πάλαι
pálai · G3819 · Greek · 7 occurrences
Meanings
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long ago, of long ago
Pertaining to a point of time preceding another point of time, with an interval of considerable length
ExamplesMatthew 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Luke 10:13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
Hebrews 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
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all this time, all that time
A considerable and continuous extent of time in the past
Examples2 Corinthians 12:19 All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and all for building you up, beloved.
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already, already for some time
A point of time preceding another point of time and implying completion, but with a longer interval of time than in the case of ἤδη
ExamplesMark 15:44 Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead.
How it’s used
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- All this time, all that time67.141
- This domain covers πάλαι marking the extent of time something has continued, as Paul assures the Corinthians of his ongoing concern: “All this time do you suppose that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 12:19)
- Already, already for some time67.22
- Here πάλαι marks that an event has already occurred, as Mark narrates Pilate's surprise at Jesus' death: “And Pilate wondered if He was already dead.” (Mark 15:44)
- Long ago, of long ago67.24
- This domain covers πάλαι marking a distant past time, as the writer of Hebrews opens his letter: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways.” (Hebrews 1:1)
Word family 5 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon adverb of time, from Homer down; 1. of old; Heb 1:1; (as adjective) former, 2 Pet 1:9.…
1. of old; Heb 1:1; (as adjective) former, 2 Pet 1:9. (πάλαι properly designates the past not like πρίν and πρότερον relatively, i. e. with a reference, more or less explicit, to some other time (whether past, present, or future), but simply and absolutely.)
2. long ago: Mt 11:21; Lk 10:13; Jude 1:4; so also of time just past, Mk 15:44 (A. V. any while) (where L Tr text WH text ἤδη); 2 Cor 12:19 L T Tr WH (R. V. all this time) (so in Homer, Odyssey 20, 293; Josephus, Antiquities 14, 15, 4).
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 2 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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