adjective
elachistos
Strong’sG1646
least, smallest, very little
stem elachist-14 times in the New Testamentin 5 of 27 books0 of 26 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
ἐλάχιστος means least or smallest — the superlative form of a word meaning "small" or "short," describing something at the very bottom of a scale of size, amount, number, or dignity 1234.
In New Testament usage it functions in one place as a true superlative (the smallest among many), but elsewhere it is used more loosely as an intensifier meaning simply very small or of little account — describing minor matters, tiny amounts, small commandments, or trivial legal cases rather than strictly ranking the smallest among a group 1.
From this same word a further comparative form was built, meaning less than the least, used to describe someone as smaller even than the smallest 13.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
ἐλάχιστος, -η, -ον
(v.s. ἐλάσσων),
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1646 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidel-akh'-is-tos
used as equivalent to G3398; least (in size, amount, dignity, etc.)
Fromsuperlative of ἔλαχυς (short);
King Jamesleast, very little (small), smallest.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
superlative of ἐλαχύς: comparative ἐλάσσων (which see):— smallest, least, frequently with a negative, γέρας, δύναμις οὐκ ἐ., Refs 5th c.BC+; λόγου ἐλαχίστου of least account, Refs; ἐλαχίστου ἐδέησε διαφθεῖραι narrowly missed destroying them, Refs 5th c.BC+
2 of Time, shortest, δι᾽ ἐλαχίστου (i.e. χρόνου) Refs 5th c.BC+; δι᾽ ἐλαχίστης βουλῆς with shortest deliberation, Refs
3 of Number, fewest, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐν ἐλαχίστοις δυσίν between two at least. Refs
4 in Mathematics texts, ἐλάχιστα καὶ μέγιστα minima and maxima, Refs 3rd c.BC+
II τὸ ἐλάχιστον, τοὐλάχιστον, at the least, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἐλάχιστα least of any one, Refs 5th c.BC+; ὡς ἐ. as little as possible, Refs 5th c.BC+
III from ἐλάχιστος came a new comparative ἐλαχιστότερος less than the least, ἐ. πάντων ἁγίων NT very least of all, Refs 2nd c.AD+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | elachistos | elachistas | elachistem | elachistois | elachistais | elachisteim |
| object accusative | elachiston | elachistan | elachistoin | elachistain | ||
| direct address vocative | elachistor | elachistar | elachistoir | elachistair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | elachistou | elachistau | elachisteu | elachistoiu | elachistaiu | elachisteiu |
| to, for dative | elachisto | elachista | elachiste | elachistoi | elachistai | elachistei |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
elachist is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
14 occurrences, every one of them listed
elachiste3×
Luke 16:10Tos pistos en elachiste kai en polle pistos atō, kai …Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much …
Luke 16:10… polle pistos atō, kai tos en elachiste adikos kai en polle adikos atō.… much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
Luke 19:17… auto; Euge, agathor doulor, hoti en elachiste pistos genesa, asōr exousian echarōntos epanō …… you have been faithful in a very small matter, you shall have authority over …
elachistos2×
Matthew 5:19… elachistaiu kai didaskateia houtōs toin anthrōpoin, elachistos kaliti en ta basileia toiu ouranoiu; …… to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but …
1 Corinthians 15:9mis gar amō tos elachistos toiu apostoloiu, hos ouk amō hikanos …For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy …
elachistoiu2×
Matthew 25:40… heno houtoiu toiu adelfoiu mu toiu elachistoiu, mi poiava.… you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you …
Matthew 25:45… hosem ouk poiava heno houtoiu toiu elachistoiu, oude mi poiava.… not do for one of the least of these, you did not do …
elachistem2×
Luke 12:26“very little”ei oun oude elachistem dunovō, tinem peri teiu loipeiu merimnavō?So if you cannot do such a small thing, why do you worry about the rest?
1 Corinthians 4:3“very small”mi de eis elachistem atō, hina hupo vu anakrinimeia ē …… I am judged by you or by any …
elachistas1×
Matthew 2:6Kai sis, Bēthleem gēar Ioudou, oudamōs elachistas asō en toi hēgemonoi Ioudou; ek …… of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for …
elachistaiu1×
Matthew 5:19… luateia henan taiu entolaiu houtaiu taiu elachistaiu kai didaskateia houtōs toin anthrōpoin, elachistos …… then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others …
elachisteiu1×
1 Corinthians 6:2… krinotō tos kosmos, anaxiois avō kritērieiu elachisteiu?… are you not competent to judge trivial cases?
elachisto1×
Ephesians 3:8“very least”mi to elachisto pantoiu hagioiu dōita tas charitas houtas …… least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach …
elachisteu1×
James 3:4… hupo anemoiu sklēroiu elaunorōnteim, metagotō hupo elachisteu pēdalieu hopou tas hormas tou euthunarōntou …… winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined.