. 22; Curtius, § 166], and
μέχρι to
μῆκος,
μακρός, by the use of the former particle the reach to which a thing is said to extend is likened to a height, by the use of
μέχρι, to a length;
ἄχρι, indicating ascent, signifies
up to;
μέχρι, indicating extent, is
unto, as far as; cf. Klotz as above, p. 225f. But this primitive distinction is often disregarded, and each particle used of the same thing; cf.
ἄχρι τέλους,
Hebrews 6:11;
μέχρι τέλους,
Hebrews 3:6,
14; Xenophon, symp. 4, 37
περίεστί μοι καὶ ἐσθίοντι ἄχρι τοῦ μὴ πεινῆν ἀφικέσθαι καὶ πίνοντι μέχρι τοῦ μὴ διψῆν. Cf. Fritzsche on
Romans 5:13, vol i., p. 308ff; [Ellicott on
2 Timothy 2:9.
Ἄχρι occurs 20 times in the writings of Luke; elsewhere in the four Gospels only in
Matthew 24:38.].
THAYER’S GREEK LEXICON, Electronic Database.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011 by Biblesoft, Inc.
All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com
BLB Scripture Index of Thayer's