Greek word · G5504

χθές

chthes

yesterday

Literally "yesterday". By extension it means "recently" or "in the past" (BDAG s.v. ἐχθές). In Greek biblical idiom, "yesterday and the day before" (ἐχθὲς καὶ τρίτην) means "previously, in time past".

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἐχθές

(Rec. χθές), adv., [in LXX for תְּמוֹל, etc. ;]

yesterday: John 4:52, Acts 7:28, Hebrews 13:8 (on the form, see Rutherford, NPhr., 370 f.).†

ἐχθές,

adverb ={χθές}, yesterday, ( 5th-6th c.BC: Aristophanes Comicus “Nubes” 175, “Th.” 616, etc.; ἀπ᾽ ἐ. “Anthologia Graeca” 11.35 (1st c.BC: Philodemus Gadarensis Epigrammaticus); μέσφα τό γ᾽ ἐ. 3rd c.BC: Theocritus Poeta Bucolicus 2.144 ); οὐ γάρ τι νῦν γε κἀ. today or yesterday, ( 5th c.BC: Sophocles Tragicus “Antigone” 456; οὐκ ἐ. οὐδὲ πρῴην 5th c.BC: Antipho Orator “fragment” 58 ); ἐ. καὶ τρίτης [ἡμέρας] ( LXX.Ruth.2.11, compare 2nd c.AD: Marcus Antoninus Imperator 10.7. (ἐχθές is commoner than χθές) in Comedy texts and LXX, is the only form used in “NT”, and frequently in papyri of all periods, ( “PSI” 4.442.21 (3rd c.BC), etc.)) (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 Hebrews 13:8

Range of meaning

Literally "yesterday". By extension it means "recently" or "in the past" (BDAG s.v. ἐχθές). In Greek biblical idiom, "yesterday and the day before" (ἐχθὲς καὶ τρίτην) means "previously, in time past".

Against the English

English "yesterday" is accurate. A modern reader may hear it either as literally the previous day or, as often in sermons, as "from all eternity". The Greek use is broader than the first, and in this context probably narrower than the second.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 8:9 LXX: "we are of yesterday" (ἐχθιζοί), meaning we are short-lived newcomers. Exodus 5:14 and 1 Samuel 4:7 LXX use "yesterday and the day before" for "formerly". In the NT, John 4:52 and Acts 7:28 use it literally.

Where it appears

John · 1

  1. John 4:52 ἐχθὲς Yesterday

    So he inquired as to the hour when his son had recovered, and they told him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.”

    Here: The fever broke on the previous day. For Jews the day began at sunset, so after nightfall the afternoon just past already counted as "yesterday."

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 7:28 ἐχθὲς yesterday

    Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 13:8 ἐχθὲς yesterday

    Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

    Here: Literally "yesterday", used here for the past in general. Coming right after v.7 (the leaders who first preached to them and whose lives are now over), it most naturally points to the days of those founding leaders and of Jesus' own earthly ministry: the Christ they heard about then.

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