Farthest, final (of place or time)
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ἔσχατος (eschatos) means last, final, farthest, lowest in a sequence, or belonging to the closing stage of a period. ” Its meaning therefore depends on whether the comparison concerns order, status, space, time, or ultimate identity.
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Full entry for ἔσχατος (G2078) · Open the biblical lexicon
ἔσχατος (eschatos) means last, final, farthest, lowest in a sequence, or belonging to the closing stage of a period. ” Its meaning therefore depends on whether the comparison concerns order, status, space, time, or ultimate identity.
The BSB source-word alignment has 53 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include last (30), [the] last (9), [the] ends (2), final (2), final [plight] (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 5:26. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (10), John (8), Luke (6), Revelation (6).
This entry includes 1 verse guide that explain exact original-language forms in context.
ἔσχατος (eschatos) means last, final, farthest, lowest in a sequence, or belonging to the closing stage of a period. The adjective can describe the last person in line, the final condition of something, the farthest reach of the earth, the last days, the last day, the last enemy, or the title “the First and the Last. ” Its meaning therefore depends on whether the comparison concerns order, status, space, time, or ultimate identity.
Jesus tells the Twelve that the one who wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all, overturning status competition with active service. The laborers’ parable concludes that the last will be first and the first last, highlighting the landowner’s generosity rather than giving a formula for calculating heavenly rank. Hebrews says God has spoken in these last days by His Son, presenting the messianic age as already inaugurated.
John records Jesus’ promise to raise believers at the last day. Paul calls death the last enemy to be destroyed, locating resurrection victory at the completion of Christ’s reign. Revelation presents the risen Jesus as the First and the Last, a divine title joined to His death and living forever. These uses should not be flattened into a single end-times signal.
“Last days” does not automatically mean only the final few calendar years, and “last of all” does not command vulnerable people to accept abuse or leaders to perform humility while retaining unchecked power. ἔσχατος can name low position, final sequence, consummation, or Christ’s sovereign identity. The passage must show which comparison is active and what faithful response follows.
ἔσχατος marks lastness in rank, sequence, time, space, final condition, and title. The selected passages move from servant-shaped reversal through the inaugurated last days and last-day resurrection to the destruction of death and the risen Christ’s identity as the First and the Last.
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Jesus answers the disciples’ status argument by joining voluntary lastness to service of all, then receives a child in His name. Lastness is not self-erasure but a rejection of rank-seeking for concrete, welcoming service.
So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The conclusion follows a parable in which late-hired workers receive the landowner’s generous wage. Reversal exposes entitlement and magnifies generosity; it is not a timetable for assigning individual prestige in the kingdom.
But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.
Hebrews places its hearers within the last-days revelation already inaugurated by the Son. Finality rests in who has spoken, the heir and creator, not in a claim that every historical detail has already reached completion.
For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jesus joins present eternal life to future bodily resurrection at the last day. The final day completes the Father’s saving will for believers and keeps Christian hope embodied.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Paul orders Christ’s reign toward the destruction of every enemy, with death last. Death remains an enemy rather than a friend, and its final defeat belongs to the resurrection consummation.
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
The risen Jesus identifies Himself as the First and the Last, then declares that He died and is alive forever with the keys of death and Hades. His sovereign identity grounds comfort in the face of judgment and fear.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. farthest, final (of place or time)
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 54 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
last, at the last, finally
Read verselast, at the last, finally
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 10 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
ἔσχατος is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Lastness becomes good news only when Christ defines it. The disciples use rank to compare themselves, but Jesus takes the last place out of the category of humiliation and joins it to serving and receiving the overlooked. Matthew’s reversal confronts those who resent generosity toward latecomers. Hebrews then shifts from social order to redemptive time: the last days have begun because God has spoken in His Son, the heir and creator.
John looks to the last day when the Son raises everyone who believes, and First Corinthians identifies death as the last enemy that Christ will destroy. Revelation reaches beyond sequence and applies the title First and Last to the risen Jesus, who died and now lives forever. These passages do not support speculative calendars or the spiritualization of resurrection.
Nor do they tell harmed people that accepting the lowest treatment is holiness. Christian leaders take the servant’s place by protecting, welcoming, and giving themselves for others under accountability. Christian hope rests in the Son who has spoken finally, will raise His people bodily, and will abolish death. The end belongs to the One who was before it and remains Lord beyond it.
1Cor.15.26
ἔσχατος is an adjective that may function attributively or substantivally and can refer to rank, sequence, time, extent, or final state. Plural and gendered forms agree with their nouns, while expressions such as “last days” and “last day” receive their theological force from the author’s redemptive-historical argument.
The prophets speak of the latter days, Isaiah records the Lord’s claim to be first and last, and Daniel looks toward resurrection at the end. Jesus fulfills servant-shaped kingship, the Son inaugurates the last-days revelation, and His resurrection guarantees the last-day raising of His people. Revelation applies the First-and-Last title to the risen Christ, bringing prophetic sovereignty and gospel victory together.
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