5119. tote

Lexical Summary

tote: Then, at that time

Original Word: τότε
Part of Speech: Adverb
Transliteration: tote
Pronunciation: TO-teh
Phonetic Spelling: (tot'-eh)
KJV: that time, then
NASB: then, time
Word Origin: [from (the neuter of) G3588 (ὁ - those) and G3753 (ὅτε - when)]

1. the when, i.e. at the time that (of the past or future, also in consecution)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

that time, then.

From (the neuter of) ho and hote; the when, i.e. At the time that (of the past or future, also in consecution) -- that time, then.

see GREEK hote

see GREEK ho

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from the neut. of ho, and hote
Definition
then, at that time
NASB Translation
then (146), time (10).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 5119: τότε

τότε, demonstrative adverb of time (from the neuter article τό, and the enclitic τέ (which see); answering to the relative ὅτε (Kühner, § 506, 2 c.)), from Homer down, then; at that time;

a. then i. e. at the time when the things under consideration were taking place (of a concomitant event): Matthew 2:17 (τότε ἐπληρώθη); ; Romans 6:21; followed by a more precise specification of the time by means of an added participle, Matt. ii,16; Galatians 4:8; opposed to νῦν, Galatians 4:29; Hebrews 12:26; ὁ τότε κόσμος, the world that then was, 2 Peter 3:6.

b. then i. e. when the thing under consideration had been said or done, thereupon; so in the historical writers (especially Matthew), by way of transition from one thing mentioned to another which could not take place before it (Winers Grammar, 540 (503); Buttmann, § 151, 31 at the end): Matthew 4:1, 5; Matthew 26:14; Matthew 27:38; Acts 1:12; Acts 10:48; Acts 21:33; not infrequently of things which took place immediately afterward, so that it is equivalent to which having been done or heard: Matthew 2:7; Matthew 3:15; Matthew 4:10; Matthew 8:26; Matthew 12:45; Matthew 15:28; Matthew 17:19; Matthew 26:36, 45; Matthew 27:26; Luke 11:26; τότε οὖν, John 11:14 (Lachmann brackets οὖν); ; εὐθέως τότε, Acts 17:14; τότε preceded by a more definite specification of time, as μετά τό ψωμίον, John 13:27; or by an aorist participle Acts 28:1. ὅτε ... τότε, etc., when ... then: Matthew 13:26; Matthew 21:1; John 12:16; ὡς ... τότε, etc., John 7:10; John 11:6; preceded by a genitive absolute which specifies time, Acts 27:21. ἀπό τότε from that time on, see ἀπό, I. 4 b., p. 58{b}.

c. of things future; then (at length) when the thing under discussion takes place (or shall have taken place): τότε simply, Matthew 24:23, 40; Matthew 25:1, 34, 37, 41, 44f; opposed to ἄρτι, 1 Corinthians 13:12; καί τότε, Matthew 7:23; Matthew 16:27; Matthew 24:10, 14, 30; Mark 13:21, 26; Luke 21:27; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Galatians 6:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; καί τότε preceded by πρῶτον, Matthew 5:24; Matthew 7:5; Luke 6:42. ὅταν (with a subjunctive present) ... τότε, etc. when ... then, etc. (Winer's Grammar, § 60, 5), 2 Corinthians 12:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; ὅταν (with an aorist subjunctive equivalent to Latin future perfect) ... τότε, etc., Matthew 9:15; Matthew 24:16; Matthew 25:31; Mark 2:20; Mark 13:14; Luke 5:35; Luke 21:20; John 2:10 (T WH omit; L Tr brackets τότε); ; 1 Corinthians 15:28, 54; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Colossians 3:4. Of the N. T. writers, Matthew uses τότε most frequently, ninety-one times ((so Holtzmann, Syn. Evang., p. 293); rather, eighty-nine times according to R T, ninety times according to G L Tr WH); it is not found in (Ephesians, Philippians, Philemon, the Pastoral Epistles, the Epistles of John, James, Jude), Revelation.

Topical Lexicon

Overview

The adverb τότε functions as Scripture’s reliable time-marker, knitting together events, responses, and divine interventions. Appearing 161 times, it links cause with effect, promise with fulfillment, and prophecy with consummation, thereby underscoring the coherence of redemptive history.

Temporal Sequencing in Narrative

1. Immediate succession: τότε frequently closes one scene and opens the next, inviting readers to follow the Spirit-directed flow of history. After Jesus resists the tempter, “Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him” (Matthew 4:11). The adverb guides the reader from conflict to comfort.
2. Cause and effect: “Then He touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith will it be done to you.’ And their eyes were opened” (Matthew 9:29–30). The healing is inseparable from the faith response that precedes it.
3. Narrative symmetry: Matthew structures his Gospel around clusters of τότε, especially in the Passion narrative (Matthew 26–27), heightening the inevitability of the cross.

Christological Moments

1. Inauguration of ministry: “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John” (Matthew 3:13). The adverb escorts the Messiah onto the public stage.
2. Self-revelation: “Then He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone He was the Christ” (Matthew 16:20). Recognition precedes restraint; the timing of revelation is under sovereign control.
3. Vindication: “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven” (Matthew 24:30). The same adverb that ushers Jesus into earthly ministry announces His cosmic return.

Teaching and Parabolic Settings

1. Ethical summons: In the Sermon on the Mount, τότε exposes hypocrisy before prescribing remedy—“First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).
2. Parables of readiness: “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins…” (Matthew 25:1). The adverb signals a shift from present exhortation to future accountability.
3. Dialogic exchanges: Disciples react to hard sayings—“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother…?’” (Matthew 18:21). Instruction springs from real-time questions.

Prophetic and Eschatological Horizon

1. Birth pains and great tribulation: “Then there will be great tribulation, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now” (Matthew 24:21). Here τότε frames an unparalleled historical moment, assuring believers that God foretells and limits suffering.
2. Final separation: “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father…’” followed by “Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me…’” (Matthew 25:34, 41). Judgment is sequential, just, and publicly declared.
3. Eschatological victory: “Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father” (1 Corinthians 15:24) and “Then death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54). The adverb narrates creation’s climactic restoration.

Apostolic Testimony and Church Formation

1. Pentecostal obedience: “Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:17). The church’s sacramental actions follow apostolic discernment.
2. Missional decisions: “Then it seemed good to the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch” (Acts 15:22). Governance is portrayed as timely, communal, and Spirit-guided.
3. Providential deliverance: “Then immediately the men cut away the ropes of the lifeboat and let it fall away” (Acts 27:32), demonstrating faith in Paul’s God-given warning during the storm.

Pastoral Reflection and Doctrinal Implications

1. Conversion memory: “What benefit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?” (Romans 6:21). τότε contrasts past bondage with present freedom, fueling gratitude and holiness.
2. Progressive revelation: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Temporal markers affirm both the partial nature of present knowledge and the certainty of future clarity.
3. Covenantal shift: In Hebrews 10:9 Christ says, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will. He sets aside the first to establish the second.” τότε (embedded in the structure) communicates decisive displacement of the old order.

Ministerial Application

1. Preaching: Highlight τότε to trace the logic of the text, showing hearers when grace intervenes, when judgment falls, and when obedience is required.
2. Counseling: Use passages like Matthew 7:5 to move counselees from introspection (“first…”) to action (“then…”).
3. Eschatology: Ground hope in the sequential promises marked by τότε—Christ’s appearing, resurrection, judgment, new creation.
4. Discipleship: Encourage believers to discern their own “then” moments—times when obedience, repentance, or service should follow divine prompting.

Forms and Transliterations

ΤΟΤΕ Τότε TOTE Tóte

Englishman's Concordance

Matthew 2:7 Adv
GRK: Τότε Ἡρῴδης λάθρᾳ
NAS: Then Herod secretly
KJV: Then Herod, when he had privily
INT: Then Herod secretly

Matthew 2:16 Adv
GRK: Τότε Ἡρῴδης ἰδὼν
NAS: Then when Herod saw
KJV: Then Herod, when he saw
INT: Then Herod having seen

Matthew 2:17 Adv
GRK: Τότε ἐπληρώθη τὸ
NAS: Then what had been spoken
KJV: Then was fulfilled that which
INT: Then was fulfilled that

Matthew 3:5 Adv
GRK: Τότε ἐξεπορεύετο πρὸς
NAS: Then Jerusalem was going
KJV: Then went out to
INT: Then went out to

Matthew 3:13 Adv
GRK: Τότε παραγίνεται ὁ
NAS: Then Jesus arrived
KJV: Then cometh Jesus
INT: Then comes

Matthew 3:15 Adv
GRK: πᾶσαν δικαιοσύνην τότε ἀφίησιν αὐτόν
NAS: righteousness. Then he permitted
KJV: righteousness. Then he suffered
INT: all righteousness Then he permits him

Matthew 4:1 Adv
GRK: Τότε ὁ Ἰησοῦς
NAS: Then Jesus was led
KJV: Then was Jesus led up
INT: Then Jesus

Matthew 4:5 Adv
GRK: Τότε παραλαμβάνει αὐτὸν
NAS: Then the devil took
KJV: Then the devil taketh
INT: then takes him

Matthew 4:10 Adv
GRK: τότε λέγει αὐτῷ
NAS: Then Jesus said
KJV: Then saith Jesus
INT: Then says to him

Matthew 4:11 Adv
GRK: Τότε ἀφίησιν αὐτὸν
NAS: Then the devil left
KJV: Then the devil leaveth
INT: Then leaves him

Matthew 4:17 Adv
GRK: ΑΠΟ ΤΟΤΕ ἤρξατο ὁ
NAS: From that time Jesus began
KJV: From that time Jesus began
INT: From that time began

Matthew 5:24 Adv
GRK: σου καὶ τότε ἐλθὼν πρόσφερε
NAS: to your brother, and then come
KJV: brother, and then come and offer
INT: of you and then having come offer

Matthew 7:5 Adv
GRK: δοκόν καὶ τότε διαβλέψεις ἐκβαλεῖν
NAS: out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly
KJV: and then shalt thou see clearly
INT: beam and then you will see clearly to cast out

Matthew 7:23 Adv
GRK: καὶ τότε ὁμολογήσω αὐτοῖς
NAS: And then I will declare
KJV: And then will I profess unto them,
INT: And then I will declare to them

Matthew 8:26 Adv
GRK: ἐστε ὀλιγόπιστοι τότε ἐγερθεὶς ἐπετίμησεν
NAS: you men of little faith? Then He got
KJV: O ye of little faith? Then he arose,
INT: are you O [you] of little faith Then having arisen he rebuked

Matthew 9:6 Adv
GRK: ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας τότε λέγει τῷ
NAS: sins-- then He said
KJV: sins, (then saith he
INT: to forgive sins then he says to the

Matthew 9:14 Adv
GRK: Τότε προσέρχονται αὐτῷ
NAS: Then the disciples of John
KJV: Then came to him
INT: Then come to him

Matthew 9:15 Adv
GRK: νυμφίος καὶ τότε νηστεύσουσιν
NAS: is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
KJV: them, and then shall they fast.
INT: bridegroom and then they will fast

Matthew 9:29 Adv
GRK: τότε ἥψατο τῶν
NAS: Then He touched their eyes,
KJV: Then touched he their
INT: Then he touched the

Matthew 9:37 Adv
GRK: τότε λέγει τοῖς
NAS: Then He said to His disciples,
KJV: Then saith he unto his
INT: Then he says to the

Matthew 11:20 Adv
GRK: Τότε ἤρξατο ὀνειδίζειν
NAS: Then He began to denounce
KJV: Then began he to upbraid
INT: Then he began to insult

Matthew 12:13 Adv
GRK: Τότε λέγει τῷ
NAS: Then He said to the man,
KJV: Then saith he to the man,
INT: Then he says to

Matthew 12:22 Adv
GRK: Τότε προσηνέχθη αὐτῷ
NAS: Then a demon-possessed
KJV: Then was brought unto him
INT: Then was brought to him

Matthew 12:29 Adv
GRK: ἰσχυρόν καὶ τότε τὴν οἰκίαν
NAS: the strong [man]? And then he will plunder
KJV: and then he will spoil
INT: strong [man] and then the house

Matthew 12:38 Adv
GRK: Τότε ἀπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ
NAS: Then some of the scribes
KJV: Then certain of the scribes
INT: Then answered to him

Strong's Greek 5119
161 Occurrences

Τότε — 161 Occ.