Greek word · G3722

ὄρθρος

orthros

dawn

Daybreak or early dawn: the grey time just before and around sunrise. In the genitive case, as here, it works as a time phrase: 'at dawn' or 'early.' It is more specific than a general 'morning.'

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

What it means

ὄρθρος, -ου, ὁ

[in LXX for שַׁחַר, בֹּקֶר, etc. ;]

daybreak, dawn: ὄρθρου βαθέως (M, Pr., 73), at early dawn, Luke 24:1; ὄρθρου, John 8:2; ὑπὸ τὸν ὄ., Acts 5:21 (cf. MM, xviii).†

(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 8:2

Range of meaning

Daybreak or early dawn: the grey time just before and around sunrise. In the genitive case, as here, it works as a time phrase: 'at dawn' or 'early.' It is more specific than a general 'morning.'

Against the English

KJV, BSB and others say 'early in the morning.' WEB says 'very early in the morning,' and NIV has 'at dawn.' 'At dawn' or 'at daybreak' is closest. 'Early in the morning' is accurate but less precise.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the New Testament the word appears in Luke 24:1 ('at early dawn,' the women at the tomb) and Acts 5:21 ('about daybreak,' the apostles teaching in the temple). The related verb appears in Luke 21:38: 'all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple to hear him.' John's Gospel elsewhere uses a different word, prōi, for early morning (18:28; 20:1; 21:4). In the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) orthros is a common word for dawn.

Where it appears

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 24:1 ὄρθρου dawn

    On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared.

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 5:21 ὄρθρον dawn

    At daybreak the apostles entered the temple courts as they had been told and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles.

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