StrongerBible

tachu

ταχύ

GreekG5035“quickly, soon”

Appears 10 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Mat 28:7Mat 28:8Mrk 9:39Mrk 16:8Jhn 11:29Rev 2:16Rev 3:11Rev 11:14Rev 22:7Rev 22:20
Root family
Word studyResearch-gradetah-KHOOadverb

What tachu means

in a very short span: quickly, without delay, or soon. The same word covers how fast something happens and how little time passes before it does.

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

This little adverb is built from a family of Greek words for speed. Across ordinary Greek it pulls in two directions that English keeps in separate words but Greek does not: the manner of an action (it is done fast, at once, without delay) and the nearness of an event in time (it is about to happen, before long). The two shade into each other, because something done with no delay also tends to happen soon.

In plain narrative the manner reading usually wins: people move, rise, or run with this word, and the picture is one of haste rather than a calendar. But when it modifies a verb about something still to come, especially a promise or a prophecy, the same word naturally means "soon".

Most of the weight this word carries comes from the book of Revelation, where the risen Jesus says it again and again: I am coming quickly. Readers and scholars have long argued over whether that means "soon" (within the first readers lifetime) or "suddenly" (a rapid arrival once it begins). The careful lexicons that separate the two senses place the Revelation promises on the time side: soon. But the manner of speed never fully drops away, which is why English translators stay split between quickly and soon. The word does not settle the question of how long the wait will be; it presses the reader toward urgent expectation either way.

Nuances

1aquickly, at once, without delay: describing how fast an action is done
CertaintySettled
Mat 28:7Mat 28:8Mrk 16:8Jhn 11:29
1bsoon, in a short time: describing how near an event is
Mrk 9:39Rev 2:16Rev 3:11Rev 11:14Rev 22:7Rev 22:20

What scholars say about tachu

The whole ταχύς word group (the adjective ταχύς, the adverbial neuter ταχύ, the adverb ταχέως, and the noun τάχος in ἐν τάχει) has two semantic centers across classical, documentary, and Koine Greek: manner (with speed, suddenly, without delay) and temporal nearness (soon, in a short time). LSJ documents both already in Homer and the tragedians; the documentary papyri (Moulton-Milligan; the Zenon archive; the magical-papyri formula ἤδη ἤδη ταχὺ ταχύ) tilt toward pure manner. BDAG splits the lemma between sense 1 (quickly, at once, without delay) and sense 2 (soon, in a short time), placing the Revelation ἐν τάχει texts under sense 2; Thayer glossed them temporally a century earlier. Louw-Nida and EDNT collapse the two, and TDNT has no article on the group. In the LXX ταχύ and ταχέως render mainly מַהֵר and מְהֵרָה, which themselves fuse speed and imminence. The Revelation debate turns on the ἔρχομαι ταχύ refrains (2:16; 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20) and the framing ἐν τάχει of 1:1 and 22:6. The consensus of the major critical commentaries (Beale, Aune, Bauckham, Mounce, Osborne, Koester, Fanning) is that the sense in Revelation is genuinely temporal soon, understood within an apocalyptic worldview that held imminence and delay in tension; Beale further argues 1:1 deliberately recasts Daniel 2:28-29, 45 (ἃ δεῖ γενέσθαι... ἐν τάχει for Daniel's in the latter days). The strict manner-only reading (Walvoord, Ice, Ryrie) is now rejected by most exegetes, including many futurists (Robert Thomas), and the failed-prediction reading (Weiss, Schweitzer, Bultmann) and literal-temporal preterism (Gentry, Sproul) form the other poles.

Where scholars disagree about tachu

Whether ταχύ (and the related ἐν τάχει) in Revelation means soon (near in time) or quickly/suddenly (a rapid manner of arrival once it begins), and what that implies for the timing of fulfillment.

  • majorityGenuinely temporal soon, understood as apocalyptic imminence that holds nearness and delay in tension; the refrains function to produce urgent expectation. This is the dominant view of the major critical commentaries, and the careful lexicons that distinguish the senses classify the Revelation texts as temporal.; G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC (1999), 152-54, 181-82; Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (1993), 147, 157-59; David Aune, Revelation 1-5, WBC 52A (1997), 6, 19-21; BDAG (Danker, 3rd ed., 2000), 992-93
  • minorityManner, not time: a rapid, sudden execution once the events begin, rather than a claim that they will start soon. Associated with mid-twentieth-century dispensationalism and now rejected by most exegetes, including many futurists.; John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (1966), 35-36; Louw-Nida, Greek-English Lexicon, §67.111ff.
  • minorityGenuinely temporal soon meant for the first-century readers, with the events fulfilled within that generation (preterism); or, in the critical version, a genuine but mistaken prediction of an imminent end.; Kenneth Gentry, Before Jerusalem Fell (1989); R. C. Sproul, The Last Days According to Jesus (1998), 22-47; Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus (1906)
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 (Danker, 3rd ed., 2000), 992-93, s.v. ταχύ / ταχύς / τάχοςlexicon
  • LSJ, 9th ed. (1996), 1762-63, s.v. ταχύςlexicon
  • Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon, 4th ed. (1896), 616-17lexicon
  • Louw-Nida, Greek-English Lexicon, §67.111ff. (vol. 1, 642-43)lexicon
  • EDNT (Balz-Schneider), 3:338-39, s.v. ταχύdictionary
  • G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC (1999), 152-54, 181-82commentary
  • David Aune, Revelation 1-5, WBC 52A (1997), 6, 19-21commentary
  • Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation (1993), 147, 157-59monograph
  • Grant Osborne, Revelation, BECNT (2002), 54-55, 797commentary
  • Craig Koester, Revelation, AYB 38A (2014), 211-22commentary
  • Robert Mounce, The Book of Revelation, NICNT, rev. ed. (1998), 41commentary
  • John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (1966), 35-36commentary
  • Robert Thomas, Revelation 1-7 (1992), 53-56commentary

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

All attested forms of ταχύ

adv

ταχὺ, ταχύ

Mat 28:7, Mat 28:8, Mrk 9:39, Mrk 16:8, Jhn 11:29, Rev 2:16, Rev 3:11, Rev 11:14