ἕως, a particle marking a limit, and
I. as a conjunction signifying
1. the temporal terminus ad quem,
till, until (Latin
donee,
usque dum); as in the best writings
a. with an preterite indicative, where something is spoken of which continued up to a certain time:
Matthew 2:9 (
ἕως...
ἔστη (
ἐστάθη L T Tr WH));
Matthew 24:39 (1 Macc. 10:50; Wis. 10:14, etc.).
b. with
ἄν and the aorist subjunctive (equivalent to the Latin future perfect), where it is left doubtful when that will take place till which it is said a thing will continue (cf.
Winer's Grammar, § 42, 5):
ἴσθι ἐκεῖ,
ἕως ἄν εἴπω σοι,
Matthew 2:13; add,
Matthew 5:18;
10:11;
22:44;
Mark 6:10;
Mark 12:36;
Luke 17:8;
Luke 20:43; Acts 2:55;
Hebrews 1:13; after a negative sentence:
Matthew 5:18,
26;
Matthew 10:23 (
T WH omit
ἄν);
Matthew 12:20;
16:28;
23:39;
24:34;
Mark 9:1;
Luke 9:27;
Luke 21:32;
1 Corinthians 4:5; with the aorist subjunctive without the addition of
ἄν:
Mark 6:45 R G;
Mark 14:32 (here
Tr marginal reading future);
Luke 15:4; (
Luke 12:59 T Tr WH;
Luke 22:34 L T Tr WH);
2 Thessalonians 2:7;
Hebrews 10:13;
Revelation 6:11 (
Rec. ἕως οὗ);
οὐκ ἀνἔζησαν ἕως τελεσθῇ τά χίλια ἔτη, did not live again till the thousand years had been finished (
elapsi fuerint),
Revelation 20:5 Rec. Cf.
Winers Grammar, § 41 b. 3.
c. more rarely used with the present indicative where the aorist subjunctive might have been expected (
Winers Grammar, as above;
Buttmann, 231 (199)): so four times
ἕως ἔρχομαι,
Luke 19:13 (where
L T Tr WH ἐν ᾧ for
ἕως, but cf. Bleek at the passage);
John 21:22;
1 Timothy 4:13;
ἕως ἀπολύει,
Mark 6:45 L T Tr WH, for
R G ἀπολύσῃ (the indicative being due to a blending of direct and indirect discourse; as in
Plutarch,
Lycurgus 29, 3
δεῖν οὖν ἐκείνους ἐμμένειν τοῖς καθεστωσι νόμοις...
ἕως ἐπανεισιν).
d. once with the future indicative, according to an improbable reading in
Luke 13:35:
ἕως ἥξει Tdf.,
ἕως ἄν ἥξει Lachmann, for
R G ἕως ἄν ἥξῃ; (but
WH (omitting
ἄν ἥξῃ ὅτε) read
ἕως εἴπητε;
Tr omits
ἄν and brackets
ἥξῃ ὅτε; cf.
Buttmann, 231f (199f)).
2. as in Greek writings from
Homer down,
as long as, while, followed by the indicative in all tenses — in the N. T. only in the present:
ἕως ἡμέρα ἐστιν,
John 9:4 (
Tr marginal reading
WH marginal reading
ὡς);
ἕως (
L T Tr WH ὡς)
τό φῶς ἔχετε,
John 12:35f (
ἕως ἔτι φῶς ἐστιν,
Plato, Phaedo, p. 89 c.); (
Mark 6:45 (cf. c. above)).
II. By a usage chiefly later it gets the force of an adverb, Latin
usque ad; and
1. used of a temporal terminus ad quem,
until (unto);
a. like a preposition, with a genitive of time (
Winers Grammar, § 54, 6;
Buttmann, 319 (274)):
ἕως αἰῶνος,
Luke 1:55 Griesbach (
Ezekiel 25:15 Alex.;
1 Chronicles 17:16; Sir. 16:26, Fritzsche; Sir 24:9, etc.);
τῆς ἡμέρας,
Matthew 26:29;
Matthew 27:64:
Luke 1:80;
Acts 1:22 (
Tdf. ἄχρι);
Romans 11:8, etc.;
ὥρας,
Matthew 27:45;
Mark 15:33;
Luke 23:44;
τῆς πεντηκοστῆς,
1 Corinthians 16:8;
τέλους,
1 Corinthians 1:8;
2 Corinthians 1:13;
τῆς σήμερον namely,
ἡμέρας,
Matthew 27:8;
τοῦ νῦν,
Matthew 24:21;
Mark 13:19 (1 Macc. 2:33);
χήρα ἕως ἐτῶν ὀγδοήκοντα τεσσάρων a widow (who had attained) even unto eighty-four years,
Luke 2:37 L T Tr WH; before the names of illustrious men by which a period of time is marked:
Matthew 1:17;
Matthew 11:13;
Luke 16:16 (where
T Tr WH μέχρι);
Acts 13:20; before the names of events:
Matthew 1:17 (
ἕως μετοικεσίας Βαβυλῶνος);
Matthew 2:15;
23:35;
28:20;
Luke 11:51;
James 5:7;
ἕως τοῦ ἐλθεῖν,
Acts 8:40 (
Buttmann, 266 (228); cf.
Winer's Grammar, § 44, 6; Judith 1:10 Judith 11:19, etc.).
b. with the genitive of the neuter relative pronoun
οὗ or
ὅτου it gets the force of a conjunction,
until, till (the time when);
α. ἕως οὗ (first in
Herodotus 2, 143; but after that only in later authors, as
Plutarch, et al. (
Winers Grammar, 296 (278) note;
Buttmann, 230f (199))): followed by the indicative,
Matthew 1:25 (
WH brackets
οὗ);
Matthew 13:33;
Luke 13:21;
Acts 21:26 (see
Buttmann); followed by the subjunctive aorist, equivalent to Latin future perfect,
Matthew 14:22;
Matthew 26:36 (where
WH brackets
οὗ and Lachmann has
ἕως οὗ ἄν);
Luke 12:50 (
Rec.;
Luke 15:8 Tr WH);
Luke 24:49;
Acts 25:21;
2 Peter 1:19; after a negative sentence,
Matthew 17:9;
Luke 12:59 (
R G L;
Luke 22:18 Tr WH);
John 13:38;
Acts 23:12,
14,
21.
β. ἕως ὅτου,
αα. until, till (the time when): followed by the indicative,
John 9:18; followed by the subjunctive (without
ἄν),
Luke 13:8;
Luke 15:8 (
R G L T); after a negation,
Luke 22:16,
18 (
R G L T).
ββ. as long as, whilst (
Song of Solomon 1:12), followed by the present indicative,
Matthew 5:25 (see
ἄχρι, 1 d. at the end).
c. before adverbs of time (rarely so in the earlier and more elegant writings, as
ἕως ὀψέ,
Thucydides 3, 108; (cf.
Winers Grammar, § 54, 6 at the end;
Buttmann, 320 (275))):
ἕως ἄρτι, up to this time,
until now (
Vig. ed. Herm., p. 388),
Matthew 11:12;
John 2:10;
John 5:17;
John 16:24;
1 John 2:9;
1 Corinthians 4:13;
1 Corinthians 8:7;
1 Corinthians 15:6;
ἕως πότε;
how long? Matthew 17:17;
Mark 9:19;
Luke 9:41;
John 10:24;
Revelation 6:10 (
Psalm 12:2f (
Ps. 13:2f);
2 Samuel 2:26;
1 Macc. 6:22);
ἕως σήμερον,
2 Corinthians 3:15.
2. according to a usage dating from
Aristotle down, employed of the local
terminus ad quem,
unto, as far as, even to;
a. like a preposition, with a genitive of place (
Winers Grammar, § 54, 6;
Buttmann, 319 (274)):
ἕως ᾅδου,
ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ,
Matthew 11:23;
Luke 10:15; add,
Matthew 24:31;
Matthew 26:58;
Mark 13:27;
Luke 2:15;
Luke 4:29;
Acts 1:8;
Acts 11:19,
22;
Acts 17:15;
Acts 23:23;
2 Corinthians 12:2; with the genitive of person,
to the place where one is:
Luke 4:42;
Acts 9:38 (
ἕως ὑπερβορεων,
Aelian v. h. 3, 18).
b. with adverbs of place (
Winers Grammar, and
Buttmann, as in c. above):
ἕως ἄνω,
John 2:7;
ἕως ἔσω,
Mark 14:54;
ἕως κάτω,
Matthew 27:51;
Mark 15:38;
ἕως ὧδε,
Luke 23:5 (cf.
Winers Grammar, § 66, 1 c.).
c. with prepositions:
ἕως ἔξω τῆς πόλεως,
Acts 21:5;
ἕως εἰς,
Luke 24:50 note the rendering given in R. V.:
until they were
over against etc. (
R G L marginal reading, but
L text
T Tr WH ἕως πρός as far as to (
Polybius 3, 82, 6; 12, 17, 4;
Genesis 38:1));
Polybius 1:11, 14;
Aelian v. h. 12, 22.
3. of the limit (terminus)of quantity; with an adverb of number:
ἕως ἑπτάκις,
Matthew 18:21; with numerals:
Matthew 22:26 (
ἕως τῶν ἑπτά); cf.
Matthew 20:8;
John 8:9 (
Rec.);
Acts 8:10;
Hebrews 8:11;
οὐκ ἐστιν ἕως ἑνός, there is not so much as one,
Romans 3:12 from
Psalm 13:1 (
Ps. 14:3).
4. of the limit of measurement:
ἕως ἡμίσους,
Mark 6:23;
Esther 5:3,
6 Alex.
5. of the end or limit in acting and suffering:
ἕως τούτου,
Luke 22:51 (see
ἐάω, 2);
ἕως τοῦ θερισμοῦ,
Matthew 13:30 L Tr WH text;
ἕως θανάτου, even to death, so that I almost die,
Mark 14:34;
Matthew 26:38 (Sir. 4:28 Sir. 31:13 (Sir. 34:13); Sirach 37:2; 4 Macc. 14:19).
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