ἑνδέκατος
eleventh
Definition
The adjective ἑνδέκατος means 'eleventh' and is used exclusively in a numerical, ordinal sense in the New Testament. It denotes the position in a sequence, such as the eleventh hour of the workday in Jesus's parable (Matthew 20:6, 9) or the eleventh foundational stone in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:20). Its meaning is consistent across all occurrences, simply indicating the item or period that follows the tenth.
Biblical Usage
This word appears only three times in the New Testament, all with the same numerical meaning. In Matthew 20:6 and 20:9, it describes the 'eleventh hour' in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, a late point in the day. In Revelation 21:20, it modifies the 'eleventh' foundation stone of the holy city's wall, which is adorned with jacinth.
Etymology
Derived from the cardinal number ἕνδεκα (hendeka, meaning 'eleven'), which itself combines εἷς (heis, 'one') and δέκα (deka, 'ten'). The suffix -τος (-tos) forms the ordinal number, making ἑνδέκατος literally 'the tenth-plus-one' or 'eleventh'.
Semantic Range
While the word itself is a simple numeral, its use in Matthew 20 carries significant theological weight concerning grace. The 'eleventh hour' workers receive the same wage as those who labored all day, powerfully illustrating that God's kingdom operates on grace, not human merit or duration of service. In Revelation 21:20, its use in the ordered, perfect structure of the New Jerusalem highlights the divine completeness and intentional design of God's eternal kingdom.
In the ancient Roman and Jewish world, the workday was typically divided into twelve hours from sunrise to sunset (John 11:9). The 'eleventh hour' was therefore the penultimate hour of the working day, a time when very little productive work could be accomplished. This makes the hiring in Jesus's parable (Matthew 20:6-7) seem economically irrational, emphasizing the parable's point about grace.
δωδέκατος (dōdekatos, G1428) — means 'twelfth', the ordinal number following eleventh.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Dodson Greek-English Lexicon, a concise public-domain resource suitable for introductory word study. Brief glosses are supplemented by STEPBible TBESG data (CC BY 4.0). For advanced research, standard scholarly references include BDAG (Danker, 3rd ed.) and LSJ.
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