אֶתְמוֹלʼethmôwl
yesterday, figurative recently, formerly, but usually figurative = recently or formerly
Pronunciation: eth-mole' · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H865
Meanings
1. yesterday (=only lately) (2 Samuel 15:20; Job 8:9; Psalms 90:4)
2. usually in combination with שִׁלְשֹׁם yesterday (and) the third day, to express the idea of formerly
a. adverb accusative (a), (b) (1 Samuel 20:27; Exodus 5:14; Exodus 5:8)
b. as formerly, as yesterday (Genesis 31:2; Genesis 31:5; Exodus 5:7)
c. (form) aforetime (Exodus 21:29; Exodus 21:36; Joshua 3:6)
3. from yesterday = already (Isaiah 30:33; Micah 2:8)
Same root
- אֵתʼêth · H853properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)
- אֵתʼêth · H854properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), near; hence, generally, with, by, at, among, etc.
- מוּלmûwl · H4136properly, abrupt, i.e. a precipice; by implication, the front; used only adverbially (with prepositional prefix) opposite
- תְּמוֹלtᵉmôwl · H8543properly, ago, i.e. a (short or long) time since; especially yesterday, or day before yesterday
Where it appears
Appears 8 times in the Bible.
- 1 Samuel 4:7 they panicked. “The gods have come into their camp!” they cried. “This is a disaster! We have never had to face anything like this before!
- 1 Samuel 10:11 When those who knew Saul heard about it, they exclaimed, “What? Is even Saul a prophet? How did the son of Kish become a prophet?”
- 1 Samuel 14:21 Even the Hebrews who had previously gone over to the Philistine army revolted and joined in with Saul, Jonathan, and the rest of the Israelites.
- 1 Samuel 19:7 Afterward Jonathan called David and told him what had happened. Then he brought David to Saul, and David served in the court as before.
- 2 Samuel 5:2 In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the one who really led the forces of Israel. And the Lord told you, ‘You will be the shepherd of my people Israel. You will be Israel’s leader.’”
- Psalms 90:4 For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.
Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).