Greek word · G1024

βραχύς

brachys

little

βραχύς means short, small or brief. It is used of distance ('a short way,' Acts 27:28), quantity ('a little,' John 6:7) and time ('a little while,' Acts 5:34; Luke 22:58). The neuter brachy (ti) as an adverb can mean either 'a little (in degree)' or 'for a little (while).'

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

βραχύς, -εῖα, -ύ,

[in LXX chiefly for מְעַט ;]

short;

(a) of time; short, little: βραχύ, Acts 5:34; μετὰ β., Luke 22:58; β. τι, a short time, Hebrews 2:7, 9 RV, mg.;

(b) of distance: Acts 27:28;

(with) of quantity or value, little, few: John 6:7, Hebrews 2:7, 9 RV, txt.; pl., διὰ βραχέων, in few words, Hebrews 13:22.

† (AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Hebrews 2:7

Range of meaning

βραχύς means short, small or brief. It is used of distance ('a short way,' Acts 27:28), quantity ('a little,' John 6:7) and time ('a little while,' Acts 5:34; Luke 22:58). The neuter brachy (ti) as an adverb can mean either 'a little (in degree)' or 'for a little (while).'

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and NIV main text: 'a little lower' (degree). ESV and NASB: 'for a little while lower' (time). NIV gives the time sense in a footnote. Any English choice settles a question the Greek leaves open.

How it drifted

The KJV wording 'a little lower than the angels' became proverbial. As a result, many readers have never seen the time reading, which modern scholarship takes seriously for Hebrews.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Hebrew Psalm, me'at ('a little') usually measures degree, though it can be temporal (Ps 37:10, 'yet a little while'). The Septuagint's βραχύ τι carries the same ambiguity. In Isa 57:17 LXX, βραχύ τι is temporal ('for a short time').

From the study of Hebrews 2:9

Range of meaning

'Short' or 'little', in space, in time or in amount. As an adverbial phrase it can mean 'a little' (degree, distance) or 'for a little while' (time).

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and YLT keep 'a little lower', which is degree. ESV, NIV and NASB choose 'for a little while', which is time. Each English choice closes off the other meaning, but the Greek leaves both open.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint, LXX), βραχύ τι means distance in 2 Samuel 16:1 ('a little past the summit') and time in Isaiah 57:17 ('for a little while I grieved him'). Acts 5:34 uses βραχύ for 'a short time'. The Hebrew of Psalm 8:5 has מְעַט (me'at), 'a little', where degree is the most natural reading.

From the study of Hebrews 13:22

Range of meaning

'Through few (words)': a fixed expression meaning 'briefly, in short'. It measures length against the subject or the occasion, not in absolute terms.

Against the English

BSB's 'only... briefly' and NIV's 'quite briefly' can make the line sound odd or even humorous, since Hebrews runs to thirteen chapters (roughly forty-five minutes to an hour read aloud). KJV and WEB's 'in few words' is closer to the idiom.

Used elsewhere in the period

Similar polite closings: 1 Peter 5:12 ('I have written to you briefly', di' oligōn); Ignatius, To the Romans 8:2 ('through few letters'). Writers of speeches and letters regularly claimed brevity as a courtesy to the listener. Hebrews itself repeatedly says it is holding back: 5:11 ('much to say'), 9:5 ('we cannot now speak in detail'), 11:32 ('time would fail me to tell').

Where it appears

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 22:58 βραχὺ a little

    A short time later, someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.”

John · 1

  1. John 6:7 βραχύ little [piece]

    Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a small piece.”

Acts · 2

  1. Acts 5:34 βραχὺ for a short

    But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a short time.

  2. Acts 27:28 βραχὺ A little

    They took soundings and found that the water was twenty fathoms deep. Going a little farther, they took another set of soundings that read fifteen fathoms.

Hebrews · 3

  1. Hebrews 2:7 βραχύ a little

    You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor

    Here: 'A little.' It can measure degree (a little lower) or time (for a short while). Greek allows both, and Hebrews 2:9 seems to lean on the time sense.

  2. Hebrews 2:9 βραχύ a little

    But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

    Here: Taken word for word from Psalm 8 in its Greek version. It can mean 'a little' (a matter of degree) or 'for a short while' (a matter of time). Hebrews seems to lean on the time sense: the lowering was temporary.

  3. Hebrews 13:22 βραχέων few words

    I urge you, brothers, to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have only written to you briefly.

    Here: 'Few (words)'. A standard phrase in ancient letters for 'briefly', measured against how much the subject deserved, not against a clock.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.