1 Thessalonians 5:1

The times and periods are not “simply the broad course of time, of which the ἡμέρα Κυρίου constitutes the closing scene” (Baur); καιρός denotes a section of time more definitely than χρόνος, in Greek usage. “No nation has distinguished so subtly the different forms under which time can be logically conceived. χρόνος is time viewed in its extension, as a succession of moments, the external framework of action.… Καιρός, a word, which has, I believe, no single or precise eqivalent in any other language … is that immediate present which is what we make it; time charged with opportunity” (Butcher, Harvard Lect. on Gk. Subjects, pp. 117 119). In the plural, especially in this eschatological outlook, the phrase is little more, however, than a periphrasis for “when exactly things are to happen”. Paul thought he needed to do no more than reiterate the suddenness of the Last Day. But, not long afterwards, he found that the Thessalonians did require to have the χρόνοι καὶ καιροί explained to them in outline (II., 2 Thessalonians 2:2 f.).