TR: yôwm → hēméra (Day)¶
The Chain¶
Hebrew OT LXX (Greek OT) Greek NT
────────────── ────────────────── ────────────────
יוֹם (yôwm) → ἡμέρα (hēméra) → ἡμέρα (hēméra)
H3117, 1926x 1485x as translation 365x in NT
"day, days" of yôwm (77%) "day, days"
Strongest single-word Hebrew→Greek lexical bridge in the OT by raw co-occurrence volume.
OT Usage (Hebrew)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| H3117 | יוֹם (yôwm) | 1926 | day (literal, calendrical, or period) |
| H3119 | יוֹמָם (yôwmâm) | 50 | by day, in the daytime (adverb) |
| H3118 | יוֹם (Aramaic yôwm) | 15 | day (Aramaic cognate, Dan/Ezra) |
Key OT passages: - Gen 1:5 — "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." (defining the 24-hour cycle) - Zeph 1:7 — "Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand." (eschatological Day of the LORD) - Josh 1:5 — "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life." (yom = biographical span)
→ Full canonical study: H3117-yowm.md
LXX Bridge¶
| Hebrew | Greek Translation | Co-occurrences | PMI Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yôwm (H3117) | ἡμέρα (G2250) | 1485x | 25.24 | Primary — all semantic ranges |
| yôwm (H3117) | σήμερον (G4594) | 200x | 18.33 | Adverbial "today/this day" idiom |
| yôwmâm (H3119) | ἡμέρα (G2250) | 44x | 13.84 | "by day" contexts |
| layil (H3915) | ἡμέρα (G2250) | 88x | 11.11 | "day and night" merisms (yom+layil → hemera+nyx) |
| yôwm (H3118, Aram.) | ἡμέρα (G2250) | 14x | 9.83 | Aramaic cognate also bridged |
Semantic continuity in translation: The LXX translator used ἡμέρα for all semantic ranges of yôwm — literal calendar days, historical periods ("in the days of"), the Day of the LORD, and idiomatic time expressions. No semantic shift. The full range of Hebrew yom was preserved in Greek.
Notable: G4594 σήμερον ("today") was used 200× where yôwm appeared in "this day" or "today" adverbial constructions — showing sensitivity to whether yôwm was functioning as a noun or an adverb.
NT Usage (Greek)¶
| Strong's | Word | Occurrences | Primary Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| G2250 | ἡμέρα (hēméra) | 365 | day, days, the day |
KJV NT distribution: day 150v · days 130v · the day 26v · daily 18v · the days 13v
Key NT passages: - Matt 2:1 — "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king" (historical period — direct parallel to OT "in the days of king X" pattern) - Rom 2:5 — "Treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" (Day of the LORD concept carried forward) - 1 Cor 1:8 — "Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (yom YHWH → hēméra tou kyriou) - John 1:39 — "They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day" (simple calendar day)
→ Canonical study: G2250-hemera.md
Direct OT→NT Quotations / Allusions¶
| NT Verse | OT Source | Shared Word | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Cor 1:8; 5:5; 2 Cor 1:14 | Joel 2:1; Zeph 1:14; Mal 4:5 | yôwm → ἡμέρα | "day of the Lord/Christ" — NT writers deliberately reuse the OT "Day of the LORD" formula, applying it to the return of Jesus |
| Matt 2:1; Luke 1:5 | 1 Sam 1:1 pattern | yamim → hēmérai | "in the days of X" — historical dating formula exact parallel |
| Acts 1:2 | Deut 9:10 pattern | yom → hēméra | "the day in which he was taken up" — appointed covenantal day |
Continuity and Shifts¶
What stays the same: - The full semantic range of yôwm (literal day, historical period, biographical span, eschatological day) carries directly into NT ἡμέρα - The "Day of the LORD" formula is the most theologically significant transfer: OT yôm YHWH → NT hēméra tou kyriou (1 Cor 5:5; 1 Thess 5:2; 2 Pet 3:10) - The "in the days of X" historical framing works identically in NT narrative (Matt 2:1; Luke 1:5)
What shifts: - The eschatological "Day of the LORD" narrows in the NT to specifically the return/judgment day of Jesus Christ — the referent changes while the formula and vocabulary remain identical - σήμερον (G4594) takes over the adverbial "today" function that H3117 carried idiomatically (e.g., Heb 3:7–15 quotes Ps 95:7 sēmeron = "today")
Generated from: gather_trace_data.py H3117 Last updated: 2026-04-02