ποτέ

Luke 22:32 ποτε when

But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Here: An indefinite "at some point," "one day," "once." Jesus does not say when Peter will turn back, only that he will. It quietly assumes there will be a falling away to turn back from.

John 9:13 ποτε once [was]

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.

Here: 'Once' or 'at one time.' His blindness is now in the past, yet it is still the label people use for him.

Romans 1:10 ποτὲ at last

in my prayers at all times, asking that now at last by God’s will I may succeed in coming to you.

Here: Together with ēdē it forms the idiom 'now at last' or 'now at length'. It says the visit has been delayed for a long time (compare 1:13; 15:22–23).

Romans 7:9 ποτέ· once;

Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

Here: "At one time, formerly." It points to a real or narrated period before the commandment arrived, which is what makes readers ask when that period was.

Romans 11:30 ποτε once

Just as you who formerly disobeyed God have now received mercy through their disobedience,

Here: "At one time". It sets up the early Christian "once… but now" pattern for describing a life before and after God's intervention (compare Eph 2:11–13; Col 3:7–8; 1 Pet 2:10).

1 Corinthians 9:7 ποτέ; at any time?

Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?

Here: Adds force: 'ever.' No soldier has ever paid for his own campaign. The KJV ('any time') and YLT keep it, and most modern versions fold it into the tone of the question.

Galatians 1:13 ποτε former

For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.

Here: 'Back then.' It marks this way of life as Paul's past and sets up the contrast with 'but when God… was pleased' in 1:15.

Galatians 1:23 ποτε ποτε formerly, once

They only heard the account: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

Galatians 2:6 ποτε formerly

But as for the highly esteemed—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—those leaders added nothing to me.

Here: Either just widens 'whatever' ('whatsoever') or means 'once, formerly'. If it means 'formerly', it probably points to their earlier standing, most likely as Jesus' companions during his lifetime. Scholars dispute which.

Ephesians 2:2 ποτε once

in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

Here: "At one time." It sets up the letter's contrast between "once" and "now" (2:11–13). It also makes the point that this way of life belongs to the readers' past.

Ephesians 2:3 ποτε once

All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

Here: "Once" or "back then". It sets up the "once … but now" contrast that turns at verse 4 ("But God…").

Ephesians 2:11 ποτὲ formerly

Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—

Here: The 'once' half of a 'once… but now' contrast that runs through the chapter (2:2, 2:3, 2:13 'but now'). It marks their former position as something that belongs to the past.

Ephesians 2:13 ποτε once

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Here: 'At one time', 'formerly'. The same 'once' as verses 2, 3 and 11. It points to a past state that is now over, not to something that happens now and then (KJV 'sometimes' meant 'formerly' in 1611).

Ephesians 5:8 ποτε once

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

Here: "At one time, formerly." It sets up the "once … but now" contrast that runs through Ephesians (2:2–3, 2:11–13) and marks a clean break between before and after.

Ephesians 5:29 ποτε at any time

Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.

Philippians 4:10 ποτὲ at last

Now I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.

Here: With ἤδη it means "now at last" or "now at length": after a gap of time, it finally happened. The phrase notes the delay. It does not have to carry a complaint, and Paul goes on at once to excuse them.

Colossians 1:21 ποτε once

Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.

Here: Opens Paul's familiar 'once… but now' contrast. Its partner is 'but now' (nyni de) at the start of verse 22. It marks a past that is finished.

Colossians 3:7 ποτε, once

When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways.

Here: "Once," "formerly." It is the first half of Paul's "once … but now" contrast. The "now" comes in 3:8 ("But now you must put aside…").

1 Thessalonians 2:5 ποτε at any time

As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness!

Here: With the negative it means 'not even once'. The denial covers the whole of their stay in Thessalonica, with no exceptions.

Titus 3:3 ποτε once

For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

Here: 'At one time, formerly.' It sets up the 'once… but when' pattern that verse 4 completes ('But when the kindness of God… appeared'). It does not mean 'occasionally'.

Philemon 1:11 ποτέ once

Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

Hebrews 1:5 ποτε ever

For to which of the angels did God ever say: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father”? Or again: “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son”?

Here: Widens the challenge: at no point in the whole record of Scripture was this said to an angel.

Hebrews 1:13 ποτε· ever:

Yet to which of the angels did God ever say: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet”?

Here: 'Ever', 'at any time'. It sweeps across all of Scripture: God never once said this to any angel.

1 Peter 2:10 ποτε once [were]

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Here: 'Once', 'at one time'. It points back to the readers' life before they turned to Christ, and sets up the 'once ... now' contrast that shapes the whole verse.

1 Peter 3:5 ποτε formerly

For this is how the holy women of the past adorned themselves. They put their hope in God and were submissive to their husbands,

Here: 'Once, in times past': the women of Israel's ancestral story, Sarah above all (v. 6). It gives the advice the weight of age and ancestry, which counted for a great deal in the ancient world.

1 Peter 3:20 ποτε, at one time,

who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.

Here: Sets the disobedience back in a distant past, long before Christ's proclamation in verse 19.

2 Peter 1:10 ποτε. at any time.

Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble,

Here: 'Ever, at any time.' It strengthens the 'never'. The sentence carries on into verse 11 with the reason: this is how a rich entrance into the kingdom will be supplied to you.

2 Peter 1:21 ποτέ, at any time

For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Here: After a negative it means 'ever', so 'never at any time'. The KJV's 'in old time' takes the word's other possible sense ('formerly') and loses the sweeping 'never'.