Exploring the Meaning of Hora in Greek

ὥρα denotes an “hour,” a time-marker that can pinpoint a moment of action or describe a segment within the day. In the passages gathered here it appears in scenes of healing, instruction under pressure, a practical concern about late day, and a parable that measures labor by the clock.

Occurrences

Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way. Let it be done for you as you have believed.” His servant was healed in that hour. (Matthew 8:13)

Here ὥρα fixes the healing to a specific moment: the servant’s recovery is not left vague but anchored “in that hour.” The phrase ties the centurion’s trust and Jesus’ spoken directive to an immediate, identifiable time of change.

But Jesus, turning around and seeing her, said, “Daughter, cheer up! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour. (Matthew 9:22)

The wording “from that hour” uses ὥρα as a starting point. It marks the moment when her condition turns: the hour functions as the boundary between before and after, linking Jesus’ address and the woman’s restoration to an onset in time.

But when they deliver you up, don’t be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say. (Matthew 10:19)

ὥρα identifies the critical moment of interrogation or trial (“when they deliver you up”). The promise is timed: the needed words are supplied “in that hour,” meaning in the very time of pressure rather than long beforehand, emphasizing immediacy within a defined occasion.

When evening had come, his disciples came to him, saying, “This place is deserted, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves food.” (Matthew 14:15)

In this practical appeal, ὥρα evaluates the day’s progress: “the hour is already late.” The disciples point to time slipping away as a reason for action, using the lateness of the hour to argue that the crowd must be dismissed to obtain food.

Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. (Matthew 15:28)

Again “from that hour” sets a temporal baseline for healing, but now at a distance: the daughter is healed beginning with the time Jesus speaks. ὥρα marks the point at which the requested change takes effect, underscoring a decisive turning point linked to the conversation.

Jesus rebuked him, the demon went out of him, and the boy was cured from that hour. (Matthew 17:18)

ὥρα frames the cure as commencing at the same moment as Jesus’ rebuke and the demon’s departure. The sequence moves quickly—rebuke, exit, cure—and “from that hour” functions as the timestamp for the boy’s restored state.

In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” (Matthew 18:1)

Here ὥρα situates a question within a particular moment: “In that hour” the disciples approach Jesus. Rather than measuring a span of minutes, the hour signals the occasion when their concern about greatness surfaces, anchoring their inquiry to a specific time in the narrative flow.

He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. (Matthew 20:3)

In the parable, ὥρα becomes a unit by which the workday is organized. “About the third hour” places the landowner’s action at a recognizable point of the day, and the time reference explains why some laborers have been “standing idle”: they have not yet been hired by that hour.

Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. (Matthew 20:5)

Multiple hours are named to show repeated hiring at distinct points—“the sixth and the ninth hour.” ὥρα structures the parable’s rhythm: the landowner’s repeated visits are paced by the clock, giving a sense of a long day in which opportunities to work continue to appear.

About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’ (Matthew 20:6)

“About the eleventh hour” introduces lateness and urgency within the workday. The hour is near the end of “all day,” and the landowner’s question highlights the contrast between the little time remaining and the fact that some have stood idle throughout the day’s hours.

“When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. (Matthew 20:9)

The repeated hour label identifies a particular group: those hired “at about the eleventh hour.” ὥρα functions almost like a tag that distinguishes latecomers from earlier laborers, setting up the surprising pay outcome that follows.

saying, ‘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 20:12)

Here ὥρα measures duration directly: “one hour” of work versus the long experience of those who “have borne the burden of the day.” The complaint turns on proportionality, and the single hour becomes the focal point of perceived inequity in comparison to a whole day under “scorching heat.”

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, “hour” operates as a flexible time-marker. In several healings (Matthew 8:13; 9:22; 15:28; 17:18), ὥρα provides temporal precision, locating the moment when a new condition begins. The recurring expressions “in that hour” and “from that hour” highlight slightly different time relationships: “in” focuses on the moment itself as the setting of the event, while “from” presents the hour as the starting line of an ongoing state (“was made well,” “was healed,” “was cured”). In each case, the hour links spoken words and enacted change, fastening the narrative to a definite point in time rather than an undefined later outcome.

In Matthew 10:19, the hour is the moment of need: not the length of an hourglass measure but the decisive occasion when disciples are “deliver[ed] up.” The promise that speech will be supplied “in that hour” places provision inside the crisis itself, treating the hour as the time-window in which anxiety would naturally rise and assistance is promised to arrive.

In Matthew 14:15, the hour is assessed as “already late,” and the disciples build a practical argument on that timing. The “late” hour heightens the urgency created by a “deserted” place and a hungry multitude: time and location together drive the proposed solution. Here ὥρα functions as a cue of dwindling opportunity—villages must be reached before it is too late to “buy themselves food.”

Matthew 18:1 shows the hour as a narrative hinge. “In that hour” does not quantify labor or signal lateness; it simply sets the disciples’ question about greatness into a specific moment of interaction with Jesus. The hour marks the occasion when their concern becomes explicit and the conversation is initiated.

In Matthew 20:3, 5, 6, 9, and 12, ὥρα takes on a more overtly measured character. Hours segment the day (“third,” “sixth,” “ninth,” “eleventh”), organizing a sequence of hiring decisions and producing distinct cohorts of workers. The parable’s logic depends on these time references: some workers have more hours available for labor, while others enter near the end. The final grievance explicitly uses “one hour” as a unit of duration, contrasting it with “the burden of the day.” Thus ὥρα can denote both a point in the day and a span of time spent working, enabling the story to compare experiences and expectations grounded in time.

Imagery

These passages load “hour” with concrete immediacy. An hour can be the instant a servant is healed (Matthew 8:13) or the beginning of a changed life “from that hour” (Matthew 9:22). It can be the tense hour of testimony when words must be given (Matthew 10:19), the late hour that presses for feeding a crowd (Matthew 14:15), or the numbered hours of a long, hot workday that shape how workers judge fairness (Matthew 20:12). In each setting, ὥρα keeps attention on time as something that matters: it marks when help arrives, when decisions must be made, and how a day’s labor is reckoned.

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).