אֶתְמוֹל
ʼethmôwl · H865 · Hebrew · 8 occurrences
Meanings
-
yesterday
Reference to the day before the current day; sometimes used to refer to a point of time in the recent past as if it happened the day before
ExamplesPsalm 90:4 For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or like a watch in the night.
Isaiah 30:33 For Topheth has long been ready, Indeed, it has been prepared for the king. He has made it deep and large, A pyre of fire with plenty of wood; The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.
Micah 2:8 “Recently My people have arisen as an enemy— You strip the robe off the garment From unsuspecting passers-by, From those returned from war.
-
Reference to times in the past when a certain activity used to take place repeatedly ((what used to be done) before, in the past)
Examples1 Samuel 4:7 So the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp!” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before.
1 Samuel 19:7 Then Jonathan called David, and Jonathan told him all these words. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.
How it’s used In 2 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
4 occurrences in 2 groups
- מִןfrom 2
- כlike/as 2
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- יוֹםday, time 1
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.
Near synonyms 3 words
- קַדְמָה qadmâh · H6927 · ancient time, long ago, previously
- Both lexemes denote past-time reference — "former, old estate, antiquity" versus "before that time, heretofore, yesterday, times past" — genuine semantic overlap that qualifies them as near-synonyms in the temporal domain.
- אֶמֶשׁ ʼemesh · H570 · twilight, evening, last night
- Both lexemes are Hebrew temporal adverbs denoting "yesterday" or "former time" with closely overlapping senses, near-synonyms that can substitute for each other in many contexts. These are distinct words (different roots) with the same core meaning.
- שִׁלְשׁוֹם shilshôwm · H8032 · (what used to be done) before, in the past
- Both words are temporal adverbs or phrases referring to past time ("yesterday", "heretofore", "time past"), and they could substitute for one another in expressing prior time.
In the other Testament 1 word
- χθές chthés · G5504 · yesterday, always, eternally
- אֶתְמוֹל (ʼethmôwl, H865) and χθές (chthés, G5504) both denote 'yesterday' and extended temporal reference to the recent/immediate past ('formerly,' 'heretofore'), forming a direct translation equivalent across Hebrew and Greek with no substantive semantic divergence.
Semantic domains 1 entry
- Temporal Referents003002006
- אֶתְמוֹל means "yesterday" or "formerly," a temporal reference to a preceding time, as the Philistines' alarm, "God has come into the camp!" recalling nothing like it had happened "formerly" (1 Samuel 4:7) and David's reminder to Israel, "Previously, when Saul was king over us" (2 Samuel 5:2).
Word family 2 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H865. ethmowl (תּמֹלׅ תְּמוֺל,23, אֶתְמוֺל5, אֹתְּמוֺל 1Sa 10:11, אֶתְּמוֺל Isa 30:33;…
(תּמֹלׅ תְּמוֺל,23, אֶתְמוֺל5, אֹתְּמוֺל 1Sa 10:11, אֶתְּמוֺל Isa 30:33; Mic 2:8 (see infinitive),
substantive, used sometimes as
adverb accusative, yesterday, figurative recently, formerly (Aramaic תְּמָלֵי אִתְּמָלֵי,, sometimes אִתְּמוֺל, , , Mandean עתמאל NöM 202; Ethiopic Assyrian timâli, itimâli, ina timâli (Dl158, 721); derivation dubious; according to MeiGr. Syr. 118 Köii. 264 f. from Arabic II. prolongavit, IV. longam vitam concessit, tempus, the two times, i.e. night and day, in form an infinitive of VI. ; hence properly long time, (past) time, specialized to yesterday); — yesterday, but usually figurative= recently or formerly:
1 2Sa 15:20 בּוֺאֲךָ תְּמוֺל yesterday (=only lately) was thy coming, Job 8:9 אנחנו תמול (of) yesterday (Ges§ 141d) are we, Psa 90:4 (genitive) אֶתְמוֺל בְּיוֺם.
2 usuually in combination with שִׁלְשֹׁם yesterday (and) the third day, to express the idea of formerly: thus
a. as adverb accusative (a) הַיּוֺם גַּם תְּמוֺל גַּם 1Sa 20:27 (literal), compare Exo 5:14 (sub b); (b) שִׁלְשֹׁם תְּמוֺל Exo 5:8Ruth Exo 2:11, so ׳שׁ ׳אֶתְמ 1Sa 4:7; (c) ת ׳גַּם שׁ ׳גַּם 2Sa 3:17; 1Ch 11:2 (|| 2Sa 5:2 with ׳אֶתְמ).
b. שִׁלְשֹׁם בִּתְמוֺל as formerly Gen 31:2, Gen 31:5; Exo 5:7; Jos 4:18; 1Sa 21:6 (but Bu ׳מִתְּ, as c), 2Ki 13:5; ׳כְּאֶתְמ ׳שׁ 1Sa 14:21; 1Sa 19:7; Exo 5:14 הַיּוֺם גַּם תְּמוֺל גַּם ׳כִּת ׳שׁ as yesterday (and) the third day (= as formerly), both yesterday and to-day (=so more recently).
c. שׁ ׳מִתְּמוֺל = (form) aforetime, Exo 21:29, Exo 21:36; Jos 3:6, מִתְּ לוֺ שׂנֵא לֹא ׳וְהוּא ׳שׁ Deu 4:42; Deu 19:4, Deu 19:6; Jos 20:5; so שׁ ׳מֵאִתְּמוֺל 1Sa 10:11; ׳מִתְּ מִשּׁ ׳גַּס גַּס Exo 4:10.
3 מֵאֶתְמוּל (alone) Isa 30:33 from yesterday = already; עַמִּי וְאֶתְּמוּל Mic 2:8 corrupt, read לְעַמִּי וְאַתֶּם (WRS, with יָקוּם; עַמִּי עַל We Now, with תָּקוּמוּ), and see שֵׂלְמָה.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 1 entry
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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