Greek word · G3703

ὀπώρα

opōra

fruit

In Greek this was first the name of a season: late summer into early autumn, the stretch from the rising of the Dog Star until autumn, when fruit ripens.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ὀπώρα, -ας, ἡ

[in LXX: Jeremiah 48:32 40:10, 12 (קַיִץ) * ;]

1. late summer, early autumn (the time between the risings of Sirius and Arcturus, i.e. late July, all August and early September).

2. By meton. (as being fruit-time), ripe fruits Revelation 18:14 (cf. φθινοπωρινά, Jude 1:12).†

(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 Revelation 18:14

Range of meaning

In Greek this was first the name of a season: late summer into early autumn, the stretch from the rising of the Dog Star until autumn, when fruit ripens. From there it came to mean the ripe fruit of that season: late-summer fruit such as figs, grapes and orchard fruit, the year's sweetest produce at its peak.

Against the English

English versions all say “fruit” (KJV “the fruits”). That is right, but the time-of-year idea is lost. Opōra is not just any fruit. It is the fruit at the height of the season, the best moment of the year's harvest, and that season does not last.

Used elsewhere in the period

Homer already uses it as a season word (Iliad 22.27, where the star that rises in opōrē is Sirius). In the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, it renders Hebrew qayits, “summer fruit,” for example in Jeremiah's descriptions of gathering “wine and summer fruit” (Jer 40:10, 12 Hebrew numbering) and in the judgment oracle on Moab, where “the destroyer has fallen on your summer fruit” (Jer 48:32). This is the only New Testament use (BDAG s.v.).

Where it appears

Revelation · 1

  1. Revelation 18:14 ὀπώρα ripe fruit

    And they will say: “The fruit of your soul’s desire has departed from you; all your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be seen again.”

    Here: The late-summer season when fruit is at its ripest, and so the ripe fruit itself. The picture is the city's harvest of good things at its peak. The word appears only here in the New Testament.

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