John 4:6:20John.4.6.W20TAB
ἦν
ên
“was”
- Transliteration
- ÊN
- Extended
- ÊÊN
- IPA
- /ˈɛːn/
Meaning by language
- English
- was
Alphabet Analysis
| Eta | i — as in machine | |
| Nu | n — as in new |
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The word
Word in context
- word
ÊN
- sentence
ÊN DE e-KEI pê-GÊ TOU i-a-KÔB HO OUN ee-ay-SOOS ke-ko-pi-a-KÔS EK TÊS ho-doi-po-RI-as e-ka-THE-dze-to HOU-tôs e-PI TÊI pê-GÊI HÔ-ra ÊN HÔS HEK-tê
Exegesis
The verse opens with the clause ēn de ekei pēgē tou Iakōb {ἦν δὲ ἐκεῖ πηγὴ τοῦ Ἰακώβ | ên dè ekeî pēgḗ tou Iakṓb} ‘there was a well of Jacob there’, where the imperfect ēn presents a descriptive past and the fronted adverb ekei emphasizes the location. The genitive tou Iakōb marks possession, rooting the scene in Israel’s patriarchal heritage.
Finally, the temporal clause hōra ēn hōs hektē {ὥρα ἦν ὡς ἕκτη | hṓra ên hōs héktē} ‘it was about the sixth hour’ employs hōs to indicate approximation and uses Jewish daytime reckoning (roughly noon) to anchor the scene in concrete time. The English renderings follow this sequence—setting the place, explaining the circumstance of weariness, describing the posture by the well, and marking the time—to preserve both the narrative flow and the theological emphasis on a divinely arranged encounter in the midst of Jesus’ genuine physical tiredness.
Root and etymology
pherōphi–epsilon–rho–omega
“to carry, bring, bear”
In context — John 4:6
Now a well of Jacob was there; so Jesus , having become weary from the journey , was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
About this coordinate
John 4:6:20 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 20 of John 4:6, so the Greek word ἦν (ên) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written John.4.6.W20, which extends further down to each syllable (John.4.6.W20.S1) and character.