TR: ʻêth → kairos (Time as Appointed Occasion)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
─────────── ─────────────── ────────
עֵת (ʻêth) → καιρός (kairós) → καιρός (kairós)
H6256, 258x in OT 175x as LXX rendering 79x in NT
"time, season, "set/proper time, "appointed time,
appointed moment" occasion" the right moment"
Bridge strength: Co-occurrence 175x · PMI score 30.88 (primary, dominant)
OT Usage (Hebrew — H6256)¶
| Aspect | Data |
|---|---|
| POS | Feminine noun |
| Occurrences | 258 unique verses, 379 tokens |
| Core meaning | A point or period of time, especially a designated or appropriate time |
| Density peaks | Ecclesiastes (8.1/100), Daniel (3.6/100), Jeremiah (2.5/100) |
Key OT passages: - Eccl 3:1 — "To every thing there is a season, and a time (ʻêth) to every purpose under the heaven" — the quintessential wisdom statement on ʻêth as fitting moment - Dan 8:17 — "at the time (ʻêth) of the end shall be the vision" — eschatological ʻêth - Jer 8:7 — "the stork... knoweth her appointed times (ʻêth); ...but my people know not the judgment of the LORD" — ʻêth contrasted with moral insensibility - Neh 9:27 — "in the time (ʻêth) of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them"
[→ Canonical word study: H6256-eth.md]
LXX Bridge¶
| Hebrew | Greek Translation | Co-occ | PMI Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ʻêth (H6256) | καιρός (G2540) | 175x | 30.88 | Dominant — LXX uses kairos to render ʻêth's qualitative sense of "proper occasion" |
| ʻêth (H6256) | ὥρα (G5610) | 24x | 18.30 | For time-of-day and shorter intervals (evening, mealtime) |
| ʻêth (H6256) | χρόνος (G5550) | 7x | 7.33 | When ʻêth marks a span or duration |
Other Hebrew words also rendered καιρός in LXX (Hebrew → kairos):
| Hebrew | Strong's | Co-occ | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| מוֹעֵד (môwʻêd) | H4150 | 29x | Fixed appointed times (festivals); kairos preserves the set-appointment nuance |
| קֵץ (qêts) | H7093 | 19x | "end / limit of time" — eschatological appointments |
| עִדָּן (ʻiddân) | H5732 | 9x | Aramaic cognate of ʻêth (Daniel 2–7); identical semantic chain |
| זְמָן (zᵉmân) | H2166 | 8x | Calendrical/administrative time (Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah) |
Semantic continuity: The LXX translators consistently chose καιρός over χρόνος when rendering ʻêth, preserving the Hebrew sense that time is not merely a neutral duration but a qualitatively meaningful occasion — a "when" defined by its character, not just its position on a clock.
NT Usage (Greek — G2540)¶
| Aspect | Data |
|---|---|
| POS | Masculine noun |
| Occurrences | 79 verses in NT |
| Primary KJV rendering | time (39v), times (7v), season (4v), seasons (3v) |
| Core NT meaning | The set/proper/appointed time — the opportune moment or decisive hour |
Key NT passages: - Mark 1:15 — "The time (kairos) is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand" — kairos as the climactic appointed hour of salvation history (echoing Dan 8:17 "time of the end") - Acts 1:7 — "It is not for you to know the times (kairous) or the seasons (kairous... chronous), which the Father hath put in his own power" — the eschatological ʻêth-language carried into NT directly - 2 Cor 6:2 — "I have heard thee in a time (kairo) accepted, and in the day of salvation I have succoured thee" — quoting Isa 49:8, the LXX kairos preserving ʻêth - Gal 4:4 — "when the fulness of the time (kairou) was come, God sent forth his Son" — the supreme moment ʻêth points to in Ecclesiastes 3 reached in Christ - Rev 1:3 — "the time (kairos) is at hand" — Daniel's "time of the end" language fulfilled
Direct OT→NT Connections¶
| NT Verse | OT Background | Shared Chain | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark 1:15 | Dan 8:17; 11:35 | ʻêth → kairos | "time is fulfilled" — the eschatological ʻêth of Daniel arrives |
| Acts 1:7 | Dan 2:21 "he changeth the times" | ʻêth/ʻiddân → kairos | Father's sovereignty over times — same concept, same vocabulary chain |
| 2 Cor 6:2 | Isa 49:8 | ʻêth → kairos (LXX) | Paul quotes LXX kairos as the "acceptable time" of salvation |
| Gal 4:4 | Eccl 3:1 (concept) | ʻêth → kairos | The "right time" of Qoheleth's poem fulfilled in the Incarnation |
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same across testaments: - καιρός carries ʻêth's qualitative force: time as opportunity, appointment, and occasion — not mere duration - The eschatological trajectory of ʻêth in Daniel ("time of the end") flows directly into NT kairos language (Mark 1:15; Rev 1:3) - The "time of trouble" pattern (ʻêth + trouble in Jeremiah/Daniel) echoes in NT eschatological discourse (Mark 13; Rev) - Wisdom about discerning the right moment (Eccl 3; Esth 4:14) continues in NT exhortations (Eph 5:16 "redeeming the time")
What shifts: - In the OT, ʻêth frequently marks past historical moments ("at that time"). In the NT, καιρός predominantly looks forward to the climactic eschatological moment - The Ecclesiastes pattern of ʻêth as cyclical seasons (birth/death, plant/harvest) largely recedes; NT kairos becomes more sharply eschatological and redemptive-historical - The NT adds a Christological focus: the "fullness of time" (Gal 4:4; Eph 1:10) is the arrival of the person of Christ — something ʻêth only anticipates structurally
Generated from: gather_trace_data.py, gather_word_data.py, KJV text lookup Last updated: 2026-04-02