ἄτομος

From the study of 1 Corinthians 15:52

Range of meaning

Literally 'un-cut' or 'uncuttable', from the negative prefix a- and temnō, 'to cut'. It describes things that cannot be divided further: philosophers used it for the smallest indivisible units of matter (where our word 'atom' comes from) and for the smallest classes of things. Used of time, it means an indivisible instant, a point with no duration rather than a short stretch.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, YLT and others have 'in a moment'; BSB 'in an instant'; NIV 'in a flash'. Everyday English uses 'moment' for any short while ('wait a moment'), which is longer and looser than Paul's word. 'Instant' comes closest.

How it drifted

'Moment' (from Latin momentum, used by the Vulgate's 'in momento') has softened in English into 'a brief while'. The Greek picture of a slice of time too thin to cut is lost.

Used elsewhere in the period

This is the only use of the word in the New Testament, and it is rare in biblical Greek generally. In classical Greek it is common in philosophy: Leucippus and Democritus called their indivisible particles atoma, and Plato and Aristotle used atomos for what cannot be divided further. Applied to time it describes an indivisible 'now'.