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eti

ἔτι

GreekG2089still, yet, ...

Appears 95 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 5:13Mat 12:46Mat 17:5Mat 18:16Mat 19:20Mat 26:47Mat 26:65Mat 27:63Mrk 5:35 (2×)Mrk 8:17Mrk 12:6Mrk 14:43Mrk 14:63Luk 8:49Luk 15:20Luk 22:47Jhn 14:19Jhn 16:12Act 10:44
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Word studyEH-teeadverb

What eti means

1

still, yet: a situation is going on now (or was going on then) and has not ended

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This is the everyday sense of the word. It marks something as ongoing at the moment being described: a person is still alive, still speaking, still in a certain place; a state is still in force. Often it sets up a contrast with the change that is about to come, which is why it so frequently appears in phrases like "while he was still speaking" right before something interrupts.

The same word flips to the opposite meaning the instant a negative is added. With "not," "no," or "never," it means "no longer" or "no more": a thing that used to be the case has now stopped. The book of Revelation leans on this hard when it describes the new creation, piling up promises that there will be no more death, no more sea, no more night, no more curse.

So one short word covers both "it is still happening" and, once negated, "it happens no more." The reader has to watch for the negative nearby to know which way it points.

Nuances

1astill, yet: an action or state is continuing at the time in view
Mat 12:46Mat 17:5Mat 26:47Mat 27:63Mrk 5:35 (2×)Mrk 8:17Mrk 12:6Mrk 14:43Luk 8:49Luk 9:42Luk 14:22Luk 14:32
1bno longer, no more: with a negative, a former state has now ceased
Mat 5:13Luk 16:2Luk 20:36Rom 6:2Gal 5:11Heb 8:12Heb 10:2Heb 10:17Rev 3:12Rev 7:16Rev 12:8Rev 18:21
2

further, in addition, besides: one more item, degree, or step beyond what is already there

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

Here the word is not about time but about amount or degree. It adds something to what has already been counted or said: one more witness, one more thing you lack, one more woe still to come, an even better way beyond the one just named. English carries it with words like "further," "besides," "moreover," or "in addition."

It also intensifies. Paired with "more," it pushes a comparison up a notch (love overflowing still more and more). In a rhetorical question it presses the logic: "why do we need any further witnesses?" or "what more shall I say?" The point in each case is that there is something extra, not that time is passing.

The line between this and the first meaning can be thin, because adding a step and continuing a process are close ideas. The test is whether the word answers "is it still going on?" (the first meaning) or "is there more of it?" (this one).

Nuances

2aan additional item or person: one more, besides, in addition
Mat 18:16Mat 19:20Luk 14:26Luk 18:22Luk 22:37Jhn 16:12Act 21:281Co 12:31Heb 11:36Heb 12:26Heb 12:27Rev 9:12
2ba further degree or step in reasoning: still more, why further
Mat 26:65Mrk 14:63Luk 22:71Rom 3:7Rom 9:19Php 1:9Heb 7:11Heb 7:15Heb 11:32Rev 22:11

What scholars say about eti

BDAG (s.v. ἔτι) divides the adverb into a temporal use and a use of degree. Under the temporal head it distinguishes continuation in the present or past ("still, yet"), often in the genitive-absolute construction "while he was still speaking," from its negated counterpart with οὐ/μή/μηκέτι meaning "no longer, no more" (heavily represented in Revelation's new-creation language). Under degree it covers addition ("besides, in addition, moreover," including the combination ἔτι τε καί "and besides, even") and intensification with comparatives (ἔτι μᾶλλον "still more"), as well as the inferential use in questions ("why still?"). BDF (paragraphs on adverbs) and Moulton-Milligan (documentary attestation from the papyri) confirm the same range in Koine usage outside the New Testament. The split followed here (continuation, negated cessation, addition, degree) mirrors the standard lexical treatment.

Sources

  • Bauer, Danker, Arndt, Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BDAG), 3rd ed., s.v. ἔτιlexicon
  • Blass, Debrunner, Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BDF)grammar
  • Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, s.v. ἔτιlexicon

All attested forms of ἔτι

adv

ἔτι, Ἔτι

Mat 5:13, Mat 18:16, Mat 19:20, Mat 26:47, Mat 26:65, Mat 27:63, Mrk 5:35, Mrk 5:35