"of old, long ago, Mt. 11:21; Lk. 10:13; Heb. 1:1; Jude 4; οἱ πάλαι, old, former, 2 Pet. 1:9; some time since, already, Mk. 15:44"
Definition and meaning
of old, long ago, Mt. 11:21; Lk. 10:13; Heb. 1:1; Jude 4; οἱ πάλαι, old, former, 2 Pet. 1:9; some time since, already, Mk. 15:44
In the original Greek the word is written: πάλαι
Historical context
The Gospel of Mark moves urgently — the word "immediately" appears over 40 times. It was written for a Roman audience familiar with power and action. Jesus is portrayed as a man who acts, heals, and commands authority that the Roman world had never seen from a Jewish teacher.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of palai (G3819) across the King James Bible.
And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Common questions
Strong's G3819 (palai) is a Greek word that means: of old, long ago, Mt. 11:21; Lk. 10:13; Heb. 1:1; Jude 4; οἱ πάλαι, old, former, 2 Pet. 1:9; some time since, already, Mk. 15:44 It appears 5 times in the King James Bible.
The word palai (G3819) appears 5 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G3819 is palai, a Greek word defined as: of old, long ago, Mt. 11:21; Lk. 10:13; Heb. 1:1; Jude 4; οἱ πάλαι, old, former, 2 Pet. 1:9; some time since, already, Mk. 15:44. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
palai is a Greek word found in the New Testament.