Greek word · G3764

οὐδέπω

oudepō

not yet

Oudepō = 'not yet, never yet'. Gar = 'for, because', giving an explanation.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

οὐδέπω

adv., [in LXX: Exodus 9:30 (טֶרֶם)* ;]

not yet: Luke 23:53, John 7:39 19:41 20:9, Acts 8:16.†

(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 20:9

Range of meaning

Oudepō = 'not yet, never yet'. Gar = 'for, because', giving an explanation.

Against the English

The NIV puts the verse in parentheses and drops 'for'. That marks it as an aside but loses the explicit causal link to verse 8 ('he saw and believed').

Used elsewhere in the period

John often steps in with explanatory asides marked by gar (e.g. 4:8, 9; 6:64; 12:16 uses 'at first… then').

From the study of John 19:41

Range of meaning

Literally 'not yet no one was having been laid'. τίθημι means to place, put or lay down. The combination 'was' plus a perfect participle describes a settled state in the past: 'had been laid (and remained there)'.

Against the English

BSB, NASB and ESV: 'no one had yet been laid'. WEB: 'no man had ever yet been laid'. KJV: 'wherein was never man yet laid'. YLT: 'no one was yet laid'. All are accurate. The double negative is emphatic in Greek, and English 'never' or 'ever yet' captures it.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Greek, stacked negatives strengthen each other (compare Luke 23:53: 'no one, not yet, lying'). John uses τίθημι for placing Jesus' body (19:42) and for Mary's lament 'I do not know where they have laid him' (20:2, 13, 15). Earlier he uses it for Jesus 'laying down' his life (10:11, 15, 17–18).

Similar words

Where it appears

John · 3

  1. John 7:39 οὐδέπω not yet

    He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

    Here: A slightly stronger 'not yet', repeating the timing point. Jesus' 'hour' had not arrived.

  2. John 19:41 οὐδέπω not yet

    Now there was a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.

    Here: 'Not yet.' Greek stacks negatives for emphasis instead of cancelling them, so 'not yet ... no one' means 'never, not a single person'.

  3. John 20:9 οὐδέπω not yet

    For they still did not understand from the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

    Here: Comes first for emphasis: 'not yet'. It looks ahead to a later time when they *would* understand. The gap is about timing, not a permanent failure.

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 8:16 οὐδέπω Not yet

    For the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

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