StrongerBible

eutheōs

εὐθέως

GreekG2112“immediately, straightway, ...”

Appears 93 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 3:16Mat 4:20Mat 4:22Mat 8:3Mat 13:5Mat 13:20Mat 13:21Mat 14:22Mat 14:27Mat 14:31Mat 20:34Mat 21:2Mat 21:3Mat 24:29Mat 25:15Mat 26:49Mat 26:74Mat 27:48Mrk 1:10Mrk 1:12Mrk 1:18Mrk 1:20Mrk 1:21Mrk 1:23Mrk 1:28Jhn 13:30Jhn 21:3
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradeyoo-THEH-ossadverb

What eutheōs means

immediately: marking that one thing follows another with no delay, from a strict instant to a simple narrative "and then"

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This is an adverb of time built from the adjective meaning "straight" (εὐθύς). A straight road is the most direct route between two points, and the word carried that picture over into time: one thing following another by the shortest possible interval, with nothing in between. So at its core it means "without delay."

In practice the strength of that "without delay" slides up and down with the context. At its strongest it means a true instant, the moment the cause produces its effect, which is why the Gospel writers reach for it again and again in healing scenes: the leprosy is gone the second Jesus speaks. A step weaker, it means "promptly" or "as soon as," a short and eager interval rather than a frozen instant. Weaker still, and especially in Mark, the word can lose almost all of its timing force and work as a storyteller's hinge, simply moving the action forward: "and then," "so then," "next." And once, stretched the other direction, it means "soon" rather than "at once."

The same Greek word covers this whole range, so the senses below are shades of one idea, not different words. Which shade a given verse carries is read from the scene, not from the word by itself. This is why translations vary so widely, and why Mark in particular, who uses it more than forty times in a short book, has drawn a long debate over how much real urgency the reader is meant to feel.

Nuances

1aimmediately, at once: the action follows with no interval, the effect arriving the instant of its cause
Mat 8:3Mat 20:34Mat 26:74Mat 27:48Mrk 1:31Mrk 1:42Mrk 2:8Mrk 2:12Mrk 5:29Mrk 5:30Mrk 5:42Mrk 7:35
1bpromptly, as soon as, without delay: a short and eager interval rather than a frozen instant
Mat 13:5Mat 13:20Mat 13:21Mrk 4:15Mrk 4:16Mrk 4:17Mrk 4:29Luk 5:39Luk 12:36Luk 12:54Luk 14:5Luk 17:7
1cthen, so then, next: a narrative connective that moves the story forward with little or no force of timing
Mrk 1:10Mrk 1:12Mrk 1:18Mrk 1:20Mrk 1:21Mrk 1:23Mrk 1:29Mrk 1:30Mrk 8:10Mrk 14:43Mrk 15:1
1dsoon, shortly: a short but real interval rather than an instant
3Jn 1:14

Disputed

How much temporal force the word carries in Mark, where it appears more than forty times: whether it is consistently strict immediacy, a weakened narrative connective like "and then," or a mix to be read case by case.

  • contestedThe word keeps real temporal force throughout Mark; its piling-up portrays a ministry of breathless, even eschatologically urgent, activity rather than losing its vitality.; Robert H. Gundry, Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross (Eerdmans, 1993), 49-50, 75; Joel Marcus, Mark 1-8 (Anchor Yale Bible 27; Yale University Press, 2000), 165-166
  • contestedEspecially when it opens a clause, the word often works as a connective or scene-marker with little or no timing force, functionally close to "and"; reading strict immediacy into every case over-exegetes what Mark did not intend to emphasize.; Rodney J. Decker, Temporal Deixis of the Greek Verb in the Gospel of Mark with Reference to Verbal Aspect (Studies in Biblical Greek 10; Peter Lang, 2001); Stanley E. Porter, Idioms of the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. (Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), 213
  • contestedThe word is a Markan stylistic signature that blends mild temporal urgency with structural scene-marking, usually introducing a new incident or a dramatic new phase, and must be read case by case.; R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark (NIGTC; Eerdmans, 2002), 90, 99; Adela Yarbro Collins, Mark (Hermeneia; Fortress, 2007), 153-154

What scholars say about eutheōs

The standard lexica and grammars (LSJ, BDAG, Louw-Nida domain 67.112-113, EDNT, BDF, Moulton-Milligan) treat this word and the older Attic adverb εὐθύς as interchangeable forms of one meaning, differing only in register: εὐθύς is the older literary form, this word the Hellenistic vernacular default that dominates the papyri and the New Testament outside Mark. Both grow out of the adjective "straight," and modern linguistics traces the family to an Indo-European root for straight, targeted motion rather than the discredited older derivation from "well-placed." Crucially, every major lexicon recognizes a weakened sense alongside the strict temporal one: BDAG's third edition lists a second definition, "then, so then," for the word functioning as a narrative connective rather than a strict marker of time. This weakened, scene-marking use is concentrated in Mark, where the word's heavy density has fueled a century of debate over how much temporal urgency it carries. The most influential modern synthesis, Rodney Decker's, sorts the Markan uses into three pragmatic functions: a true instant (especially in healings), a short interval ("as soon as"), and a pure connective with little or no timing force. The exegetically weightiest single instance is Galatians 1:16, where the force of the word bears on Paul's account of his apostolic independence.

In-depth research

This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.

Sources

  • BDAG: Frederick W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (University of Chicago Press, 2000), s.v. εὐθέως, εὐθύςlexicon
  • Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed. rev. H. S. Jones (Clarendon, 1996), s.v. εὐθύς, εὐθέωςlexicon
  • Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, 2nd ed. (United Bible Societies, 1989), domain 67.112-113lexicon
  • Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider, eds., Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (Eerdmans, 1991), 2:80-81, s.v. εὐθύς / εὐθέωςtheological-dictionary
  • F. Blass, A. Debrunner, and R. W. Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (University of Chicago Press, 1961), §102.2monograph
  • James Hope Moulton and George Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-Literary Sources (Hodder and Stoughton, 1930), s.v. εὐθέωςlexicon
  • Rodney J. Decker, Temporal Deixis of the Greek Verb in the Gospel of Mark with Reference to Verbal Aspect (Studies in Biblical Greek 10; Peter Lang, 2001)monograph
  • Robert H. Gundry, Mark: A Commentary on His Apology for the Cross (Eerdmans, 1993), 49-50, 75commentary
  • Joel Marcus, Mark 1-8 (Anchor Yale Bible 27; Yale University Press, 2000), 165-166commentary
  • R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark (NIGTC; Eerdmans, 2002), 90, 99commentary
  • Adela Yarbro Collins, Mark (Hermeneia; Fortress, 2007), 153-154commentary
  • C. E. B. Cranfield, The Gospel According to Saint Mark (CGTC; Cambridge University Press, 1959), 52commentary
  • Stanley E. Porter, Idioms of the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed. (Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), 213monograph
  • Steven E. Runge, Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament (Lexham Press, 2010)monograph
  • Ernest De Witt Burton, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (ICC; T&T Clark, 1921), 54-55commentary
  • F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians (NIGTC; Eerdmans, 1982), 92-93commentary

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of εὐθέως

adv

εὐθὺς, εὐθέως, εὐθύς, Εὐθέως

Mat 3:16, Mat 13:20, Mat 13:21, Mat 14:27, Mat 21:3, Mrk 1:10, Mrk 1:12, Mrk 1:18