Hebrew word · H8543

תְּמוֹל

temol

yesterday

Literally 'yesterday, the day before yesterday' (shilshom is 'three days ago'). As a pair, it is a fixed idiom for 'formerly, previously, before now'.

Appears 23 times in 22 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) before, before that time, beforetime, heretofore, of late, of old, these days, time(s) past, yesterday, day before yesterday, recently, formerly

1a) yesterday

1a1) recently, formerly (usual usage) (fig)

1b) as formerly, so more recently

1c) from yesterday, already

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 Exodus 4:10

Range of meaning

Literally 'yesterday, the day before yesterday' (shilshom is 'three days ago'). As a pair, it is a fixed idiom for 'formerly, previously, before now'.

Against the English

BSB, NIV and others: 'in the past'. KJV: 'heretofore'. YLT: 'yesterday, or before', which is literal but can mislead a reader into thinking of the last two days.

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in narrative and law: Laban's attitude 'not as yesterday and the day before' (Gen 31:2, 5); the brick quota 'as yesterday and the day before' (Exod 5:7–8, 14); an ox known to gore 'from yesterday and the day before' (Exod 21:29); 1 Sam 4:7; Ruth 2:11.

From the study of Job 8:9

Range of meaning

'Yesterday.' Most often it appears in the fixed phrase temol shilshom, 'yesterday and the day before,' which means 'formerly' or 'before now' (e.g. Gen 31:2; Exod 5:7). Used alone it can mean simply 'recently' (1 Sam 4:7; 2 Kgs 9:26).

Against the English

KJV, WEB and ESV say 'we are but of yesterday,' which keeps the Hebrew picture. BSB and NIV turn it into 'born (only) yesterday,' which is clearer but borrows a modern English idiom.

How it drifted

English 'I wasn't born yesterday' means 'I'm not gullible.' Rendering this verse 'we were born yesterday' brings in that sense of naivety. The Hebrew is about having been alive a short time compared with many generations. It is not about being easy to fool.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has chthizoi, 'yesterday's (people).' Similar sayings that set the young against the old appear in Job 15:7–10 (Eliphaz: 'the gray-haired and the aged are among us') and Sirach 8:9 ('do not neglect what the aged say, for they themselves learned from their fathers').

From the study of Joshua 3:4

Range of meaning

'Yesterday (and) the day before.' A fixed phrase for 'previously' or 'in the past', usually with a negative ('not… before'), or for 'as formerly'.

Against the English

KJV 'heretofore' is right but archaic. Modern 'before' or 'never… before' is right. A wooden rendering like 'three days ago' would mislead.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 31:2, 5 ('not as before'); Exod 4:10 ('neither yesterday nor the day before', meaning never); Exod 5:7–8; 1 Sam 19:7; Ruth 2:11.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2
  1. Genesis 31:2 כִּתְמ֥וֹל as yesterday

    And Jacob saw from the countenance of Laban that his attitude toward him had changed.

  2. Genesis 31:5 כִּתְמֹ֣ל as yesterday

    and he told them, “I can see from your father’s countenance that his attitude toward me has changed; but the God of my father has been with me.

Exodus · 7
  1. Exodus 4:10 מִתְּמוֹל֙ from yesterday

    “Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”

    Here: Literally 'since yesterday'. It is the first half of a fixed idiom meaning 'before now, in the past'.

  2. Exodus 5:7 כִּתְמ֣וֹל as yesterday

    “You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw.

  3. Exodus 5:8 תְּמ֤וֹל yesterday

    But require of them the same quota of bricks as before; do not reduce it. For they are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

  4. Exodus 5:14 כִּתְמ֣וֹל תְּמ֖וֹל as yesterday, yesterday

    Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over the people, were beaten and asked, “Why have you not fulfilled your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?”

  5. Exodus 21:29 מִתְּמֹ֣ל from yesterday

    But if the ox has a habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or woman, then the ox must be stoned and its owner must also be put to death.

  6. Exodus 21:36 מִתְּמ֣וֹל from yesterday

    But if it was known that the ox had a habit of goring, yet its owner failed to restrain it, he shall pay full compensation, ox for ox, and the dead animal will be his.

Deuteronomy · 3
  1. Deuteronomy 4:42 מִתְּמ֣וֹל from yesterday

    to which a manslayer could flee after killing his neighbor unintentionally without prior malice. To save one’s own life, he could flee to one of these cities:

  2. Deuteronomy 19:4 מִתְּמֹ֥ל from yesterday

    Now this is the situation regarding the manslayer who flees to one of these cities to save his life, having killed his neighbor accidentally, without intending to harm him:

  3. Deuteronomy 19:6 מִתְּמ֥וֹל from yesterday

    Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in a rage, overtake him if the distance is great, and strike him dead though he did not deserve to die, since he did not intend any harm.

Joshua · 3
  1. Joshua 3:4 מִתְּמ֥וֹל from yesterday

    But keep a distance of about two thousand cubits between yourselves and the ark. Do not go near it, so that you can see the way to go, since you have never traveled this way before.”

    Here: First half of a fixed idiom, 'from yesterday (and) the day before', meaning 'ever before' or 'previously'.

  2. Joshua 4:18 כִתְמוֹל־ as yesterday

    When the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD came up out of the Jordan and their feet touched the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their course and overflowed all the banks as before.

  3. Joshua 20:5 מִתְּמ֥וֹל from yesterday

    Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not surrender the manslayer into his hand, because that man killed his neighbor accidentally without prior malice.

    Here: First half of a fixed phrase for 'formerly' or 'before this'.

Ruth · 1
  1. Ruth 2:11 תְּמ֥וֹל yesterday

    Boaz replied, “I have been made fully aware of all you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and how you came to a people you did not know before.

    Here: First half of the idiom “yesterday (and) the day before,” meaning “previously, before now.”

1 Samuel · 2
  1. 1 Samuel 20:27 תְּמ֥וֹל yesterday

    But on the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal either yesterday or today?”

  2. 1 Samuel 21:5 כִּתְמ֣וֹל as yesterday

    David answered, “Women have indeed been kept from us, as is usual when I set out. And the bodies of the young men are holy even on common missions. How much more so today!”

2 Samuel · 2
  1. 2 Samuel 3:17 תְּמוֹל֙ yesterday

    Now Abner conferred with the elders of Israel and said, “In the past you sought David as your king.

  2. 2 Samuel 15:20 תְּמ֣וֹל׀ [was] yesterday

    In fact, you arrived only yesterday; should I make you wander around with us today while I do not know where I am going? Go back and take your brothers with you. May the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness.”

2 Kings · 1
  1. 2 Kings 13:5 כִּתְמ֥וֹל as yesterday

    So the LORD gave Israel a deliverer, and they escaped the power of the Arameans. Then the people of Israel lived in their own homes as they had before.

1 Chronicles · 1
  1. 1 Chronicles 11:2 תְּמ֣וֹל yesterday

    Even in times past, while Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them back. And the LORD your God said, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over them.’”

Job · 1
  1. Job 8:9 תְמ֣וֹל [are] yesterday

    For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow.

    Here: A time-word used as the thing we are: 'we are yesterday.' It means we are recent arrivals, yesterday's people, with no long memory behind us. 'Born' is not in the Hebrew.

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