Greek word · G1304

διατρίβω

diatribō

to remain

Literally 'to rub through' or 'wear away' (time). From there it means to spend time, stay or linger somewhere, usually for a while. BDAG gives 'spend time, stay'.

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

δια-τρίβω

[in LXX Leviticus 14:8 (יָשַׁב), Jeremiah 35:7 (גּוּר), Tobit 11:8, 12, Judith 10:2, 2Ma.14:23 * ;]

to rub hard, rub away, consume; δ. χρόνον, ἡμέρας, to spend time: Acts 14:3, 28 16:12 20:6 25:6, 14. Intransitively with ellipse of object (El., § 81, 1), to spend time, stay: John 3:22 11:54, Acts 15:35, Acts 12:19.†

(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 John 3:22

Range of meaning

Literally 'to rub through' or 'wear away' (time). From there it means to spend time, stay or linger somewhere, usually for a while. BDAG gives 'spend time, stay'.

Against the English

KJV 'tarried' and BSB 'spent some time' are both accurate. 'Stayed' (WEB) is fine too, but on its own it can sound like one night's lodging.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in Acts for time spent in a place (Acts 12:19; 14:3, 28; 15:35; 16:12; 20:6; 25:6, 14). It appears in the Septuagint at Leviticus 14:8 for staying outside one's tent. In classical and Hellenistic Greek it is ordinary for whiling away or spending time.

Where it appears

John · 1

  1. John 3:22 διέτριβεν He was staying

    After this, Jesus and His disciples went into the Judean countryside, where He spent some time with them and baptized.

    Here: The tense describes a continuing state: he 'was staying' or 'was spending time'. This was a stay of some length, not a stop on the way.

Acts · 8

  1. Acts 12:19 διέτριβεν. he was staying [there].

    After Herod had searched for him unsuccessfully, he examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent some time there.

  2. Acts 14:3 διέτριψαν they stayed

    So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.

    Here: Literally 'to rub through', so 'to wear away' time, that is, to spend it somewhere. Luke uses it often for the missionaries' stays in a city (Acts 14:28; 15:35; 16:12; 20:6). It sums up the whole stay as one completed period.

  3. Acts 14:28 διέτριβον They were remaining

    And they spent a long time there with the disciples.

  4. Acts 15:35 διέτριβον were staying

    But Paul and Barnabas remained at Antioch, along with many others, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.

  5. Acts 16:12 διατρίβοντες staying

    From there we went to the Roman colony of Philippi, the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

  6. Acts 20:6 διετρίψαμεν we stayed

    And after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we sailed from Philippi, and five days later we rejoined them in Troas, where we stayed seven days.

  7. Acts 25:6 διατρίψας Having spent

    After spending no more than eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he sat on the judgment seat and ordered that Paul be brought in.

  8. Acts 25:14 διέτριβον they were staying

    Since they were staying several days, Festus laid out Paul’s case before the king: “There is a certain man whom Felix left in prison.

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