ἀργέω, ἀργῷ; (to be ἀργός, which see); to be idle, inactive; contextually, to linger, delay: 2Pe_2:3 οἷς τό κρίμα ἔκπαλαι οὐκ ἀργεῖ, i. e. whose punishment has long been impending and will shortly fall. (In Greek writings from Sophocles down.)

ἀργέω argeō 1x pr. to be unemployed; to be inoperative, to linger, 2Pe_2:3

ἀργέω , -ῶ ( < ἀργός ), [in LXX : Ezr_4:24 , Ecc_12:3 ( H988 ), 1Es_2:30 , Sir_33:27 ), 2Ma_5:25 * ;] to be idle; τὸ κρίμα . . . ἀ ., lingers ( cf. MGr . ἀργά , late: MM , s.v. ): 2Pe_2:3 .†

ἀργέω [page 73] In P Petr II. 4 (9) .4 (B.C. 255 4) certain quarrymen complain νυνὶ δὲ ἀργοῦμεν διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν σώμ [α ]τα ὥστε ἀνακαθᾶραι τὴν ἄμμον , but now we are idle ( playing ) for want of slaves to clear away the sand : cf. ib. 9 (3) .7 (B.C. 241 39), ἐὰν ἀργῶσιν , and 14 (1 a ) .9 . Later instances of the verb are afforded by P Lond 131* (farm-accounts, A.D. 78) (= I. p. 190 f.), P Oxy IV. 725 .35 (A.D. 183), a contract of apprenticeship where provision is made that the apprentice shall have twenty days holiday in the year, ἀργήσει δὲ ὁ παῖς εἰς λόγον ἑορτῶν κατ᾽ ἔτος ἡμέρας εἴκοσι : cf. .40 ἐὰν δὲ πλείονας τούτων ἀργήσῃ , if he exceeds this number from idleness he is to make it good afterwards, ib. I. 121 .15 f. (iii/A.D.) μὴ ἀφῇς αὐτοὺς ἀργῆσε ὅλους , do not let them be wholly idle, and P Fay 131 .18 (iii/iv A.D.) τὰ ταυρκὰ ( l. -ικὰ ) μὴ ἀργείτωι . Add P Flor I. 101 .9 (late i/A.D.) ἐὰν ἀργήση [ται ?] ε̣ἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν , P Lond 1170 verso .45 (A.D. 258 9) (= III. p. 194) λόγος ἐργατῶν ἀργησάντων , ib. 1173 .10 (A.D. 125) (= III. p. 208) al. For ἀργ in P Lond 131 recto .49 (A.D. 78 9) (= I. p. 171) the editor conjectures ἀργίζει , or some other variant of ἀργεῖ , in the sense of taking holiday : cf. Mayser, Gr. p. 84. The absence of the suggestion implied in our idle is well seen in P Oxy VIII. 1160 .14 (iii/iv A.D.) διμήνου δὲ ἤργηκα ὧδη , εἰ μή , ἤμελλα ὑμῖν πᾶε̣ι ( i.e. πᾶσι ) ἄλλα πέμπιν , where there is no thought of apology for the two months. The word may be used of inanimate things, as of ships in P Petr II. 20 ii. 11 (B.C. 252) ὅπως . . . μὴ ἀργῆι τὰ πλοῖα , and of a garden in P Flor II. 262 .9 (iii/A.D.) ἐπὶ ὁ κῆπος ἀργεῖ : this is correlate with the use of the causative καταργεῖ in Luk_13:7 . In MGr the verb means delay, come too late, an easy development from the idea of idling, dawdling : this might indeed be taken as corroborative evidence for the connotation of blameworthy idling which appears in NT, but not in our vernacular sources, as noted above.

ἀργέω [Etym: ἀργός ῀ ἀεργός] "to lie idle, be unemployed, do nothing", Eur. , Xen. ; γῆ ἀργοῦσα land "lying fallow", id=Xen. ; ἀργεῖ τὸ ἐργαστήριον the shop "is out of work", Dem. Pass. "to be left undone, to be fruitless", Xen.

ἀργέω, -ῶ (ἀργός), [in LXX: Est.4:24, Ecc.12:3 (בָּטֵל), I Est.2:30, Sir.33:27), 2Ma.5:25 * ;] to be idle; τὸ κρίμα . . . ἀ., lingers (cf. MGr. ἀργά, late: MM, see word): 2Pe.2:3.† (AS)