adverb
afnōs
Greekἄφνω (afnō)
Strong’sG869
suddenly
stem afnō-3 times in the New Testament
Translated as
What it means
ἄφνω,
adv.,[in LXX for פִּתְאֹם;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G869 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidaf'-no
unawares, i.e. unexpectedly
Fromadverb from G852 (contraction);
King Jamessuddenly.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Every form
This word never changes. It is spelled the same wherever it appears, so there is nothing to learn beyond the word itself.
Where it appears
3 occurrences, every one of them listed
afnōs3×
Acts 2:2“suddenly”kai gineta afnōs ek tou ouranou ēchos hōsper ferirōtau pnoau biaiau kai plērata holon ton oikon hou ale katherōtois,Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Acts 16:26“suddenly”afnōs de seismos gineta megos hōste saleuira teim themelieim teu desmōtērieu, anoigila de parachrēma tais thurais pantais, kai pantoiu teim desmeim aniēkita.Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.
Acts 28:6“suddenly”tois de prosdokale auton mellarō pimprēirō ē katapiptarō afnōs nekron. epi pollem de autoiu prosdokarōtoiu kai theōrarōtoiu mēdenem atopem eis auton ginerōtem, metaballeratois legale auton arō theon.The islanders were expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.