Greek word · G4207

πόρρωθεν

porrōthen

afar off

'From far away', 'at a distance'. The -then ending means 'from', so strictly it is 'from afar'. It describes the position you see, hear or speak from.

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

What it means

πόρρωθεν

adv. (τόρρω, which see), [in LXX for רָחוֹק and cogn. forms ;]

from afar: Luke 17:12, Hebrews 11:13.†

(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 17:12

Range of meaning

'From far away', 'at a distance'. The -then ending means 'from', so strictly it is 'from afar'. It describes the position you see, hear or speak from.

Against the English

KJV and YLT have 'afar off'; BSB, WEB, ESV and NIV have 'at a distance'. All are accurate. The English can sound like shyness, but the Greek in this context points to a required separation.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the NT also at Heb 11:13 (seeing the promises 'from afar'). In the LXX it is used for distance in space and time. The idea behind the distance comes from Lev 13:45–46: the person with the disease wears torn clothes, leaves the hair loose, covers the upper lip, cries 'Unclean, unclean!' and 'shall live alone; outside the camp shall be his dwelling'. Compare Num 5:2–3.

Where it appears

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 17:12 πόρρωθεν. afar off.

    As He entered one of the villages, He was met by ten lepers. They stood at a distance

    Here: 'From far off'. They kept the separation the Law required of people with skin disease (Lev 13:45–46). That is why in v. 13 they have to 'lift up their voice' to be heard.

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 11:13 πόρρωθεν from afar

    All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

    Here: A word of distance, like travellers sighting their destination on the horizon. It goes with both "seeing" and "greeting".

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