time
now
At a glance
In short
Atah is the ordinary now of Tanach, where it appears over four hundred times, and its first two letters spell eis, time. Na also means now, and only secondarily "please" or "raw." Achshav is now in the language of Chazal and in Modern Hebrew, and never occurs in Tanach. Of the four Aramaic words, only ke'an appears in Tanach, and it is the Targumim's usual word for both atah and na; the other three, ke'don, hashta and ha'idna, appear only outside it.
Distinctions
Atah (עתה)
The default. More than four hundred and thirty times in Tanach, the most common word for "now" there. Its first two letters spell eis, time.
Na (נא)
Spelled nun-aleph. The second most common word for "now" in Tanach. The same letters also carry "please" and "raw," and Rabbi Klein finds the link between raw and now fairly obvious: food eaten now, before it has had time to cook, is eaten raw. He adds that the English "now" possibly comes from the similar-sounding na.
Achshav (עכשיו)
Not in Tanach at all; common in the writings of Chazal, and the word Modern Hebrew has adopted as its principal "now." The earliest documented instance of achshav is in the Dead Sea Scrolls, in the scroll designated 4Q225. Dr. Marcus Jastrow proposed that achshav is a contraction of atah kemo shehu, "now, as it is," which, if so, Rabbi Klein notes, would make it a word based on atah that denotes a slightly different idea. Parenthetically, Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur writes that he has seen some spell the word with a yud as the penultimate letter, and deems the yud unnecessary. In 4Q225 the word is written without it.
Ke'an (כען) and ke'don (כדון)
Ke'an is the only Aramaic word for "now" that appears in Tanach, in the Aramaic sections of Daniel and Ezra, and it is what the Targumim regularly use to render both atah and na. Jastrow argues, as he does for achshav, that ke'an too is a contraction or abbreviation, here of the Aramaic ke'idana, "according to this time," and that the related ke'don is the same.
Onkelos also uses ke'an for the Hebrew koh: ad koh, "until now" (Shemos 7:16), becomes ad ke'an, so that koh too can mean "now."
Hashta (השתא)
Reading the words for "now" as contractions is not Jastrow's innovation. Rabbi Wolf Heidenheim had already offered a similar idea in his Roedelheim Machzor, where he reads hashta as a contraction of the two-word Aramaic ha shaata, "this hour," which conceptually comes to the same thing as "now." Over the Haggadah's Aramaic line, "now we are here, next year in Eretz Yisrael," a disagreement arose between authorities over whether the word for "now" there should be hashta or ha shaata. Jastrow himself gives the same etymology for hashta.
Ha'idna (האידנא)
Earlier still than Rabbi Heidenheim, Rabbi Binyamin Mussafia read ha'idna as a portmanteau of ha idana, "this time," which is more or less what "now" means. Rabbi Klein notes a difficulty: Aramaic idan and idana begin with an ayin, while ha'idna is written with an aleph.
Also discussed in
- Timeעת / eis, atah
Radak on this root
Sefer HaShorashim
ע-ד-ן
Pleasure, תענוג: whatever gives the body pleasure, good food or fine clothing; עֶדְנָה, the days of youth. Also binding, as he holds Agag's מַעֲדַנֹּת to mean.
עֶדְנָה and עֵדֶן
The noun הָֽיְתָה־לִּי עֶדְנָה (Bereishis 18:12), I have had pleasure, is תענוג, pleasure, and it is the days of youth. Without the feminine heh, גַּן־בְּעֵדֶן (Bereishis 2:8), a garden in Eden, and כָּל־עֲצֵי־עֵדֶן (Yechezkel 31:16), all the trees of Eden. Four places where the word is pointed otherwise are the name of a city, which he treats in the grammar.
Scarlet and delicacies
On הַמַּלְבִּשְׁכֶם שָׁנִי עִם־עֲדָֽנִים (Shmuel II 1:24), who clothed you in scarlet with delights, some say the pasuk is elliptical: who clothes you in scarlet and feeds you delicacies, and so the Targum has וּמוֹבִיל לְכוֹן תַּפְנוּקִין, and brings you delicacies. Rabbi Yonah read it as clothing you in scarlet in the days of delights. Radak holds, for his own part, that one may not alter what is written: עדן is said of the clothing itself, for as good food is עדן to the body, so is fine clothing, and whatever gives the body pleasure is called עדן.
מַעֲדַנִּים
With a mem added, וְיִתֵּן מַֽעֲדַנִּים לְנַפְשֶֽׁךָ (Mishlei 29:17), he will give delights to your soul, and וְהוּא יִתֵּן מַֽעֲדַנֵּי־מֶֽלֶךְ (Bereishis 49:20), he will yield the dainties of a king. The adjective is שִׁמְעִי־זֹאת עֲדִינָה (Yeshayahu 47:8), hear this, you who are given to pleasure.
How Agag came
וַיֵּלֶךְ אֵלָיו אֲגַג מַֽעֲדַנֹּת (Shmuel I 15:32), and Agag went to him מַעֲדַנֹּת, is explained as במעדנות, in joy and pleasure: he went to him so, for he chose his death over his life. Some explain that he went to him as one bound. Of the same kind is הַתְקַשֵּׁר מַֽעֲדַנּוֹת כִּימָה (Iyov 38:31), can you bind the מַעֲדַנּוֹת of Kimah, the knots of Kimah over the fruits. On this reading Agag went to him in the bindings and chains that were on him, and Radak says this explanation is correct; so too Chazal use the word for tying, כיון שהתיר ראשי מעדנים שלהן כשרין (Sukkah 13b), once he has untied the ends of their bindings, they are fit. Rabbi Yonah read it of pleasantness, for his many pleasures and the greatness of his kingdom.
וַיִּתְעַדְּנוּ בְּטֽוּבְךָ הַגָּדֽוֹל (נחמיה ט, כה), ויתענגו. והשם הָֽיְתָה־לִּי עֶדְנָה (בראשית יט, יב), תענוג. והוא ימי הבחרות. ובלא ה"א הנקבה גַּן־בְּעֵדֶן (בראשית ב, ח), כָּל־עֲצֵי־עֵדֶן (יחזקאל לא, טז), בחמש נקודות. וארבעה מהם בשש נקודות שהם שם עיר וכתבנום בחלק הדקדוק. מִלָּא כְרֵשֹׂו מֵֽעֲדָנָי (ירמיה נא, לד), הַמַּלְבִּשְׁכֶם שָׁנִי עִם־עֲדָֽנִים (שמואל ב' א, כד), אמרו שהוא חסר כלומר מלבישכן שני ומאכילכן עדנים. וכן אמר התרגום וּמוֹבִיל לְכוֹן תַּפְנוּקִין. ורבי יונה פירש המלבישכן שני בימי עדנים. ועל דעתי כי אין לשנות על הכתוב, ואמר עדן על הלבוש כי כמו שהמאכל הטוב עדן לגוף כן הלבוש הנאה וכל דבר המהנה לגוף יקרא עדן. ושם התאר שִׁמְעִי־זֹאת עֲדִינָה (ישעיה מז, ח). והשם בתוספת מ"ם וְיִתֵּן מַֽעֲדַנִּים לְנַפְשֶֽׁךָ (משלי כט, יז), וְהוּא יִתֵּן מַֽעֲדַנֵּי־מֶֽלֶךְ (בראשית מט, כ). וַיֵּלֶךְ אֵלָיו אֲגַג מַֽעֲדַנֹּת (שמואל א' טו, לב), פירוש במעדנות כלומר בשמחה ובתענוג הלך אליו כי בחר מותו מחייו. ויש מפרשים שהלך אליו כקשורים. וכן הַתְקַשֵּׁר מַֽעֲדַנּוֹת כִּימָה (איוב לח, לא), קשרי כימה על הפירות. ופירוש אגג מעדנות שהלך אליו בקישורים ובשלשלאות שהיה בהן. ונכון זה הפירוש. וכן בדברי רבותינו ז"ל בזה הלשון בענין קשירה כיון שהתיר ראשי מעדנים שלהן כשרין (סוכה יג, ע"ב). ורבי יונה פירשו שיחסהו על הנעימות לרוב תענוגותיו וגודל מלכותו.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Elul 2: Now!," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 9 September 2017.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Now and Forthwith!," What's in a Word? Synonyms in the Hebrew Language (book manuscript).
Cited in the essay: the Aramaic portions of Daniel and Ezra for ke'an; the Targumim's rendering of atah and na; Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur on the spelling of achshav; Rabbi Wolf Heidenheim, Roedelheim Machzor, on hashta; Rabbi Binyamin Mussafia on ha'idna; the Haggadah's Ha Lachma Anya for the hashta / ha shaata dispute; Dr. Marcus Jastrow on the achshav and ke'an contractions; the Dead Sea Scrolls, 4Q225; Shemos 7:16 with Onkelos.