עֵת
time
‘time’ is one of 5 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Absolute-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”).
Form
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Both
- Attested as both masculine and feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
2 verses where H6256 appears in the Construct state in the Book of Joshua. Filtered view — show all forms. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Joshua
- Joshua 8:29 עֵ֣ת n c bs cs The king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the evening: and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree, and cast it at the entrance of the gate of the city, and raised thereon a great heap of stones, to this day.
- Joshua 10:27 לְ/עֵ֣ת prep + n c bs cs It happened at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave in which they had hidden themselves, and laid great stones on the mouth of the cave, to this very day.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
עת — transliterated ʻêth — is a Hebrew noun carrying the sense “time.” It is not a single-sense word — see its full sense range. With 258 verses in 33 books, it is a common word in the Hebrew Bible. It first appears in Genesis 8:11. From the same root come עד, עד and עד. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H6256 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 258
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 258 distinct verses.
- 33 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 33 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #167
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 167 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 258 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Jeremiah 34 verses 13%
- Psalms 22 verses 9%
- Deuteronomy 18 verses 7%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 258 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 116 verses · 45%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 107 verses · 41%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 35 verses · 14%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 2 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Time 155×, Times 15×, About this time 7×
- American Standard Version†: Time 142×, Times 14×, Season 9×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Time 169×, Times 22×, Season 10×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Time 164×, At 71×, Time of 57×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H6256 across 294† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 55 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 2 further occurrences.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H6256 across 293† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 63 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H6256 across 269† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 44 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 26 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H6256 across 371† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 25 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
11 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 11 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
עת I
- 1. time of an event, etc.:
- a. usually (213 times) c. prep.: c. בְּ (142 times), especially בָּע׳ הַהִוא Gn 21:22 (E) in that time, 38:1 (J), Nu 22:4 (E), Dt 1:9 + 14 times Dt; בָּע׳ הַהִיא Jos 5:2; Am 5:13; Dn 12:1(×2) + (69 times, not in P); בָּע׳ הַזֹּאת Est 4:14, בָּעִתִּים הָהֵם 2 Ch 15:5; Dn 11:14; בְּכָל־עֵת at all times Ex 18:22, 26 (E), Lv 16:2 (P) ψ 34:2 +; = continually Pr 8:30, בְּכָל־עֵת אֲשֶׁר Est 5:13 as long as I see Mordecai; c. לְ (31 times; cf. ל 6, p. 516 supr.), 2 S 11:1 + at the time, but Ez 12:27 for distant times, cf. לְעֵת כָּזֹאת Est 4:14, etc.; c. כְּ (21 times; cf. ב 1 a, p. 453 supr.), †מָחָר כָּע׳ הַזֹּאת Jos 11:6 (JE) tomorrow about this time, usually כָּע׳ מָחָר (KöSynt. 401 o) Ex 9:18 (J), 1 S 9:16 (cf. Dr), 20:12; 1 K 19:2; 20:6; 2 K 7:1, 18; 10:6 †; כָּעֵת חַיָּה v. p. 312; †כָּעֵת הָרִאשׁוֹן Is 8:23 at the former time; כָּעֵת alone Nu 23:23 (JE) at this time = now (prob., cf. Di), Ju 13:23; 21:22, etc.; c. מִן (8 times;), מִן הָעֵת הַהִא Ne 13:21, etc.; c. עַד (12 times), עַד־הָע׳ הַהִיא Ne 6:1 up to that time, מֵעֵת עַד־עֵת Ez 4:10, 11, etc. (5 times Dn); c. אֶל־, מֵעֵת אֶל־עֵת 1 Ch 9:25. e.g. Genesis 21:22
- b. often cstr. defined by n.foll.: בְּעֵת צָהֳרָ֑יִם Je 20:16, לְעֵת (הָ)עֶרֶב 2 S 11:12; Gn 8:11; 24:11 (both J), Is 17:14; Zc 14:7, עַד־עֵת הָעָ֑רֶב Jos 8:29 (JE), כְּעֵת מִנְחַת עֶרֶב Dn 9:21, redundantly לְעֶת־יוֹם בְּיוֹם 1 Ch 12:23, ע׳ (ה)קָצִיר Je 50:16; 51:33, ע׳ הַזָּמִיר Ct 2:12, ע׳ זִקְנָה 1 K 11:4; 15:23 ψ 71:9, בְּע׳ אַפְּךָ Je 18:23 = לְע׳ פָּנֶיךָ ψ 21:10 (of anger), לְעִתּוֹת בַּצָּרָה 9:10; 10:1 at times of destitution (v. בַּצָּרָה), etc. e.g. Jeremiah 20:16
- c. sq.inf. לְע׳ בּוֹא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ Jos 10:27 (JE), 2 Ch 18:34, בְּע׳ קָרְאָם Je 11:14a (read בְּעֵת also v b, Gie), etc. e.g. Joshua 10:27
- d. sq. cl. c. vb. fin. (poet. or late) Dt 32:35; Jb 6:17; 2 Ch 20:22; 24:11; 29:27 + (cf. 2 c). e.g. Deuteronomy 32:35
- 2.
- a. = usual time: לְע׳ צֵאת 2 S 11:1 at the time of kings’ going forth = 1 Ch 20:1; בְּעֵת יַחֵם Gn 31:10; עֵת לֶדֶת Jb 39:1, 2. e.g. 2 Samuel 11:1
- b. proper, suitable time: rain בְּעִתּוֹ Dt 11:14; Je 5:24 +, cf. Lv 26:4 (H), also ψ 1:3; 104:27; 145:15; Pr 15:23; Is 60:22; Ec 3:11; עֵת מִלְחָמָה v 8, ע׳ שָׁלוֹם v 8; sq.inf. Ho 10:12, הַעֵת לָקַחַת 2 K 5:26 is it a time to take money? Hg 1:4, לְהִבָּנוֹת עֶת־בֵּית י׳ v 2 (v a read עַתָּ בָּא Hi We Now al.); עֵת לַעֲשׂוֹת ψ 119:126, cf. Ec 3:2–8 (26 times); abs. כִּי עֵת Ho 13:13 (Hi We al.; GuKau gives עַתָּ; > Now כָּעֵת); abs. c. neg. Jb 22:16; Ec 7:17; hence (late) יוֹדְעֵי בִינָה לָעִתִּים 1 Ch 12:32, יֹדְעֵי הָעִתִּים Est 1:13 i.e. astrologers, etc. e.g. Deuteronomy 11:14
- c. appointed time, בְּעֵת תֵּת וגו׳ 1 S 18:19 at the appointed time of giving, Ez 7:7, 12 Is 13:22, ע׳ פְּקֻדָּתָם Je 8:12; 10:15 = 51:18, 46:21; 50:27 cf. (c.vb. fin.) 6:15; 49:8; 50:31, ע׳ אַרְצוֹ Je 27:7, ע׳ גּוֹיִם Ez 30:3, מְזֻמָּנִים לְעִתִּים Ezr 10:14 Ne 10:35 cf. 13:31; עַד־ע׳ מוֹעֵד 2 S 24:15, ψ 102:14 (‖ מוֹעֵד), etc.; cf. עֵת וּמִשְׁפָּט Ec 8:5, 6 (for time of judgment), עִתּוֹ 9:12; especially לְעֵת קֵץ Dn 8:7 cf. 11:35, 40; 12:4, 9, בְּע׳ עֲוֹן קֵץ Ez 21:30, 34 cf. 35:5; לְקֵץ הָעִתּים Dn 11:13. e.g. 1 Samuel 18:19
- d. as uncertain עֵת וָפֶגַע Ec 9:11. e.g. Ecclesiastes 9:11
- 3. = experiences, fortunes, pl. אֱמוּנַת עִתֶּיךָ Is 33:6, ψ 31:16; הָעִתִּים אֲשֶׁר עָֽבְרוּ עָלָיו 1 Ch 29:30. e.g. Isaiah 33:6
- 4. occurrence, occasion (= פַּעַם), רַבּוֹת עִתִּים Ne 9:28 great numbers of times (= very often). e.g. Nehemiah 9:28
עת II [עֵת] n.pr.loc. on border of Zebulun, only c. ה loc., עִתָּה ק׳ Jos 19
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. n.f. Am 5:13 and (seldom, mostly late) m. Ezr 10:14 time (NH id.; Ph. עת; Assyrian inu, ittu, time; Talm עַנְתָּא; clearly from a √ ענה, but doubtful whether I. ע׳);—abs. ע׳ Ho 10:12 +, cstr. ע׳ Gn 24:12 +, עֶת־ Lv 15:25 + 5 times; sf. עִתּוֹ Ho 2:11 +, etc.; pl., late, עִתִּים 1 Ch 12:32 +, sf. עִתֶּיךָ Is 33:6; עִתּוֹת ψ 9:10; 10:1, sf. עִתֹּתָ֑י 31:16;—ע׳ only twice P, once H;—
I. [עֵת] n.pr.loc. on border of Zebulun, only c. ה loc., עִתָּה ק׳ Jos 19:13; site unknown.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from עד (ʻad) (H5703) — perpetuity.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
עֵת
- , v. עוּד; or of ענת, v. עוֹנָה I) [duration, turn,]
- 1. ʿEth, the twenty-fourth part of an ʿonah. Tosef. Ber. I, 1; a. e., v. עוֹנָה I.
- 2. time. Pes. 109ᵃ; מימיו לא אמר הגיע עת לעמוד וכ׳ never in his life did he (R. ʿAḳiba) say, it is time to rise from (leave) the house of study, except &c.; Succ. 28ᵃ. Ber. 8ᵃ (ref. to Ps. LXIX, 14) אימתי עת רצון בשעה וכ׳ when is the time of favor? When the congregation is at prayer. Taan. 24ᵇ שמע מינה עת רצון היא I learn from this (dream) that this is an auspicious time for prayer. Yeb. 72ᵃ עת רצון מילתא היא there is something in the idea of a time of favor for prayer; a. fr.—מֵעֵת לָעֵת (abbrev. מעל"ע) the time of twenty-four astronomical hours. Nidd. I, 1 מעל"ע ממעטת עליד מפקידה לפקידה וכ׳ the term of twenty-four hours (of retrospective uncleanness) reduces the term of the interval from one examination to the other &c., i.e. we go by the shorter term whichever it may be. Ḥull. 51ᵇ; Zeb. 74ᵇ צריכה מעל"ע requires the intervening of twenty-four hours (before it may be slaughtered); a. fr.—Pl. עִתִּים, עִתּוֹת, עִי׳. R. Hash. 28ᵃ ע׳ חלים ע׳ שוטה (Tosef. Ter. I, 3 פעמים), v. חָלַם I. Tam. I, 2 לא כל הע׳ שוות the time (for the appearance of the superintendent) was not always the same. Y. Ber. IX, end, 14ᵈ (ref. to Ps. CXIX, 126) העושה תורתו ע׳ … מיפר ברית he who makes the study of the Law a matter of time, destroys the covenant. Sabb. 31ᵃ בשעה … נשאת ונתת באמונה קבעת ע׳ לתורה when man is brought up for judgment, he is asked, hast thou been dealing with integrity? hast thou had regular times for the study of the Law? Snh. 65ᵇ ע׳ ושעות, v. עוּן; a. e.—לְעִיתּוֹתֵי עֶרֶב at the evening appointments (when labor is stopped, the work reviewed, wages paid &c.), in gen. towards evening. Tosef. Ab. Zar. VII (VIII), 10; Bab. Ber. 65ᵃ. Y. Ber. II, 5ᶜ top. Y. Succ. IV, beg. 54ᵇ. Y. Yeb. XVI, 15ᵈ top לציצותי, Var. לציתותי (read: לציתותי ערב); a. e. e.g. Psalms 69:14
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 108 distinct written forms H6256 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 48 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H6256, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 7 — not the complete family. 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 237 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 258 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 8:11
- Exodus 9:18
- Leviticus 15:25
- Numbers 22:4
- Deuteronomy 1:9
- Joshua 5:2
- Judges 3:29
- Ruth 2:14
- 1 Samuel 4:20
- 2 Samuel 11:1
- 1 Kings 8:65
- 2 Kings 4:16
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
