Hebrew word · H5728

עֲדֶן

'aden

till

'Still, yet, until now.' Probably formed from ʿad ('until') + hēnnâ ('here, hither, now'). In the Hebrew Bible it occurs only here, with the shorter ʿăden in 4:3. Later Hebrew has the related ʿădayin, 'still'.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

hitherto, still, yet

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ecclesiastes 4:2

Range of meaning

'Still, yet, until now.' Probably formed from ʿad ('until') + hēnnâ ('here, hither, now'). In the Hebrew Bible it occurs only here, with the shorter ʿăden in 4:3. Later Hebrew has the related ʿădayin, 'still'.

Against the English

'Still' or 'yet' in all versions. Accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

Mishnaic Hebrew ʿădayin, 'still, yet', shows this is late vocabulary. In v. 3 ʿăden lōʾ hāyâ means 'has not yet been' (the unborn).

From the study of Ecclesiastes 4:3

Range of meaning

'Still, yet; until now'. Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) commonly explain it as formed from ʿad ('until') + hen ('here/now'). With a negative it means 'not yet'. In the Bible it occurs only in Eccl 4:2 (ʿadenah) and 4:3 (ʿaden).

Against the English

KJV/WEB/BSB 'not yet'; NIV and NASB 'never'. 'Not yet' is the literal sense. 'Never' interprets it as the person who never comes to exist at all.

Used elsewhere in the period

Compare the related later Hebrew ʿadayin 'still, yet', common in the Mishnah. It is one of several features that place Ecclesiastes' Hebrew late in the biblical period (Persian or early Hellenistic era).

Where it appears

Ecclesiastes · 2

  1. Ecclesiastes 4:2 עֲדֶֽנָה׃ still <towards>

    So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.

    Here: 'Still, up to now.' A rare late word (found only here and as ʿăden in 4:3). It implies the living are still stuck in it, still exposed to what the dead have escaped.

  2. Ecclesiastes 4:3 עֲדֶ֖ן still

    But better than both is he who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

    Here: A rare late-Hebrew word found only here and in verse 2 (as ʿadenah). With 'not' it means 'not yet'. It echoes verse 2 on purpose: the living are 'still' alive; this one has 'still not' existed.

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