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INSTANT; INSTANTLY

in'-stant, in'-stant-li: Derivative from Latin instare. Found in English with various meanings from the 15th century to the present time.

Instant is used once in Isaiah 29:5 in the sense of immediate time; elsewhere in the sense of urgent, pressing; Luke 23:23, where "were instant" is the King James Version translation of the verb epekeinto; Romans 12:12, where it is involved in the verb proskartereo; compare Acts 6:4. In 2 Tim 4:2 it stands for the expressive verb epistethi, "stand to."

Instantly (urgently, steadfastly) is the King James Version rendering of two different Greek phrases, spoudaios, found in Luke 7:4; and en ekteneia, in Acts 26:7. In both cases the American Standard Revised Version renders "earnestly."

Russell Benjamin Miller

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.