Bible Word Study
μήν
mēn · a month
μήν
a month
Definition
The Greek noun μήν (mēn) refers to a lunar month, the period of time from one new moon to the next, approximately 29.5 days. In the New Testament, it consistently denotes this standard unit of time, as seen in Luke's narrative of Elizabeth's pregnancy (Luke 1:24, 1:26, 1:36, 1:56). It is also used to measure durations of ministry, such as Paul's three months of teaching in the synagogue at Ephesus (Acts 19:8) and his eighteen-month stay in Corinth (Acts 18:11). The term does not carry symbolic meaning but is a straightforward chronological marker.
Biblical Usage
The word is used 18 times in the New Testament, predominantly in the historical narratives of Luke and Acts. It functions to mark specific time intervals within stories, especially related to pregnancy (Luke 1), periods of prophetic judgment (Luke 4:25), and the duration of apostolic ministry (Acts 18:11, 19:8). Its usage is literal and chronological, providing a temporal framework for the events described.
Etymology
The word μήν (mēn) is a native Greek noun, directly meaning 'month' and is cognate with the word for 'moon' (μήνη, mēnē). It is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *mḗh₁n̥s, meaning 'moon, month', which also gives us the English word 'moon'. Its meaning as a lunar-based time unit remained stable from ancient Greek into the Koine period of the New Testament.
Semantic Range
In the ancient Mediterranean world, months were primarily lunar, beginning with the sighting of the new moon. This differed from the modern solar-based Gregorian calendar. The Jewish religious calendar was also lunar, with months like Nisan and Tishri holding major festivals. When Luke or other NT authors use μήν, they are referencing this shared cultural understanding of time, often aligning with Jewish calendrical reckoning for narrative events. χρόνος (chronos, G5550) — A more general term for time or a period of time, not a specific unit like a month. καιρός (kairos, G2540) — Refers to a specific, appointed time or season, often with a qualitative sense rather than a measured duration.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Dodson Greek-English Lexicon, supplemented by STEPBible TBESG data (CC BY 4.0). Concordance and morphology data are derived from the interlinear Bible.
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]