UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: day

Semantic entry: 67.178

Semantic domains: Time

Subdomains: Definite Units of Time: Year, Month, Week, Day, Hour

Definition: according to Hebrew reckoning (as reflected in the NT), a period of time beginning at sunset and ending at the following sunset

Sense 2: day

Semantic entry: 67.186

Semantic domains: Time

Subdomains: Definite Units of Time: Year, Month, Week, Day, Hour

Definition: the daylight period between sunrise and sunset (divided into twelve hours)

Sense 3: time, period

Semantic entry: 67.142

Semantic domains: Time

Subdomains: Indefinite Units of Time: Age, Lifetime, Interval, Period

Definition: an indefinite unit of time (whether grammatically singular or plural), but not particularly long (note the contrast with αἰών[a] ‘age,’ 67.143: αἰών, and γενεά [source selector 000003][d] ‘age,’ 67.144: γενεά)

Notes: In a number of languages there is no specific term such as ‘period’ referring to an indefinite extent of time. One can, however, render RV LUK 1:23 · LV LUK 1:23 · Read together LUK 1:23 as ‘when he no longer had to serve in the Temple’ or ‘when he had finished the days when he served in the Temple.’

Sense 4: daylight

Semantic entry: 14.40

Semantic domains: Physical Events and States

Subdomains: Light

Definition: the light of the day in contrast with the darkness of night (see νύξ [source selector 000001][b] ‘night,’ 14.59: νύξ){N:001}

Notes: In order to focus attention upon the beginning of daylight, one may translate RV LUK 4:42 · LV LUK 4:42 · Read together LUK 4:42 as ‘when the sun began to shine’ or ‘when the sky began to become light’ or even ‘when it was no longer night.’|In some languages there is no noun for either ‘day’ or ‘daylight,’ but a verb expression may be employed which may be rendered literally as ‘to day’ or ‘to become day.’

Sense 5: court, court of justice

Semantic entry: 56.1

Semantic domains: Courts and Legal Procedures

Subdomains: Court of Justice

Definition: a court of justice for determining guilt or innocence{N:002}

Notes: For languages which do not have technical terms for a court, it is usually possible to use some such phrase as ‘to be brought before a judge’ or ‘to have judges decide one’s case.’

Sense 6: for a long time, for quite a while, day after day, every day

Semantic entry: 67.92

Semantic domains: Time

Subdomains: Duration of Time without Reference to Points or Units of Time: Time, Spend Time, Always, Eternal, Old, Immediately, Young

Definition: (idioms, literally: day out of day, and: throughout day, respectively) a relatively long period of time

Collocations: ἡμέρα ἐξ ἡμέρας; καθ᾽ ἡμέραν

Sense 7: day of condemnation

Semantic entry: 56.33

Semantic domains: Courts and Legal Procedures

Subdomains: Judge, Condemn, Acquit

Definition: (an idiom, literally: day of slaughter) a time of destructive judgment

Notes: The reference of the phrase ἡμέρᾳ σφαγῆς in RV JAM 5:5 · LV JAM 5:5 · Read together JAM 5:5 is the destructive judgment of God, but it is possible that σφαγῆς should be interpreted in a more literal sense of ‘destruction’ rather than mere condemnation.

Collocations: ἡμέρα σφαγῆς

Sense 8: a long time

Semantic entry: 67.93

Semantic domains: Time

Subdomains: Duration of Time without Reference to Points or Units of Time: Time, Spend Time, Always, Eternal, Old, Immediately, Young

Definition: (idioms, literally: forty days and forty nights, forty days, respectively) possibly a symbolic temporal expression denoting a relatively long period of time

Notes: Most translations render ἡμέρας τεσσεράκοντα καὶ νύκτας τεσσεράκοντα as either ‘forty days and forty nights’ or ‘forty days,’ though it is possible, in view of the symbolic meaning of the number ‘forty,’ that this expression is to be understood as meaning a long period of time.

Collocations: ἡμέρας τεσσεράκοντα καὶ νύκτας τεσσεράκοντα; ἡμέρας τεσσεράκοντα

Sense 9: to be old

Semantic entry: 67.99

Semantic domains: Time

Subdomains: Duration of Time without Reference to Points or Units of Time: Time, Spend Time, Always, Eternal, Old, Immediately, Young

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to advance in days) to be quite advanced in age

Collocations: προβαίνω ἐν ἡμέραις

Sense 10: day and night, always, constantly, continually

Semantic entry: 67.92a

Semantic domains: Time

Subdomains: Duration of Time without Reference to Points or Units of Time: Time, Spend Time, Always, Eternal, Old, Immediately, Young

Definition: (expressions, literally: night and day, day and night, day and day, respectively) duration of time, either continuous or episodic, but without limits

Collocations: νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας; ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός; ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ

Sense 11: Day of the Lord, Judgment Day

Definition: time in an eschatological frame, referring to a final judgment or to the coming of Christ

Sense 12: a few days later

Semantic entry: 67.59

Semantic domains: Time

Subdomains: A Point of Time with Reference to Other Points of Time: Before, Long Ago, Now, At the Same Time, When, About, After

Definition: (an idiom, literally: through days) a point of time subsequent to another point of time after an interval of a few days

Collocations: δι᾽ ἡμερῶν