ἔτος
a year
Definition
The Greek word ἔτος (etos) refers to a year, specifically a solar year or a period of twelve months. In the New Testament, it consistently denotes a standard year, whether measuring age (Luke 2:36-37, 42), duration of an illness (Mark 5:25), or historical timeframes for dating events (Luke 3:1). It is used for both literal chronological periods and, in some contexts like Luke 13:11, to emphasize the long duration of suffering. The term does not carry symbolic or prophetic meanings distinct from its ordinary temporal sense.
Biblical Usage
ἔτος appears 48 times in the New Testament, primarily in the Gospels (especially Luke) and Acts, with a few occurrences in Hebrews and Revelation. It is used in narrative contexts to specify ages (e.g., Jesus at age twelve in Luke 2:42), to date historical events (Luke 3:1), and to indicate the length of conditions like the woman's hemorrhage of twelve years (Mark 5:25). Its usage is straightforward and chronological, without significant variation across books.
Etymology
Derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wet-, meaning 'year,' ἔτος is a native Greek noun. It is cognate with Latin 'vetus' (old) and shares a root with the Greek word ἑκκαιδεκέτης (sixteen years old). Its meaning has remained stable as 'year' throughout ancient Greek literature and into the Koine period of the New Testament.
Semantic Range
In the Greco-Roman and Jewish contexts, a year (ἔτος) was generally understood as a solar year, aligning with agricultural and religious cycles. For Jewish authors and audiences, it often implicitly referenced the liturgical calendar, including festivals like Passover, which Jesus' family attended yearly (Luke 2:41). Unlike modern precise calendars, ancient years could be counted inclusively (e.g., parts of years counted as whole), which may affect interpretations of durations like the 'twelve years' in Mark 5:25, 42.
ἐνιαυτός (eniautos, G1763) — also means 'year,' but can emphasize a cycle or recurring period, often used in classical Greek; in the NT, it appears less frequently and sometimes in more formal or poetic contexts (e.g., Hebrews 10:1, 10:3).
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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