Greek word · G1416

δύνω, δῦμι

dynō, dymi

to set

To sink or go down into something. Used above all of the sun or stars setting. In older Greek also of putting on clothes, as if "sinking into" them.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

δύνω Ion, and trag. form of δύω,

[in LXX chiefly for בּוֹא ;]

to enter, sink into; of the sun (sc. όντον), set: Mark 1:32, Luke 4:40

(cf. ἐκ-, ἀπ-εκ-, ἐν-, ἐπ-εν-, παρ-εισ-, ἐπι-δύνω).†

δύω, see: δύνω

δύνω Ion, and trag. form of δύω,

[in LXX chiefly for בּוֹא ;]

to enter, sink into; of the sun (sc. όντον), set: Mark 1:32, Luke 4:40

(cf. ἐκ-, ἀπ-εκ-, ἐν-, ἐπ-εν-, παρ-εισ-, ἐπι-δύνω).†

δύω, see: δύνω

(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 4:40

Range of meaning

To sink or go down into something. Used above all of the sun or stars setting. In older Greek also of putting on clothes, as if "sinking into" them.

Against the English

"At sunset" (BSB) and "when the sun was setting" (KJV, WEB) are both accurate. BSB's "at sunset" loses a little of the present participle's "while it was going down".

Used elsewhere in the period

Homer already uses it of the sun going down. In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint, or LXX): Gen 28:11, "for the sun had set"; Lev 22:7, an unclean person "when the sun sets … shall be clean"; Deut 24:15, wages must be paid before sunset. Mark's parallel (1:32) has "when evening came, when the sun set" (ἔδυ ὁ ἥλιος).

Where it appears

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 1:32 ἔδυ went down

    That evening, after sunset, people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed,

    Here: 'Sank' or 'went down'. Greek pictures the sun sinking into the horizon. The single past tense points to the moment of sunset, the line the whole scene waits for.

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 4:40 Δύνοντος When is setting

    At sunset, all who were ill with various diseases were brought to Jesus, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them.

    Here: "While (the sun) was setting." The present participle puts us inside the moment of sunset as it happens, not after dark. Sunset was the moment the Sabbath ended.

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