οὐδέποτε G3763
Never; not at any time, an emphatic temporal negation used to deny that something has ever or will ever occur.
Oudepote is a compound of oude (“not even”) and pote (“at any time”), yielding an emphatic “never.” It appears in forceful declarations: Jesus’ solemn dismissal of the lawless—“I never knew you” (Matt 7:23)—and his rhetorical citation of Psalm 8:2, “Have you never read?” (Matt 21:16). Peter’s brash vow, “I will never fall away” (Matt 26:33), and the crowd’s astonishment, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel” (Matt 9:33), illustrate its absolute, unqualified force. Spanish nunca, French jamais, and German niemals each convey the same unrestricted temporal negation.
Senses
1. sense 1 — An emphatic adverb of absolute temporal negation meaning “not at any time, never.” It strengthens a denial beyond simple “not” by sweeping across all time. Jesus uses it in his most solemn pronouncements: “I never knew you” (Matt 7:23) and “Have you never read?” as a rhetorical rebuke (Matt 21:16, 42). Peter’s overconfident “I will never fall away” (Matt 26:33) and the crowd’s “Never was anything like this seen in Israel” (Matt 9:33) show its force spans both past and future. Every target language uses its standard absolute-negation adverb. 16×
AR["أبَدًا", "أَبَدًا", "أَبَدًا لَمْ", "أَبَدًا-لا", "أَبَدًا-لَا", "أَما-قَرَأتُم", "قَطُّ"]·ben["কখনই-না", "কখনও-না", "কখনো-না"]·DE["niemals"]·EN["Never", "never"]·FR["jamais"]·heb["לְ-עוֹלָם-לֹא", "לְעוֹלָם-לֹא", "לֹא-מֵעוֹלָם", "מֵעוֹלָם", "מֵעוֹלָם-לֹא", "מֵעוֹלָם־לֹא", "מֵעוֹלָםלֹא"]·HI["कभी-नहीं"]·ID["Belum-pernah", "Belum-pernahkah", "Tidak-pernah", "belum-pernah", "tidak-pernah"]·IT["mai"]·jav["Boten-nate", "Dèrèng-naté", "Ora-tau", "Punapa-mboten-nate", "boten-naté", "dèrèng-nate", "mboten-nate", "mboten-naté", "ora-tau", "punapa-mboten-nate"]·KO["결코", "절대"]·PT["Nunca", "nunca"]·RU["Никогда", "Никогда-ли", "никогда", "никогда-ли"]·ES["Nunca", "nunca"]·SW["Haijawahi-", "Kamwe", "Kamwe-", "Sijawahi-", "kamwe", "katika", "kwamba"]·TR["Hiç", "Hiç-bir-zaman", "asla", "hiç", "hiç-bir-zaman", "hiçbir-zaman"]·urd["کبھی", "کبھی-نہیں"]
Matt 7:23, Matt 9:33, Matt 21:16, Matt 21:42, Matt 26:33, Mark 2:12, Mark 2:25, Luke 15:29, Luke 15:29, John 7:46, Acts 10:14, Acts 11:8 (+4 more)
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
οὐδέποτε, in Ionic dialect Prose οὐδέκοτε, Doric dialect οὐδέποκα probably in Refs, etc.:—conjunction and adverb and not ever or nor ever, not even ever or never, in Refs 8th c.BC+ mostly with past tenses, Refs 8th c.BC+: but with present, Refs 8th c.BC+: with future, Refs 8th c.BC+; in Attic dialect, οὐδέποτε is commonly found with present or future (or its equivalent, as in οὐδέποτε μὴ λειφθῇ…