χθές G5504
yesterday; the day before today
A simple temporal adverb meaning 'yesterday,' this word appears in contexts contrasting recent events with the present or future. In John 4:52, the nobleman asks about the hour when his son began to recover, and the servants answer 'Yesterday at the seventh hour.' Acts 7:28 recalls Moses' action the previous day: 'Did you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' Hebrews 13:8 uses it in the famous formula 'Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever,' spanning past, present, and future. The word is cognate with Latin 'heri' and Sanskrit 'hyas.'
Senses
1. sense 1 — The word translates uniformly across languages: English 'yesterday,' Spanish 'ayer,' French 'hier,' German 'gestern,' all from Indo-European roots meaning the day before. John 4:52 uses it for specific temporal reference to when healing occurred. Acts 7:28 references Moses' killing of the Egyptian the previous day. Hebrews 13:8 employs the word theologically, affirming Christ's unchanging nature across all time—yesterday (past), today (present), and forever (future). 3×
AR["أَمْس", "أَمْسِ"]·ben["গতকাল"]·DE["gestern", "ἐχθὲς"]·EN["Yesterday", "yesterday"]·FR["gestern", "hier"]·heb["אֶתְמוֹל"]·HI["कल"]·ID["Kemarin", "kemarin", "kemarin,"]·IT["echthes", "ieri"]·jav["Kala-wingi", "kala-wingi", "kalawingi"]·KO["어제", "어제도"]·PT["Ontem", "ontem"]·RU["Вчера", "вчера"]·ES["Ayer", "ayer"]·SW["Jana", "jana", "jana,"]·TR["Dün", "dün"]·urd["ساتویں", "کل"]
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
χθές, adverb (lengthened ἐχθές (which see); where the word occurs in NT, NT and χθέ; χθές is not found in Ptolemaic papyri, but in Refs 3rd c.AD+:—yesterday, Refs 5th c.BC+ substantive, ἡ χ. ὁμολογία, οἱ χ. λόγοι,Refs 5th c.BC+; χ. μὲν.., τὰ νῦν δὲ.. Refs 5th c.BC+; χ. καὶ τρίτην ἡμέραν variant in LXX+5th c.BC+. (Cf. Sanskrit hyás 'yesterday', Latin heri, hesternus, OHG. gestaron 'yesterday', etc.)