Greek word · G1273

διανυκτερεύω

dianyktereuō

to spend the night

To pass the entire night, stay up or stay out all night. The prefix dia- ("through") points to the whole length of the night, from dark until dawn. The word describes how long and where a person spent the night (keeping watch, camping outdoors, staying awake). It is not a religious word in itself.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

δια-νυκτερεύω

(cf. διημερεύω, to pass the day) [in LXX: Job 2:9 * ;]

to pass the night: before ἐν τ. προσευχῆ, Luke 6:12.†

(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 Luke 6:12

Range of meaning

To pass the entire night, stay up or stay out all night. The prefix dia- ("through") points to the whole length of the night, from dark until dawn. The word describes how long and where a person spent the night (keeping watch, camping outdoors, staying awake). It is not a religious word in itself.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and ESV say "continued all night" and catch the duration. BSB says "spent the night", which is accurate but softer, since one can "spend the night" asleep. YLT's "was passing the night" keeps the ongoing, unfinished feel of the Greek construction.

Used elsewhere in the period

It appears only here in the New Testament. The Greek Old Testament has it in the expanded speech of Job's wife (LXX Job 2:9), where Job sits among worms "passing the night in the open air", and secular Greek writers of the period use it for soldiers or travellers who stay out or awake all night (BDAG). Its ordinary, physical sense is clear: being up and outdoors through the whole night.

Where it appears

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 6:12 διανυκτερεύων spending the night

    In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God.

    Here: Built from dia ("through") and nyx ("night"): he stayed awake right through the night. The word appears only here in the New Testament, and it stresses how long and how unbroken the prayer was.

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