Exploring the Meaning of Hexes in Greek

ἑξῆς expresses what comes next in sequence—what follows “afterward” or on “the next” occasion. In the New Testament it appears in Luke and Acts in narrative settings where time moves forward in tightly connected steps.

Root and Related Words

ἑξῆς relates to the verb echo (ἔχω), “to have/be” (Strong’s G2192).

Occurrences

Luke 7:11: “Soon afterwards, he went to a city called Nain. Many of his disciples, along with a great multitude, went with him.”

Here ἑξῆς marks the immediate progression from a prior moment in the story to the next stage: Jesus’ movement to Nain. The adverb links the travel scene to what precedes it and presents the departure as a near-continuous development—“soon afterwards”—while the verse itself widens the frame by noting the accompanying crowd (“many of his disciples” and “a great multitude”). The word contributes the sense that the narrative is advancing in an ordered, forward-moving line.

Luke 9:37: “On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great multitude met him.”

In this setting ἑξῆς identifies the next day as the time marker for what follows the mountain episode: descent and a public encounter. The phrase “On the next day” gives the reader a clear step in the timeline, bridging two locales (“from the mountain” to where “a great multitude met him”). The adverb supports the narrative’s pacing by indicating that the meeting is not a detached later event but the next ordered point in the unfolding sequence.

Acts 21:1: “When we had departed from them and had set sail, we came with a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.”

Acts uses ἑξῆς to coordinate travel stages with day-by-day precision. After the initial departure and setting sail, the journey is narrated as a chain of arrivals: first Cos, then (marked by “the next day”) Rhodes, then onward to Patara. The word highlights a chronological step between ports, supporting the sense that the itinerary is being reported in an orderly progression rather than as a general summary of travel.

Acts 25:17: “When therefore they had come together here, I didn’t delay, but on the next day sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought.”

In this judicial context ἑξῆς underscores promptness and procedural movement. The speaker describes a sequence: people “had come together,” there was no delay, and then “on the next day” he took his seat for judgment and issued the order to bring the man. The adverb ties the convening of the parties to the immediate next action, framing the hearing as advancing without prolonged interruption.

Acts 27:18: “As we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw things overboard.”

During the storm at sea, ἑξῆς again anchors the narrative in consecutive time. The crew’s struggle (“we labored exceedingly with the storm”) is followed by a next-day decision: “they began to throw things overboard.” The word contributes a sense of escalating events over successive days, with the next day marking a fresh, consequential step in response to ongoing danger.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages ἑξῆς functions as a compact signal that the narrative is moving forward to what follows. It regularly appears where the author wants the reader to track a sequence with minimal ambiguity: from one scene to the next (Luke 7:11), from one day to the next (Luke 9:37), from one stop to the next within a voyage (Acts 21:1), from assembly to formal action in a legal setting (Acts 25:17), and from one day of storm-labor to the next day’s emergency measures (Acts 27:18).

The word’s effect is often more than simple timing. In Luke, it tightens the connection between episodes: “Soon afterwards” and “On the next day” keep events adjacent, encouraging the reader to perceive continuity in Jesus’ movement and encounters. In Acts, the same forward-sequence force supports reportage: a travel log that names stages and days, an official account that insists on lack of delay, and a shipboard narrative that traces the mounting seriousness of a storm over consecutive days.

Because ἑξῆς points to the next element in a series, it naturally works with verbs of movement and action. The cited verses repeatedly pair it with decisive transitions—“he went,” “they had come down,” “we came,” “sat on the judgment seat,” “began to throw things overboard.” In each case the adverb does not supply the action itself but situates it as the following step, guiding how the reader orders the events in time.

Imagery in Context

The passages place ἑξῆς amid concrete progressions: roads leading to Nain with a crowd following (Luke 7:11), a descent from a mountain into a waiting multitude (Luke 9:37), a ship’s steady itinerary from island to island (Acts 21:1), a judgment seat occupied the day after an assembly (Acts 25:17), and a storm that drives sailors to lighten the ship on the next day (Acts 27:18). In each scene, the word carries the feel of forward momentum—events pressing on to the next moment that follows.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).