ἔσχατος
eschatos
last/least
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Greek word ἔσχατος (eschatos) has a short definition of "last/least." Analyzing its occurrences in the Bible, we can see that this word is used to convey a sense of finality and positioning. It is often employed to describe the last item in a series, the final outcome, or the least or weakest member of a group. Throughout the 54 occurrences in the Bible, ἔσχατος is used to describe people, events, and objects. Its range of usage is broad, encompassing temporal, spatial, and hierarchical contexts. This word can indicate the end of a period, the last day of a week, or the most marginalized member of a community. The significance of ἔσχατος lies in its ability to frame the way biblical authors structure their narratives, emphasizing the significance of beginnings, middles, and ends. By using ἔσχατος to describe the last aspect of a series, authors can focus the reader's attention on key moments or characters, underscoring their importance in the overall narrative.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
54 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
Most certainly I tell you, you shall by no means get out of there, until you have paid the last penny.
Matthew 12:45Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.”
Matthew 19:30But many will be last who are first; and first who are last.
Matthew 19:30But many will be last who are first; and first who are last.
Matthew 20:8When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’
Matthew 20:12saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’
Matthew 20:14Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you.
Matthew 20:16So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 20:16So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 27:64Command therefore that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest perhaps his disciples come at night and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He is risen from the dead;’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
Mark 9:35He sat down, and called the twelve; and he said to them, “If any man wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.”
Mark 10:31But many who are first will be last; and the last first.”
Mark 10:31But many who are first will be last; and the last first.”
Mark 12:6Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
Mark 12:22and the seven took her and left no children. Last of all the woman also died.
Luke 11:26Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”
Luke 12:59I tell you, you will by no means get out of there, until you have paid the very last penny.”
Luke 13:30Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.”
Luke 13:30Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.”
Luke 14:9and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place.
Luke 14:10But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.
John 6:39This is the will of my Father who sent me, that of all he has given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day.
John 6:40This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day.
John 6:54He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 7:37Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!
John 8:9They, when they heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning from the oldest, even to the last. Jesus was left alone with the woman where she was, in the middle.
John 11:24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
John 12:48He who rejects me, and doesn’t receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke will judge him in the last day.
Acts 1:8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
Acts 2:17‘It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.
Acts 13:47For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you as a light for the Gentiles, that you should bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.’ ”
1 Corinthians 4:9For, I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men.
1 Corinthians 15:8and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.
1 Corinthians 15:26The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
1 Corinthians 15:45So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
2 Timothy 3:1But know this: that in the last days, grievous times will come.
Hebrews 1:2has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.
James 5:3Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days.
1 Peter 1:5who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:20who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake,
2 Peter 2:20For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
2 Peter 3:3knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts
1 John 2:18Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour.
1 John 2:18Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour.
Jude 1:18They said to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.”
Revelation 1:11saying, “What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
Revelation 1:17When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last,
Revelation 2:8“To the angel of the assembly in Smyrna write: “The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life says these things: