σήμερον G4594
today, this very day — adverb marking the present day, often with theological force for divine immediacy
Semeron is the ordinary Greek adverb for 'today,' but in the New Testament it frequently carries a weight far beyond simple calendar reference. When Jesus reads Isaiah in the Nazareth synagogue and announces 'today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing' (Luke 4:21), the word becomes a marker of salvific present-tense. Hebrews 3:7-4:7 builds an entire theology of urgency around the psalm quotation 'today, if you hear his voice,' treating semeron as the perpetually open window of grace. Even in everyday usage — 'give us today our daily bread' (Matt 6:11) — the adverb anchors prayer in God's provision for the immediate present. The multilingual glosses are remarkably uniform: Spanish 'hoy,' French 'aujourd'hui,' German 'heute.'
Senses
1. sense 1 — An adverb denoting the present day, used both in ordinary temporal reference and in theologically charged declarations of divine action in the present moment. The Synoptic sayings employ it for daily providence ('sufficient for the day,' Matt 6:34) and for eschatological announcement ('today you will be with me in paradise,' Luke 23:43). Hebrews extends it into an exhortation theology, citing Psalm 95:7 repeatedly to make semeron the hinge of faith's response (Heb 3:7, 13, 15; 4:7). Spanish 'hoy,' French 'aujourd'hui,' and German 'heute' uniformly confirm the single-sense profile. 41×
AR["اليَومَ", "اليَومِ", "اليَوْمَ", "الْيَوْمَ", "الْيَوْمِ"]·ben["σήμερον-আজ", "আজ", "আজ;", "আজকের"]·DE["heute"]·EN["Today", "today"]·FR["aujourd'hui"]·heb["הַ-יּוֹם", "הַיּוֹם", "יוֹם-הַזֶּה"]·HI["अअज", "अअज-तक", "आज"]·ID["Hari-ini", "hari-ini"]·IT["oggi"]·jav["Dinten-punika", "dinten", "dinten-punika", "dinten-punika,", "dinten-punika."]·KO["오늘"]·PT["Hoje", "dia-de-hoje", "hoje", "hoje,"]·RU["Сегодня", "сегодня", "сегодня,", "сегодня.", "сегодняшнего"]·ES["Hoy", "hoy"]·SW["Leo", "fanya-kazi", "leo", "leo."]·TR["Bugün", "bugün", "bugüne"]·urd["آج", "آج-تک", "عجیب-باتیں"]
Matt 6:11, Matt 6:30, Matt 11:23, Matt 16:3, Matt 21:28, Matt 27:8, Matt 27:19, Matt 28:15, Mark 14:30, Luke 2:11, Luke 4:21, Luke 5:26 (+29 more)
Related Senses
H3117 1. day, specific time (2231×)H5704 1. until, unto, as far as (1238×)H8141 1. year, unit of time (880×)H6258 1. and now (421×)G2250 1. day (388×)H5750 1. again, more, further (288×)H5769 1. forever, to eternity (280×)H6256 1. time, period (264×)H2320 1. month, calendar period (260×)H0310a 2. after (temporal) (258×)H3915 1. night, period of darkness (234×)H1242 1. morning (214×)H5750 2. still, yet (continuative) (166×)G5119 1. then (160×)G3568 1. now (147×)G2193 1. until (143×)G3825 1. (141×)G3752 1. (123×)H6153 1. evening, time of day (123×)H0227a 1. then (122×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
σήμερον, adverb to-day, NT+8th c.BC+; Doric dialect σάμερον [ᾱ] Refs 5th c.BC+; Attic dialect τήμερον Refs 5th c.BC+ is sometimes found in Comedy texts, Refs 5th c.BC+; εἰς τ. Refs 5th c.BC+; τὸ τ. εἶναι to-day, Refs 4th c.BC+; also in the form τήμερα Refs 5th c.BC+. (Prob. from κyᾱμερον, containing stem [kcirc]yo- 'this', cf. Lithuanian šis 'this', Latin ci-tra: σήμερον (τήμερον) is to ἡμέρα as σῆτες (τῆτες) to ἔτος.)