Time.
Five Greek words are thus translated, only two of which need occupy us. The other three mean respectively, genealogy, day, and hour, and are generally so rendered. The two are chronos and kairos. The former means simply time as opposed to eternity—that is, the continual succession of moments divided by us into hours, days, weeks, months, years, &c. (Matthew 25:19; Hebrews 4:7; Revelation 10:6), while the latter, better translated “seasons” (Acts 1:7) means rather an epoch of time marked by some great events, or a dispensation (Acts 17:26; 1 Thessalonians 5, &c.).
True.
Four Greek words are thus translated, aleethees, aleethinos, and two others. God is aleethees (John 3:33; Romans 3:4), meaning He is true in the sense of speaking the truth, He “cannot lie.” But God is also aleethinos, meaning that He is the true God in contrast to false Gods (1 Thessalonians 1:9; John 17:3). The latter word, however, does not always mean “true” in opposition to “false;” but often “substantial and real,” as opposed to what is only shadowy, as in John 1:9; “That was the true light,” does not mean that John was a false light, neither does the “true bread,” John 6:32, imply that the manna was false bread, but simply that both were inferior to what Christ was and gave. In thus bringing out the true and real, which is one of the leading features of Christianity, it is interesting to notice that five-sixths of the occurrences of the word aleethinos are in the writings of the apostle John. The other two words are each only once rendered “true.” One means faithful, and the other sincerity springing from relationship.
Unlearned.
Four Greek words are thus translated in the New Testament. Agrammatos (Acts 4:13 only) means simply illiterate; idiotees (Acts 4:13; 1 Corinthians 14:16,23,24; 2 Corinthians 11:6) originally meant a private man in contrast with a public one, then by degrees an unpractical one, i.e., one not versed in worldly matters (Acts 4:13). In 1 Corinthians 14 however, the use of the word appears to be a little different, here meaning a person not unpractical in a general way, but one unversed in spiritual things, or better still, without spiritual gifts, not being a pastor or teacher, &c. Amathees, the third word, occurs only in 2 Peter 3:16 and means uninstructed, literally “undiscipled,” not made a disciple or a learner. The fourth word, Apaideutos, also only occurs once (2 Timothy 2:23), and means untaught or unschooled, that is not instructed by a pedagogue or tutor.
Wash.
This one word is represented by three in Greek, pluno, nipto, and louo. Pluno refers to the washing of things, not people, and is used in Luke 5:2, &c. The other two words both refer to the washing of persons: nipto, however, is used when a part of the body is washed, as the hands (Mark 7:3), the feet (John 13:5), the face (Matthew 6:17), the eyes (John 9:7), while louo means rather to bathe than to wash, thus referring to the whole body (Hebrews 10:22; Acts 9:37; 2 Peter 2:22, &c.). Where perhaps the distinction between bathing and washing is most important is in John 13:10: the Revised Version clearly marks it, “He that is bathed (louo) needeth not save to wash (nipto) his feet.” The meaning clearly is that he who has been born again by the word and thus cleansed and renewed needs no repetition of the act, but only the application of the same word to the part that gets defiled by contact with the world—the feet.