Word study

Late

5 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word

The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “late”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.

At a glance

How often each original word is translated “late” or one of its forms.

Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side

Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)

  • אָפִיל âphîllatetranslated this way 1 time of its 1 use · Strong’s H648Adjective  ·  Translated: late crops 1

    Exodus 9:32 but the wheat and spelt were not destroyed, because they are late crops.)

    Full study and its 1 verse →
  • נָטָה nâṭâhstretch out, spread out, extend, incline, bendtranslated this way 1 time of its 215 uses · Strong’s H5186Verb  ·  Translated: incline 24, stretch 23, stretched 21, outstretched 19

    Judges 19:8 On the fifth day, he got up early in the morning to depart, but the girl’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they waited until late afternoon and the two of them ate.

    Full study and all 207 verses →
  • אָחַר âcharto remain behind, delay, tarrytranslated this way 1 time of its 17 uses · Strong’s H309Verb  ·  Translated: delay 6, hesitate 2, delayed 2, linger 2

    Psalm 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat — for He gives sleep to His beloved.

    Full study and all 17 verses →
  • עָלָה âlâhgo up, ascend, climbtranslated this way 1 time of its 873 uses · Strong’s H5927Verb  ·  Translated: go 118, went 107, brought 56, come 42Full study and all 807 verses →
  • אֶתְמוֹל ethmôlheretofore, yesterdaytranslated this way 1 time of its 7 uses · Strong’s H865Adverb  ·  Translated: before 1, formerly 1, previously 1, as before 1

    Micah 2:8 But of late My people have risen up like an enemy: You strip off the splendid robe from unsuspecting passersby like men returning from battle.

    Full study and all 7 verses →

Greek words (New Testament)

  • πολύς polýsmuch, many, oftentranslated this way 2 times of its 338 uses · Strong’s G4183Adjective  ·  Translated: many 172, great 37, large 32, much 31

    Mark 6:35 By now the hour was already late. So the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is already late.

    Full study and all 307 verses →
  • ἤδη ḗdēnow, alreadytranslated this way 1 time of its 28 uses · Strong’s G2235Adverb  ·  Translated: already 19, now 4

    Matthew 14:15 When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is already late. Dismiss the crowds so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

    Full study and all 26 verses →
  • ὀψέ opsélate, in the eveningtranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G3796Adverb  ·  Translated: evening 2, after 1, late 1

    Mark 11:11 Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

    Full study and all 4 verses →
How to study a word well
  1. Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
  2. Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
  3. Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
  4. Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
  5. See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
  6. Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
  7. Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.

Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.