Greek word · G5352
φθινοπωρινός
phthinopōrinos
autumnal
Belonging to phthinopōron, the 'waning' (phthinō) of opōra, the late summer fruit season. That is, late autumn, the end of the harvest period.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
φθιν-οπωρινός, -ή, -όν
(φθινόπωρον, late autumn),
autumnal: δένδρα φ., autumn trees (said to be without fruit therefore at a time when fruit might be expected; see Mayor's elaborate note, Ep. Ju., 55-59, and reff. there): 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
- Range of meaning
Belonging to phthinopōron, the 'waning' (phthinō) of opōra, the late summer fruit season. That is, late autumn, the end of the harvest period.
- Against the English
KJV has 'trees whose fruit withereth', an attempt to translate the word's parts. BSB, WEB and NASB have 'autumn trees', ESV 'in late autumn', YLT 'trees autumnal'.
- How it drifted
A modern reader thinks of autumn as the time leaves turn and fall, so 'autumn trees' can suggest trees that are simply bare for the season, which is no fault of theirs. Jude's point is that this is when fruit is due.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Aristotle and other Greek writers use phthinopōron for the season after the late-summer fruit harvest. The New Testament uses the adjective only here.
Where it appears
Jude · 1
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Jude 1:12 φθινοπωρινὰ autumnal
These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.
Here: From phthinopōron, the end of the fruit season. These trees reach harvest time, when fruit is expected, and have nothing on them.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.