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G692 ἀργός (argós)
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Quick Definition

ἀργός, ή, όν Adj idle, lazy, thoughtless

Strong's Definition

from 1 (as a negative particle) and 2041; inactive, i.e. unemployed; (by implication) lazy, useless

KJV Usage: barren, idle, slow

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

adjc. | -ή, -όν | ἀ- + ἐργάζομαι

42.46 · Perform, Do · Work, Toil

idle, not working pertaining to not working

MAT 20:3 · MAT 20:6 · JAS 2:20

88.248 · Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior · Laziness, Idleness

lazy, good-for-nothing pertaining to habitually refusing to work (probably with a more unfavorable connotation than in the case of ἄτακτος, 88.247)

1TI 5:13 · 1TI 5:13 · TIT 1:12

30.44 · Think · To Think About, with the Implied Purpose of Responding Appropriately

careless, without thought pertaining to not giving careful consideration to something For another interpretation of ἀργός in MAT 12:36, see ἀργός[e] 72.21. It is also possible that ἀργός in MAT 12:36 means useless (see ἀργός[d] 65.36).

MAT 12:36

65.36 · Value · Useful, Useless

useless pertaining to being useless, in the sense of accomplishing nothing

JAS 2:20 · 2PE 1:8

72.21 · True, False · Accurate, Inaccurate

careless, indifferent pertaining to showing indifference as to whether something is as it should be It is also possible to interpret ἀργός in MAT 12:36 as meaning ‘without thought’ (ἀργός[c] 30.44), ‘worthless,’ or even ‘useless’ (ἀργός[d] 65.36).

MAT 12:36

UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

ἀργός, -dv, and in later writ. fr. Aristot. hist. anim. 10, 40 [vol. i. p. 627*, 15] on and consequently also in the N. T. with the fem. apyn, which among the early Greeks Epimenides alone is said to have used, Tit.i. 12; ef. Lob. ad Phryn. p. 104 sq.; id. Paralip. p. 455 sqq.; W. 68 (67), [cf. 24; B. 25 (23)], (contr. fr. depyos which Hom. uses, fr. a priv. and ἔργον without work, without labor, doing nothing), inactive, idle; a. free from labor, at leisure, (ἀργὸν εἶναι, Hdt. 5, 6): Mt. xx. 8, 6 [Rec.]; 1 Tim. v. 18. b. lazy, shunning the labor which one ought to perform, (Hom. Il. 9, 320 6, τ᾽ ἀεργὸς ἀνήρ, 6, τε πολλὰ éopyas) : πίστις, Jas. ii. 20 (LT Tr WH for RG νεκρά); γαστέρες ἀργαί i. 6. idle gluttons, fr. Epimenides, Tit. i. 12 (Nicet. ann. 7, 4. 135 ἃ. εἰς ἀργὰς γαστέρας ὀχετηγήσας) ; ἀργὸς καὶ ἄκαρπος εἴς τι, 2 Ῥοῦ. i. 8. ὁ. of things from which no profit is derived, although they can and ought to be productive; as of fields, trees, gold and silver, (cf. Grimm on Sap. xiv. 5; [L. and Κ᾽. s. v. 1. 27}; unprojitable, ῥῆμα ἀργόν, by litotes i. q. pernicious (see ἄκαρπος): Mt. xii. 36.

Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary

ἀργός argos 8x

pr. inactive, unemployed, Mt. 20:3, 6; idle, averse from labor, 1 Tim. 5:13; Tit. 1:12; met. 2 Pet. 1:8; unprofitable, hollow, or by impl., injurious, Mt. 12:36; Jas. 2:20*

Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon

ἀργός, -όν

(in late Gk., incl. NT, -ή, -όν; < ἀ- neg., ἔργον), [in LXX: III Ki 6:7 (מַסָּע?), Wi 14:5 15:15, Si 37:11 38:28*;]

inactive, idle: Mt 20:3, 6, I Ti 5:13, Tit 1:12, II Pe 1:8. Metaph., of things, inactive, ineffective, worthless: ῥῆμα, Mt 12:36; πίστις, Ja 2:20 (v. Cremer, 259 f.).†

SYN.: βραδύς, slow; νωθρός, sluggish (Tr., Syn., § civ).

Trench — Synonyms of the New Testament

In a careful article which treats of these words, Schmidt expresses in German the ultimate conclusions about them whereat he has arrived; which it may be worth while to ὃ σιν. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 383 repeat, as some instruction may be gotten from them. Βραδύς, he states, would best be represented in German by ‘langsam,’ with ταχύς, or else with ὠκύς (Homer, Odys. Vili. 329), or with ἀγχίνους for its antithesis; νωθρός by ‘triage,’ with ὀξύς for its proper opposite; while he morally identifies ἀργός with the German ‘faul,’ or with ‘ unthitig,’ and finds in ἐνεργός the proper antithesis of this. Let us examine these words a little closer. Βραδύς differs from the words with which it is here brought into comparison, that no moral fault or blame is necessarily involved in it; so far indeed from this, that of the three occasions on which it is used in the N. T., two are in honour; for to be ‘ slow’ to evil things, to rash speaking, or to anger (Jam. i. 19, bis), is a grace, and not the contrary. Elsewhere too βραδύς is honourably used, as when Isocrates (i. 34) advises, to be ‘slow’ in planning and swift in performing. Neither is it in dispraise of the Spartans that Thucydides ascribes slowness of action (Spadvrns) to the Spartans and swiftness to the Athenians. He is in this doing no more than weighing in equal scales, these against those, the more striking and more excellent qualities of each (viii. 96). Of νωθρός, only found twice in the N. T., and both times in the Epistle to the Hebrews (v. 11; vi. 12), the etymology is uncertain; that from vy and ὠθεῖν, which found favour once, failing to do so now. We meet the word in good Attic Greek ; thus in Plato (Theetet. 144 b) ; the form νωθὴς being the favourite in the classical periods of the language, and νωθρός not coming into common use till the times of the κοινὴ διάλεκτος. It occurs but once in the Septuagint (Prov. xxii. 29), νωθροκάρδιος also once (Prov. xii. 8); twice in the Apocrypha, at Ecclus. xi. 13, and again at iv. 34, where νωθρός and παρειμένος ἐν tots ἔργοις stand in iustructive juxtaposition. There is a deeper, more inborn sluggishness implied in νωθρός, and this bound up as it were in the very life, 384 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. § cw. than in either of the other words of this group. The βραδὺς of to-day might become the ὠκὺς of to-morrow ; the ἀργὸς might grow to ἐνεργός; but the very constitution of the νωθρός unfits him for activities of the mind or spirit; he is νωθρὸς ἐν ταῖς ἐπινοίαις (Polybius, iv. 8. 5). The word is joined by Dionysius of Halicarnassus with ἀναίσθητος, ἀκίνητος, and ἀπαθής; by Hippocrates, cited by Schmidt, with Bapis; by Plutarch (De Def. Orac.), with δυσκίνητος, this last epithet expressing clearly what in others just named is only suggested, namely, a certain awkwardness and unwieldliness of gait and demeanour, representing to the outward world a slowness and inaptitude for activities of the mind which is within. On its second appearance, Heb. vi. 12, the Vulgate happily renders it by ‘segnis’; ‘sluggish,’ in place of the ‘slothful,’ which now stands in our Version, would be an improvement. Delitzsch, upon Heb. v. 12, sums up the force of νωθρός : Schwer in Bewegung zu setzen, schwerfallig,trige, stumpf, matt, lissig; while Pollux makes νωθρεία a synonym of ἀμβλύτης. It is in its earlier form a standing epithet for the ass (Homer, Jl. ii. 559). ’"Apyos (=depyés), used of persons (2 Pet. i. 8; Tit. i. 12) and of things (Matt. xii. 36), is joined in the first of these places with ἄκαρπος. It is there rendered ‘barren,’ a not very happy rendering, for which ‘idle’ might be substituted with advantage, seeing that ‘barren and unfruitful, as we read it now, constitute a tautology which it would be well to get rid of. It is joined by Plato to ἀμελής (Rep. iv. 421 d), and to δειλός (Legg. x. 903); by Plutarch, as already had been done by St. Peter, to ἄκαρπος (Poplic. 8); the verb ἀργεῖν by Demosthenes to σχολάζειν and ἀπορεῖν. It is set over against ἐνεργός by Xenophon (Cyrop. 111. 2. 19), against épydris by Sophocles (Phil. 97). ‘Slow’ (or ‘ tardy’), ‘sluggish, and ‘idle’ would severally represent the words of this group. δον. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 385 Sev. δημιουργός, τεχνίτης. ‘ Buinper and maker’ cannot be regarded as a very satisfactory rendering of the τεχνίτης καὶ δημιουργός of Heb. xi. 10; ‘maker’ saying little more than ‘ builder’ had said already. The words, as we have them, were brought into the text by Tyndale, and have kept their place in all the Protestant translations since, while ‘craftyman and maker ’ are in Wiclif, ‘ artificer and builder’ in the Rheims. Delitzsch traces this distinction between them, namely that God, regarded as τεχνίτης, is contemplated as laying out the scheme and ground plan, if we might so speak, of the Heavenly City. He is δημιουργός, ἃ5 embodying in actual form and shape the divine idea or thought of his mind. This distribution of meaning to the several words, which is very much that of the Vulgate (‘artifex et conditor’), and in modern times of Meyer (Baukiinstler und Werkmeister), has its advantage, namely, that what ‘s first, so far as a first and last exist in the order of the work of God, is named first, the divine intention before the divine realization of the same; but it labours under this serious defect, namely, that it assigns to τεχνίτης a meaning of which it is difficult, if not impossible, to find any example. Assuredly it is no unworthy conception of God to conceive of Him as the drawer of the ground-plan of the Heavenly City ; while the Epistle to the Hebrews, with its relations to Philo, and through him to Plato, is exactly where we might expect to meet it; but τεχνίτης in no other passage of its occurrence in the N. T. (they are three, Acts xix. 24, 38; Rev. xvili. 22), nor yet in the thirteen of the Septuagint and Apocrypha, gives the slightest countenance to the ascription to it of such a meaning; the same being as little traceable in the Greek which lies outside of and beyond the sacred writings. While therefore I believe that δημιουργός and τεχνίτης *co 386 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. §cyv. may and ought to be distinguished, I am unable to accept this distinction. But first let something be said concerning each of these words. Anovpyos is one of those grand and for rhetorical purposes finely selected words, which constitute so remarkable and unique a feature of the Epistle to the Hebrews ; and, in the matter of style, difference it so materially from all the other Epistles. Beside its single occurrence there (Heb. xi. 10), it is to be found once in the Apocrypha (2 Mace. iv. 1); in the Septuagint not at all. 105 proper meaning, as it bears on its front, is ‘one whose works stand forth to the public gaze’ (‘cujus opificia publice prostant’). But this of the public character of the works has dropt out of the word; and ‘maker’ or ‘author ’—this on more or less of a grand scale—is all which remains to it. It is a very favourite word with Plato, and of very various employment by him. Thus rhetoric is the δημιουργός of persuasion (Gorg. 453 a); the sun, by its presence or absence, is the δημιoupyos of day or night (Tim. 40 a); God is the δημιουργός of mortal men (compare Josephus, Antt. i. 7. 1. There 15. no hint in Holy Scripture of the adoption of the word into the theosophic or philosophic speculations of the age, ner any presentiment of the prominent part which it should play in coming struggles, close at hand as were some of these. But if God, as He obtains the name of δημιουργός, is recognised as Maker of all things, πατὴρ καὶ ποιητής, as He is called by Plutarch (De Fac. in Orb. Lun. 13), πατὴρ καὶ δημιουργός by Clementof Rome (Cor. 35), τεχνίτης, which is often found in connexion with it (thus Lucian, Hipp. 8; Philo, Alleg. Leg. iii. 32), brings further out what we may venture to call the artistic side of creation, that which justifies Cicero in speaking of God as ‘artifex mundi,’ He moulding and fashioning, in many and marvellous ways, the materials which by a prior act of his will, prior, that δ ον. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 387 is, in our conception of it, He has called into existence. If δημιουργός more brings out the power of the divine Creator, teyvitns expresses rather his manifold wisdom, the infinite variety and beauty of the works of his hand ; ‘how manifold are thy works; in wisdom hast Thou made them all!’ All the beauty of God’s world owns Him for its author, τοῦ κάλλους yeveotdpyns, as a writer in the Apocrypha, whose further words I shall presently quote, names Him. Bleek therefore (on Heb. xi. 10) is, as I cannot doubt, nearer the mark when he says, Durch τεχνίτης wird hier gleichfalls der Schépfer bezeichnet, aber mit Beziehung auf das Kiinstlerische in der Bereitung des Werkes: and he quotes Wisdom xiii. I: οὔτε τοῖς ἔργοις προσχόντες ἐπέγνωσαν τὸν τεχνίτην. There is a certain inconvenience in taking the words, not as they occur in the Epistle itself, but in a reverse order, δημιουργός first and τεχνίτης afterwards; this, however, is not so great as in retaining the order as we find it, and allowing it to dominate our interpretation, as it appears to me that Delitzsch has done. ° fal a / § evil. ἀστεῖος, ὡραῖος, καλός. ᾿Αστεῖος occurs twice in the N. T. (Acts vii. 20, and Heb. xi. 23), and on both occasions it is an epithet applied to Moses; having been drawn from Exod. 11. 2, where tlie Septuagint uses this word as an equivalent to the Hebrew 31; compare Philo, De γιά Mos. i. 3. The τῷ Oca, which at Acts vii. 20 is added to ἀστεῖος, has not a Jittle perplexed interpreters, as is evident from the various renderings which the expression has found. I will enumerate a few: ‘gratus Deo’ (Vulg.); ‘loved of God’ (Wiclif) ; ‘a proper child in the sight of God’ (Tyndale) ; “acceptable unto God’ (Cranmer, Geneva, and Rheims) ; ‘exceeding fair’ (A. V.); this last rendering, which makes the τῷ Θεῷ ἃ heightening of the high quality of the thing cc2 388 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, §cvt. which is thus extolled, being probably the nearest to the truth; see for a like idiom Jonah 111. 3: πόλις μεγάλη τῷ Θεῷ. At Heb. xi. 23, ‘a proper child’ is the rendering of all our English Versions, nor would it be easy to improve upon it; though ‘ proper,’ so used, is a little out of date. The ἄστυ which lies in ἀστεῖος, and which constitutes its base, declares at once what is the point from which it starts, and explains the successive changes through which it passes. He first of all is ἀστεῖος who has been born and bred, or at all events reared, in the city ; who in this way is ‘urban.’ But the ‘urban’ may be assumed also to be ‘urbane’; so testifying to the gracious civilizing influences of the life among men, and converse with men, . which he has enjoyed; and thus ἀστεῖος obtains a certain ethical tinge, which is real, though it may not be very profound ; he who is such being implicitly contrasted with the ἀγροῖκος, the churl, the boor, the villein. Thus in an instructive passage in Xenophon (Cyrop. ii. 2. 12) the ἀστεῖοι are described as also εὐχάριτες, obliging, that is, and” sracious, according to the humbler uses of that word. It is next assumed that the higher culture which he that is bred in cities enjoys, will display itself in the very aspect that he wears, which will be fashioned and moulded under humanizing influences; and thus the ἀστεῖος may be assumed as fair to look on and comely, a suggestion of beauty, not indeed generally of a high character, finding its way very distinctly into the word; thus Plutarch, De Gen. Socr., contrasts the ἀστεῖος and the αἰσχρός, or positively ugly ; and thus too Judith is ἀστεία (Judith xi. 23) =the εὐπρόσωπος applied to Sarah (Gen. xii. 11). ‘Opaios is a word of constant recurrence in the Septuaugint, representing there a large variety of Hebrew words. In the N. T. it appears only four times (Matt. xxiii. 27; Acts ili. 2, 10; Rom. x. 15). The steps by which it obtains the meaning of beautiful, such as in all these passuges it possesses, are few and not difficult to trace. All δον. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 389 which in this world lives submitted to the laws of growth and decay, has its ‘hour’ or ὥρα, the period, that is, when it makes fairest show of whatever of grace or beauty it may own. This ὥρα, being thus the turning point of its existence, the time when it is at its loveliest and best, yields ὡραῖος with the sense first of timely; thus ὡραῖος θάνατος in Xenophon (Ages. x. 3) a timely because honourable death; and then of beautiful (in voller Entwicklung oder Bliithe stehend,—Schmidt). It will be seen that ἀστεῖος and ὡραῖος arrive at one and the same goal; so that ‘fair,’ or ‘proper,’ or “ beautiful,’ might be the rendering of either or of both; but that they arrive at it by paths wholly different, reposing as they do on wholly different images. One belongs to art, the other to nature. In ἀστεῖος the notions of neatness, symmetry, elegance, and so finally more or less of beauty, are bound up. It is indeed generally something small which ἀστεῖος implies, even when it is something proposed for our admiration. Thus Aristotle, while he adinits (Eth. Nic. iv. 3. 5) that small persons (of pixpor) may be ἀστεῖοι and σύμμετροι, dapper and well shaped, refuses them the title of καλοί. “Ὡραῖος is different. There speaks out in it the sense that for all things which belong to this passing world, the grace of the fashion of them perishes, but that they have their ‘ hour,’ however brief, the season of their highest perfection. The higher moral aspects and uses of καλός are most interesting to note, above all, the perfect freedom witli which it moves alike in the world of beauty and in that of goodness, claiming both for its own; but of this we are not here to speak. It is only as designating physical aspects of beauty that it could be brought iato comparison with ὡραῖος here. Καλύς, affirmed to be of the same descent as the German ‘ heil,’ as our own ‘ whole’ (Curtius, Grundztige, 130), as we first know it, expresses beauty, and beauty contemplated from a point of view espccially dear 390 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ὃ ον. to the Greek mind, namely, as the harmonious completeness, the balance, proportion, and measure of all the parts one with another of that to which this epithet is given. Basil the Great brings this out excellently well as he draws the line between it and ὡραῖος (Hom. in Ps. xliv.): Τὸ ὡραῖον, he says, τοῦ καλοῦ διαφέρει" ὅτι τὸ μὲν ὡραῖον λέγεται τὸ συμπεπληρωμένον εἰς τὸν ἐπιτήδειον καιρὸν πρὸ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀκμήν" ὡς ὡραῖος ὁ καρπὸς τῆς ἀμπέλου, ὁ τὴν οἰκείαν πέψιν εἰς τελείωσιν ἑαυτοῦ διὰ τῆς τοῦ ἔτους ὥρας ἀπολαβών, καὶ ἐπιτήδειος εἰς ἀπόλαυσιν" καλὸν δέ ἐστι τὸ ἐν τῇ συνθέσει τῶν μελῶν εὐάρμοστον, ἐπανθοῦσαν αὐτῷ τὴν χάριν ἔχον. Compare Plato, Tim. 30 ¢; Rep. x. 691 ὃ, and Stallbaum’s note. § cvii. [This concluding article contains contributions toward the illustration of some other synonyms, for a fuller dealing with which I have not found place in this volume. ] 1. ἐλπίς, wiotis.—Augustine (Enchirid. 8); ‘Est itaque fides et malarum rerum et bonarum: quia et bona creduntur et mala; et hoc fide boné, non malé. Est etiam fides et preeteritarum rerum, et preesentium, et futurarum. Credimus enim Christum mortuum; quod jam preteriit : credimus sedere ad dexteram Patris; quod nunc est: credimus venturum ad judicandum; quod futurum est. Item fides et suarum reram est et alienarum. Nam et se quisque credit aliquando esse ccepisse, nec fuisse utique sempiternum ; et alios,atque alia; nec solum de aliis hominibus multa, que ad religionem pertinent, verum etiam de angelis credimus. Spesautem non nisi bonarum rerum est, nec nisi futurarum, et ad eum pertinentium qui earum spem gerere perhibetur. Que cum ita sint, propter has caussas distinguenda erit fides ab spe, sicut vocabulo, ita et rationabili differentia. Nam quod adtinet ad non videre sive que creduntur, sive quae sperantur, fidei speique commune est.? Compare Bishop O’Brien, Nature and Effects §cvu. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 391 of Faith, p. 304; and Zoéch, De Vi ac Notione Vocis ἐλπίς m N. T. 2. πρεσβύτης, yépwov.—Augustine (Enarr. in Ps. lxx. 18): ‘Senecta et senium discernuntura Grecis. Gravitas enim post juventutem aliud nomen habet apud Grecos, et post ipsam gravitatem veniens ultima etas aliud nomen habet; nam πρεσβύτης dicitur gravis, et γέρων senex. Quia autem in Latinaé lingud duorum istorum nominum distinctio deficit, de senectute ambo sunt posite, senecta et senium. Scitis autem esse duas etates.’ Cf. Quest. in Gen. 1. 70. 3. φρέαρ; mHy}.—Augustine (in Joh. Evang. Tract. 15): ‘Omnis puteus [φρέαρ], fons [πηγή]; non omnis fons puteus. Ubi enim aqua de terr4 manat et usui prebetur haurientibus, fons dicitur; sed si in promptu et superficie sit, fons tantum dicitur: si autem in alto et profundo sit, ita puteus vocatur, ut fontis nomen non amittat.’ 4. σχίσμα, aipeous.— Augustine (Con. Crescon. Don. ii. 7): ‘Schisma est recens congregationis ex aliqué sententiarum diversitate dissensio: heresis autem schisma inveteratum.’ Cf. Jerome (in Ep. ad Tit. iii. 10): ‘Inter heresim et schisma hoc esse arbitrantur, quod heresis perversum dogma habeat; schisma propter episcopalem dissensionem ab Ecclesia separetur; quod quidem in principio aliqua ex parte intelligi queat. Ceterum nullum schisma non sibi aliquam confingit heresim, ut recte ab ecclesia recessisse videatur.? And very admirably Nevin (Antichrist, or the Spirit of Sectarianism) : ‘Heresy and schism are not indeed the same, but yet they constitute merely the different manifestations of one and the same disease. Heresy is theoretic schism; schism is practical heresy. They continually run into one another, and mutually complete each other. Every heresy is in principle schismatic ; every schism is in its innermost constitution heretical.’ 392 SYNONYMS OF TEE NEW TESTAMENT. ὃ cvu. 5. μακροθυμία, mpadtns.—Theophylact (in Gal. v. 22) : μακροθυμία πραότητος ἐν τούτῳ δοκεῖ παρὰ τῇ γραφῇ Siaφέρειν, τῷ τὸν μὲν μακρόθυμον πολὺν ὄντα ἐν φρονήσει, μὴ ὀξέως ἀλλὰ σχολῇ ἐπιτιθέναι τὴν προσήκουσαν δίκην τῷ πταίοντι" τὸν δὲ πρᾶον ἀφιέναι παντάπασιν. 6. ἀνάμνησις, bropvnots.—Ammonius: ἀνάμνησις ὅταν ἔλθῃ εἰς μνήμην τῶν παρελθόντων " ὑπόμνησις δὲ ὅταν ὑφ᾽ ἑτέρου εἰς τοῦτο προαχθῇ [2 ΤΊτη. 1. 5; 2 Pet.i. 13; ili. 1]. 7. φόρος, Téedkos.—Grotius : “ φόροι tributa sunt que ex agris solvebantur, atque in ipsis speciebus fere pendebantur, id est in tritico, ordeo, vino et similibus. Vectigalia vero sunt que Greece dicuntur τέλη, quee a publicanis conducebantur et exigebantur, cum tributa a susceptoribus vel ab apparitoribus presidum ac prefectorum exigi solerent.’ 8. τύπος, ἀλληγορούμενον.--- Rivetus (Pref. ad Ps. xlv.) : ‘Typus est cum factum aliquod a Vetere Testamento accersitur, idque extenditur presignificisse atque adumbrisse aliquid gestum vel gerendumin Novo Testamento; allegoria vero cum aliquid sive ex Vetere sive ex Novo Testamento exponitur atque accommodatur novo sensu ad spiritualem doctrinam, sive vite institutionem.’ 9. λοιδορέω, Bracdnuéw.—Calvin (Comm. in N. T.: 1 Cor. iv. 12): ‘Notandum est discrimen inter hee duo participia, λοιδορούμενοι καὶ βλασφημούμενοι. Quoniam Aoδορία est asperior dicacitas, que non tantum perstringit hominem, sed acriter etiam mordet, famamque apertaé contumelia sugillat, non dubium est quin λοιδορεῖν sit maledicto tanquam aculeo vulnerare hominem; proinde reddidi maledictis lacessiti. Βλασφημία est apertius probrum, quum quispiam graviter et atrociter proscinditur.’ 10. ὀφείλει, Se?.—Bengel (Gnomon, 1 Cor. xi. 10): ‘ ὀφείλει notat obligationem, δεῖ necessitatem; illud morale §ovn. SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 393 est, hoc quasi physicum; ut in vernaculd, wir sollen und miissen.’ Il. πραὔς, yovx0s.—Bengel (Ib. 1 Pet. 111. 4): ‘ Mansuetus [pais], qui non turbat: tranquillus [ἡσύχιος], qui turbas aliorum, superiorum, inferiorum, equalium, fert placide.....Adde, mansuetus in affectibus: tranquillus in verbis, vultu, actu.’ 12. τεθεμελιωμένος, EOpaios.—Bengel (Ib. Col. i. 23) “τεθεμελιωμένοι, affixt fundamento; ἑδραῖοι, stabiles, firmi intus. Illud metaphoricum est, hoc magis proprium: illud importat majorem respectum ad fundamentwm quo sustentantur fideles; sed édpaior, stabiles, dicit internum robur, quod fideles 1051 habent; quemadmodum edificium primo quidem fundamento recte solideque inniti, deinde vero sud etiam mole probe coherere et firmiter consistere debet.’ 13. θνητός, vexpos.—Olshausen (Opusc. Theoll. p. 195): “νεκρός vocatur subjectum, in quo sejunctio corporis et animee facta est: θνητός, in quo fieri potest.’ 14. ἔλεος, oikTipos.—F ritzsche (in Rom. ix. 15) : Plus significari vocabulis ὁ οἰκτιρμός et οἰκτείρειν quam verbis ὁ ἔλεος et ἐλεεῖν recte veteres doctores vulgo statuunt. Tllis enim cum ἵλαος, ἱλάομαι et ἱλάσκομαι, his cum of et οἶκτος cognatio est. ‘O ἔλεος egritudinem benevole ex miseri4 alterius haustam denotat, et commune vocabulum est ibi collocandum, ubi misericordie notio in genere enuntianda est; ὁ οἰκτιρμός egritudinem ex alterius miserid, susceptam, que fletum tibi et ejulatum excitet, h. 6. magnam ex alterius miseri4, egritudinem, miserationem declarat.’ 15. ψιθυριστής, Katadddos.—Fritzsche (in Rom. i. 30) : “ψιθυρισταί sunt susurrones, h. 6. clandestini delatores, 394 SYNONYMS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ὃ ονπ. qui ut inviso homini noceant que ei probro sint crimina tanquam in aurem alicui insusurrant. Contra καταλάλοι omnes ii vocantur, qui que alicujus fame obsint narrant, sermonibus celebrant, divulgant maloque rumore aliquem differunt, sive id malo animo faciant, ut noceant, sive temere neque nisi garriendi libidine abrepti. Qui utrumque vocabulum ita discriminant, ut Ψψιθυριστάς clandestinos calumniatores, καταλάλους calumniatores qui propalam criminentur explicent, arctioribus quam par est limitibus voc. κατωλάλος circumscribunt, quum id vocabulum calumniatorem nocendi cupidum sua vi non declaret.’ 16. ἄχρηστος, aypetos.—Tittmann : ‘ Omnino in voce ἄxpnoros non inest tantum notio negativa quam vocant (οὐ χρήσιμον), sed adjecta ut plerumque contraria τοῦ πονηροῦ, quod non tantum nihil prodest, sed etiam damnum atffert, molestum et damnosum est. Apud Xenophontem, Hiero, i. 27, γάμος ἄχρηστος non est inutilis, sed molestissimus, et in Giconom. viii. 4. Sed in voce ἀχρεῖος per se nulla inest nota reprehensionis, tantum denotat rem aut hominem quo non opus est, quo supersedere possumus, unndthig, entbehrlich [Thucydides, i. 84; 11. 6], que ipsa tamen raro sine vituperatione dicuntur.’ 17. νομικός, νομοδιδάσκαλος, ypaypatevs.—Meyer (in Matt. xxii. 35) : ‘vousxds, ein Rechtskundiger, ἐπιστήμων τῶν νόμων (Photius, Leawicon; Plutarch, Swill. 36); ein Mosiischer Jurist ; νομοδιδάσκαλος bezeichnet einen solchen als Lehrer; γραμματεύς ist ein weiterer Begriff als vouxos; Schriftkundiger, dessen Beruf das Studium und die Auslegung der heiligen Schrift ist,’ SOME ETYMOLOGICAL NOTES BY A. 1. MAYHEW, M.A. Pace 11, Π1ΧῈ 7. The German ‘duom’ or ‘domus,’ The modern German form is Dom, which is used in the sense of a cathedral church, the church in which is placed the bishop's throne. The ordinary Old High German form was twom, which is not a native German word but a word borrowed from ecclesiastical Latin. Both G. Dom and OHG. tuom represent the Latin domus used in the sense of ‘domus dei.’ See Kluge’s Etym. Dict. Pace 16, Live 6. The author, in dealing with ἀνάθημα and ἀνάθεμα, gives some instances of a word separating into two forms in consequence of what was at first a mere variety of pronunciation, which two forms in course of time acquire distinctive meanings, and are looked upon as independent words. From these instances we must set aside ‘ rechtlich’ and ‘ redlich,’ which are of course words of radically distinct origin. The two forms ‘ fray’ and ‘ frey’ never acquired a distinct meaning ; in fact the form ‘frey’ no longer exists. Pace 17, Line 6. Read OM. Pace 20, Lines 20, 21. ‘ Weissagen’ and ‘ wahrsagen.’ These words are contrasted by the author, but it must not be supposed that the -sagen in both verbs is sagen (to say). German weissagen, Old High German wissagén, is derived from wizzago (a prophet) ; compare O.E. witga (a prophet). Onthe other hand, German wahrsagen is connected with Old Saxon wér-sago (lit. sooth-sayer). Page 30, Line 7. The δοῦλος... is properly the ‘ bond-man,’ from δέω, ‘ligo.’ This derivation is now given up by comparative philologists. Gr. δέω represents *Se-«o (compare Sanskrit dyati) from a root dé, to bind ; see Brugmann’s Gram. ii. § 707. It would be impossible to bring the dov- of δοῦλος into connexion with an original root dé. The etymology of δοῦλος is unknown. See Prellwitz, Etym. Diet. (s.vv. δέω, δοῦλος). 306 SOME ETYMOLOGICAL NOTES. Pace 31, Lives 19-21. ἢ θεραπεύειν . . . connected with ‘ faveo,’ ‘foveo,’ θάλπω. It is utterly impossible that any of these four words can have any etymological connexion with one another. They correspond neither in form nor in meaning. They are all four difficult words of very obscure derivation. Pace 32, Lryz 1]. διάκονος .. . is probably from the same root as has given us διώκω, ‘ to hasten after.’ No comparative philologist would now accept this etymology. The formation of διάκονος from διώκω is not supported by analogy, no instance occurring of the suffix -ovo- being added to a present verbal stem. The ἃ for ὦ is not accounted for. Besides this the senses of the two words do not agree—pursuit and service being very different things, The etymology of διάκονος is unknown. Page 33, Line 25. Latin verna identical with the Gothic dairn. The Gothic form is barn (not dairn) and is quite distinct etymologically from the Latin verna. Barn (a child) is derived from the root ber, appearing in O.E. beran, Goth. batran (to bear). Lat. verna (a slave born in the house) is derived from the root ves (Indo-European wes), to dwell; see Brugmann, Gram. ii. § 66. From the same root wes we tind Lat. vesta, Gr. ἑστία, a hearth. Pace 36, Line 8. For (Godel) read (Godet). Pace 46, Linzs 29, 50. πόντος... being connected with βάθος, βυθός, βένθος, perhaps the same word as this last. Of these four words the only two that are etymologically connected are βάθος and βένθος. These two have nothing in the worl to do with βυθός, and the word πόντος stands quite apart from all these three. πόντος (the sea) is probably related to Sanskrit panthan, path, way (cp. ὑγρὰ κέλευθα), Lat. pons (pont-), from an Indo-European root pont (to come, to go); see Prellwitz, Ltym. Dict. Pace 48, Line 5. ‘Sloes austere.’ These words occur in Cowper's Task, i. 122. See New Eng. Dict. (s.v. austere), It may be noted that αὐστηρός is closely related to our word sear (O.E. séa), meaning properly ‘ dry,’ They are beth derived from a root saus, cp. Lithuanian sausas, dry. SOME ETYMOLOGICAL NOTES. 397 Pace 50, Line 11. ‘Imago’ =‘ imitago.’ This equation may mislead the student; he may think that the author intends to say that ‘imago’ is a contraction of and identical with ‘*imitago’ etymologically. Doubtless Dr. Trench merely intended to say that ‘imago’ and the verb ‘imitor’ were from the same root zm. This ¢m may perhaps be for mim: compare Gr. μιμ-εῖσθαι ; see Roby's Lat. Gram. § 845. Pace ὅθ, Line 14. The etymology of ἀσέλγεια (1) from Selge, a city of Pisidia...; (2) from θέλγειν, probably the same word as the German ‘ schwelgen.’ There is no scientific value to be attached to any of these etymological conjectures. The comparison of ἀσέλγεια with θέλγειν is phonetically impossible, as is that of θέλγειν with German ‘schwelgen.’ The etymology of ἀσέλγεια is really quite unknown. Some etymologists fancy that the element σελ is from a root swel (to swell); see Prellwitz, Etym. Dict. p. 278. Pace 85, Line 21. Βόσκειν, the Latin ‘ pascere,’ is simply ‘ to feed.’ The student must not suppose that this is an etymology; the two _words are not related to one another. Gr. βόσκειν has been supposed to be for βόρσκειν, root Bop + suffix oxw, cp. βορά, food, Lat. verare; see Brugmann, Gram. ὃ 432. Lat. pasco is from a root p, to protect, feed ; whence Eng. food. Pace 91, Ling 30. Zen, as some will have it, being nearly connected with aw, ans, to breathe the breath of life. Greek ζωή is now general!y connected by comparative philologists with Bios, both words being derived from an Indo-European root g“et ; see Brugmann, Gram. ii. § 737, and Prellwitz, Etym. Dict. pp. 46, 1lu. For the ¢ from a velar guttural, cp. νίζω from root neig. Pace 93, 1.8 9. The scientific term ‘ Biology’ was invented by Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus, born in Bremen, 1776. He studied in Gottingen, and his chief work was Biologie oder Philosopnie der lebenden Natur, Gottingen, 6 vols. 1802-1822. See Pierers’ Conv. Lexikon. Pace 99, 7158 4. The derivation of ἀλαζών from ἄλη (a wandering about) has nothing to recommend it ; it fails to account for the latter part of the word, -αζων; and there is no connexion between ‘ bragging’ and ‘ wandering about.’ 398 SOME ETYMOLOGICAL NOTES. | Pace 110, Live 12. On the relation between the two verbs defoul and defile see New Eng. Dict. There has been confusion in the case of defile between the ‘Old French defouler (to trample down) and Old English fy/an (to befoul) from Fil (foul). Page 110, Live 27. ‘Spurcare’ (itself probably connected with ‘ porcus ’), This suggestion has nothing to recommend it; the stem-vowels of the two words do not correspond. Pace 125, Lings 12, 13. Aarpevew allied . . . perhaps to λεία, Anis. Gr. λεία, Doric λαία for AGFid, should rather be placed with ἀπολαύω, cp. Latin Zucrum; see Bréal’s Lat. Dicc., and Prellwitz, Ltym. Dict. Page 126, Liye 1. Λεῖτος = δημύσιος. : The Gr. λεῖτος does not mean ‘ public,’ but ‘an offering, a service.’ Ae:roupyos means ‘one who undertook for the State a public service.’ See the account of the word in Prellwitz, p. 182. Pace 128, Lines 23, 24, Ilévns connected with ... the Latin ‘ penuria.’ These two words are probably of distinct origin. Πένης is probably (as stated in the text) connected with πόνος. M. Bréal says that we have in ‘ penuria’ a substantive formed from an old desiderative *penurio, to be in need of provisions, from penus, provisions ; penus is probably connected with penes, in the power of; so Bréal, and Brugmann, Gram, 11. ὃ 132. Pace 137, Lines 23, 24. “ay, the same word as ὑπέρ. The author no doubt got this surprising equation from Gesenius. It is hardly necessary nowadays to point out that it is quite impossible to connect Indo-European prepositions with Semitic ones, Pages 148, Line 31. ‘Demuth,’ born . . . in the heathen period of the language . . . and only under the influences of Christianity attained to its present position of honour. Kluge (s.v. Demut) says that neither the word nor the conception belonged to the heathen period of the language. Both the word and the idea came into the old German language with Christianity, SOME El'YMOLOGICAL NOTES. 399 Pace 167, Line 24. ‘Robber,’ from ‘ Raub,’ booty. Our word ‘robber’ is the Anglo-Norman robbere, ep. Old French robedr, a word derived from Old High German roub (mod. G. Raub), booty. See Kluge’s Etym. Dict. Pace 163, Linz 10. Φῶς and φέγγος, which are different forms of one and the same word. These two words are quite distinct; φῶς is the same word as the Sanskrit b/as, light. @éyyos may be derived from an Indo-European type (s)phengos. Prellwitz gives some Lithuanian forms in which tbe initial s- is retained. Page 178, Nore, The German ‘ Aberglaube’ = ‘ Ueberglaube.’ Kluge (s.v.) shows that the prefix in ‘ Aberglaube’ is quite distinct from the preposition tiber, The same element occurs in M. H. G. aberlist ; Germ. Abergunst, Abername, Aberwille, Aberwandel, Aberwits. The word occurs in Alberus in the year 1540; he distinguishes ‘diffidentia’ (Missglaub) from ‘ superstitio’ (Aberglaud). Page 210, Lines 17, 18. Καιρός, derived from κείρω, as ‘tempus’ from ‘temno,’ These derivations are no longer believed in by Greek and Latin grammarians. The etymologies of καιρός and ‘tempus’ are unknown. Kluge (8. v. wel) with praiseworthy hesitation suggests that καιρός may be from the same root as while, Goth. hweila, time. Pace 214, Line 26, Κόσμος connected with κόμειν, ‘ comere,’ ‘comptus.’ It is impossible to connect κόσμος with these words, because the o of κοσ- is thus left without explanation. Prellwitz and Brugmann agree in connecting κόσμος with Sanskrit gamsalz (he praises), and Lat. censere (to pass judgment on). PacE 216, Lines 29-31. We must reject the etymology of αἰών which Aristotle propounds : ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀεὶ εἶναι εἰληφὼς τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν. The fact is that Aristotle’s etymology is accepted by comparative philologists; see Prellwitz, Brugmann, i. § 96, Kluge Seg Ehe), Bréal (s.v. e@vum). Pace 219, Norg. ‘World’ = whirled. It is a pity that this absurd guess should have found a place even in a foot-note. The etymology of ‘world’ given by Dr. Trench from Pott is perfectly correct. 400 - SOME ETYMOLOGICAL NOTES, PacE 226, Linzs 35, 36. Képos ... isthe Latin ‘comissatio,’ which, as it hardly needs to observe, is connected with κωμάζειν. ‘ Comissor, mot emprunté au grec. Le primitif est κῶμος “ festin.”’ Les formations en issare, assez maladroitement imitées des verbes grees en «fw, étaient fréquentes dans le Jatin du temps d’Ennius et de Plaute. On avait, par exemple, badissare = βαδίζω, patrissare = πατρίζω, attictssare = ἀττικίζω, &c. Comissor est un des rares verbes qui ont survécu dans le latin classique; la forme grecque employée par les auteurs n'est pas κωμίζω mais koud¢o.’—Bréal, Pace 240, Ling 23, Gr. ἁμαρτία is no doubt connected with the verb ἁμαρτάνω. Brugmann (see Gram. ii. ὃ 682) says that ἁμαρτάνω is probably from d-pap-ro-, ἀ-μβρα-το-, ‘ without a share of,’ connected with μέρος μόρος. He quotes the gloss dyapeiy’ ἁμαρτάνειν (Hesychius). Pace 296, Linz 29, Ψαλμός, from Wd. These words are quite unconnected etymologically, and are far apart from one another in meaning. See Prellwitz on the two words. The verb Ψάλλω is from an Indo-European root sphal, cp. Sanskrit sphalatt. The verb Wa, ‘I rub,’ is supposed by Prellwitz to be from a root bhas. Pace 309, Lines 24-27. Θήρ, which in its Holic form φήρ reappears as the Latin ‘ fera,’ and in its more usual shape in the German ‘ Thier’ and in our own ‘ deer.’ The older forms of ‘Thier’ and ‘deer’ prove conclusively that these words have no connexion whatever with the Greek 6np. The Germanic forms point to an Indo-European ground-form dheuso-, which shows a difference trom θήρ (dnp) both in stem-vowel and in the two radical consonants. See Kluge (s.v. 7zer) and Prellwitz (s.v. Onp). Page 318, Lines 14, 18. Φαύλος cannot possibly be connected with German faul, our foul. Such an equation shows an utter disregard to Grimm’s law. ‘Schlecht’ and ‘schlicht’ in German are not merely different spellings of the same word. The difference in spelling goes back for its origin to the working of a phonetic law in primitive Germanic. The fact is, ‘schlecht’ and ‘schlicht’ are not forms of precisely the same word. See Kluge. . Pace 321, Lines 10, 11. Καθαρός, connected with the Latin ‘ castus,’ with the German ‘ heiter.’ These words have absolutely no connexion with one another. The German heiter, Old English hddor, point to an Indo-European root kait-, which in Greek would be represented by καιτ- (not xa0-). SOME ETYMOLOGICAL NOTES. 401 Page 327, Line 99. ‘Iepds, probably the same word as the German ‘hehr,’ The German hehr goes back to a base haira, and is probably radically related to ‘heiter’ (see note to p. 321). This presupposes an IndoEuropean root kai-. German ‘hehr’ cannot, therefore, have anything to do with Greek ἱερός, which is related to Sanskrit tshtra-; see Brugmann, Gram. ii. § 14. Paces 331, Livzs 31-36, “Aywos, dyvds . . . have in common that root dy, reappearing as the Latin ‘sac’ in ‘ sacer.’ Comparative philologists connect this Greek root dy- with Sanskrit yaj, ‘to honour a god’; see Brugmann, Gram. ii. § 140. If this comparison holds good, there can, of course, be no connexion with the Latin ‘sac.’ Pace 373, Liyges 27-29. νέφας, νέφος, γνόφος and ζόφος, a group of words . . . perhaps only different shapes of what was once a single word. This could no longer be held by the best modern scholars. Pace 389, Lines 33, 34. Καλός, affirmed to be of the same descent as the German ‘heil,’ as our own ‘ whole.’ Their relationship is no longer held by modern scholars. The vocalisation of the Germanic words renders any connexion with καλός impossible. See Kluge (s.v. Aeil). A. L. M. OXFORD : May 28, 1895. *DD

Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT

ἀργός. The various connotations of the verb appear in its source, the adj. ἀργός (aFepyds), the opposite of ἐνεργός, ‘‘at work”). Thus in P Lond 9158 (a census-return of A.D. 160-1) (= III. p. 27) a certain Apollonius is described as belonging to the ‘‘leisured” class of Memphis (τῶν ἀπὸ Mépdews ἀργῶν, a ‘practically certain” reading): cf. for the same description ΒΟῸΣ III. 8335 (A.p. 173-4). In BGU IV. 1078** (a.p. 39) a man writes to his sister, ἐὰν λάβω τὰ κερμάμια (Ὁ κεράμια), ὄψομαι τί pe Set ποιεῖν" οὐ γὰρ ἀργὸν δεῖ με καθῆσθαι. Ῥ Lond 1170 τεγεοῖτ» 488. (see below) has ὄνος ἃ ἀργός, ‘‘ travelling light,” as against others with loads. In P Flor I. 1*@ and P Amh II. 97° (both ii/A.1.) ἐλαιουργίου ἀργοῦ = ‘fan oil-press which is out of working order”; similarly P Oxy X. 1269%* (early ii/A.D.) ἑτέρα (sc. κιβωτός) ἀργή “another out of use” (Edd.). In νι. 533° (iii/A.D.), τὸ ἀργόν is opposed to τὸ πεφυτευμένον : so 7. 233° (soon after B.C. 229) τῆς χώρας διὰ] τοὺς πολέμους ἀργοῦ Kal ἀσπόρου οὔϊσης. In MGr ἀργά = ‘‘too late”: cf. the note on the development of MGr apy above. The derived noun ἀργία “holiday” may be seen in P Petr III. 40 (α)γ- 15, and in a diary of Heroninus, steward of property at Theadelphia (A.D, 258-9), P Lond 1170 verso*4 ete. (= III. p. 202): against each day of the month is entered the work done thereon, but we have the roth, 21st, and 24th marked ἀργία. It is open to question whether this neutral meaning should not be applied in Wisd 133%, where ἀργίας and ἀνέσεως seem to stand by parallelism alike for ‘‘leisure”: cf. RV mg. and our note on ἄνεσις. In that case the workman spends his working hours and the best parts of the wood in making something useful: the leavings of the wood are carved into an idol by his “holiday diligence” and the ‘‘skill of his spare time.” Notice might be taken of the neat word-play on ἀργὰ... ἔργα in the context (14°): it recalls Henry Bradshaw’s brilliant and convincing emendation in 2 Pet 3}, τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ἔργα « ἀργὰ > εὑρεθήσεται.

Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon

ἀργός (argos) — idle. ἀργός, όν,

__Blater ή, όν [Refs 4th c.BC+]:—properly not working the ground, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; idle, lazy, opposed to ἐργάτις, [Refs 6th c.BC+]; ἀ. τὴν διάνοιαν[Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἂν ἀ. ᾖ if he have no trade, [Refs 4th c.BC+]: with genitive of things, idle at a thing, free from it, τῶν οἴκοθεν from domestic toils, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀ. αἰσχρῶν slow to evil, [Refs 5th c.BC+] __B.2 of things, δόρυ[Refs 5th c.BC+]; of money, lying idle, yielding no return, opposed to ἐνεργός, [Refs 4th c.BC+] and 20; of land, lying fallow, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; opposed to πεφυτευμένος, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]; διατριβὴ ἀ. in which nothing is done, fruitless, [Refs 5th c.BC+]. adverb ἀργῶς, ἐπιμέλεσθαι[Refs 5th c.BC+] __B.2.b ἀ. λόγος, name of a sophism, [Refs 3rd c.BC+] __B.II passive,unwrought, ἁρμός, κυμάτιον, [Refs]unprepared for eating, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; βύρσαι undressed hides, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; unpolished, [Refs 4th c.BC+] __B.II.2 not done, left undone, κοὐκ ἦν ἔτ᾽ οὐδὲν ἀ.[Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐκ ἐν ἀργοῖς not among things neglected, [Refs 6th c.BC+] __B.II.3 unattempted, μάχη[Refs 5th c.BC+] __B.II.4 Astrology texts, τόπος ἀ., name of the [Refs 2nd c.AD+]

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