adverb
hapax
Strong’sG530
once, once for all
stem hapax-14 times in the New Testamentin 6 of 27 booksnever changes form
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Once — referring to a single occurrence, one time as opposed to two or more 1234. Abbott-Smith notes the phrase "once and twice," meaning "twice" 1, and also its use for "once a year" 13.
Once for all — done in a single, conclusive act that settles the matter and does not need to be repeated 123.
Used with a conditional or temporal sense, apart from any notion of counting, the word can also mean "once" in the sense of "when once" or "if once" something has happened, describing a condition rather than a number of times 3.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
Strong’s G530 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidhap'-ax
one (or a single) time (numerically or conclusively)
Fromprobably from G537;
King Jamesonce.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
adverb once, once only, once for all, first in Refs 8th c.BC+; ἅ... ἀπὸ θυμὸν ὀλέσσαιRefs 5th c.BC+; οὐχ ἅ. μόνον more than once, Refs 5th c.BC+; of the self-creation of Νοῦς, τὴν ποίησιν αὑτοῦ.. ἅ. εἶναιRefs 3rd c.AD+; ἅ. ἔτι yet this once, Refs 4th c.BC+; τὸ ἅ. τοῦτο at this moment, LXX; ἅ. δυοῖν ποδοῖν, i.e. two square feet Refsfour, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 with genitive, ἅ. τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, ἔτεος ἑκάστου ἅ., Refs 5th c.BC+
3 once on a time, formerly, ἅ. καὶ ἅ.LXX
II without any notion of number, after conditional and temporal Particles, if once, when once, εἴπερ ἐσπείσω γ᾽ ἅ. if once you have made a treaty, Refs 5th c.BC+: so with participle, ἐπὶ γᾶν ἅ. πεσὸν... αἷμαNT+5th c.BC+ = sṃ (compare εἷς); -παξ akin to πήγνυμι.)
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
hapax14×
2 Corinthians 11:25tris rabdizima, hapax lithazima, tris nauagama, nuchthēmerem en to …… times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I …
Philippians 4:16“once”hoti kai en Thessalonika kai hapax kai dis eis tan chreian mi …For even while I was in Thessalonica, you provided for my needs again and again.
1 Thessalonians 2:18… pros vin, mis men Paulos kai hapax kai dis, kai enkoptata nin tos …… to you — indeed I, Paul, tried again and again — but Satan obstructed us.
Hebrews 6:4Adunatem gar toin hapax fōtizirantoin geuerantoin tē tau dōreau tau …… is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the …
Hebrews 9:7eis de tan deuteran hapax tou eniautou monos tos archierevos, ouk …… the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood …
Hebrews 9:26… paschara apo katabolau kosmou; nuni de hapax epi sunteleia toiu aiōnoiu eis athetēsian …… world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of …
Hebrews 9:27kai kata hosem apokeiotō toi anthrōpoi hapax apothnēskara, meta de houtem krisias,… as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
Hebrews 9:28houtōs kai tos Christos, hapax prosferirantos eis tem polloiu anaferara hamartain, …so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many …
Hebrews 10:2… echarō ēti suneidēsian hamartaiu toin latreuarōntoin hapax katharizorēntoin?… the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer …
Hebrews 12:26… tote, nun de epangelotē legarōntos; Ēti hapax mis seiami ouk monem tan gēan …… earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the …
Hebrews 12:27tem de Ēti hapax dēlatō teiu saleuorōnteiu metathesian hōs poiorēnteiu, …The words “Once more” signify the removal of what can …
1 Peter 3:18hoti kai Christos hapax peri hamartaiu paschata, dikaios huper adikoiu, …For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to …
Jude 1:3… echama grafara vi parakalarōntos epagōnizorō ta hapax paradōiranta toi hagioi pistia.… contend earnestly for the faith entrusted once for all to the saints.
Jude 1:5“once and for all”Hupomimnēskara de vin boulomō, horarēntoin vin hapax panteim, hoti Iēsus laon ek gēau …Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt …