Hour - Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Hour

[ 1,,G5610, hora ]
whence Lat., hora, Eng., hour," primarily denoted any time or period, expecially a season. In the NT it is used to denote
(a) "a part of the day," especially a twelfth part of day or night, an "hour," e.g., Matthew 8:13; Acts 10:3, Acts 10:9; Acts 23:23; Revelation 9:15; in 1 Corinthians 15:30, "every hour" stands for "all the time;" in some passages it expresses duration, e.g., Matthew 20:12; Matthew 26:40; Luke 22:59; inexactly, in such phrases as "for a season," John 5:35; 2 Corinthians 7:8; "for an hour," Galatians 2:5; "for a short season," 1 Thessalonians 2:17, RV (AV, "for a short time," lit., "for the time of an hour");
(b) "a period more or less extended," e.g., 1 John 2:18, "it is the last hour," RV;
(c) "a definite point of time," e.g., Matthew 26:45, "the hour is at hand;" Luke 1:10; Luke 10:21; Luke 14:17, lit., "at the hour of supper;" Acts 16:18; Acts 22:13; Revelation 3:3; Revelation 11:13; Revelation 14:7; a point of time when an appointed action is to begin, Revelation 14:15; in Romans 13:11, "it is high time," lit., "it is already an hour," indicating that a point of time has come later than would have been the case had responsibility been realized. In 1 Corinthians 4:11, it indicates a point of time previous to which certain circumstances have existed.

Notes:

(1) In 1 Corinthians 8:7, AV, "unto this hour," the phrase in the orginal is simply, "until now," as RV

(2) In Revelation 8:1, hemioron, "half an hour" (hemi, "half," and hora), is used with hos, "about," of a period of silence in Heaven after the opening of the 7th seal, a period corresponding to the time customarily spent in silent worship in the Temple during the burning of incense.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words