noun · masculine
idiōtos
Strong’sG2399
an amateur, layman
stem idiōt-5 times in the New Testamentin 3 of 27 books3 of 10 forms occur
What it means
What the word means, in the words of the lexicons out of copyright — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones, wherever each has an entry for it.
ἰδιώτης, -ου, ὁ
(< ἴδιος), [in LXX: Pr 6:8 (no Heb.)*;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G2399 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidid-ee-o'-tace
a private person, i.e. (by implication) an ignoramus (compare "idiot")
Fromfrom G2398;
King Jamesignorant, rude, unlearned.
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
(ἴδιος) private person, individual, opposed to the State, ξυμφέροντα καὶ πόλεσι καὶ ἰδιώταις Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to γένος, Refs 4th c.BC+
II one in a private station, opposed to to one holding public office, or taking part in public affairs, Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to βασιλεύς, Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to ἄρχων, Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to δικαστής, Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to πολιτευόμενος, Refs 4th c.BC+; opposed to ῥήτωρ, Refs 4th c.BC+; private soldier, opposed to στρατηγός, Refs 5th c.BC+; layman, opposed to priest, NT+2nd c.BC+: as adjective, ἰ. ἄνδρες Refs 5th c.BC+; ἰ. θεοί homely (with play on ἴδιος), Refs 5th c.BC+
II.2 common man, plebeian, οἱ ἰ. καὶ πένητες Refs 1st c.AD+; ἰ. καὶ εὐτελής, opposed to βασιλεύς, Refs 2nd c.AD+
II.3 as adjective, ἰ. βίος private station, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἰ. λόγος everyday speech, Refs 1st c.BC+
III one who has no professional knowledge, layman, καὶ ἰατρὸς καὶ ἰ. Refs 5th c.BC+; of prose-writers, ἐν μέτρῳ ὡς ποιητής, ἢ ἄνευ μέτρου ὡς ἰ. Refs; opposed to to a professed orator, Refs 5th c.BC+; to a trained soldier, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἰδιώτας, ὡς εἰπεῖν, χειροτέχναις (-νας codices) ἀνταγωνισαμένους Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to ἀσκητής, Refs 5th c.BC+; opposed to ἀθλητής, Refs 4th c.BC+; opposed to a professed philosopher, Refs 1st c.BC+ K.; opposed to δημιουργός, Refs 5th c.BC+ adjective, ὁ ἰ. ὄχλος, opposed to artificers, Refs 1st c.AD+
III.2 with genitive of things, unpractised, unskilled in a thing, ἰατρικῆς Refs 5th c.BC+; ἰ. κατὰ τοὺς πόνους, κατὰ τὸν ὕπνον, Refs 5th c.BC+
III.3 generally, raw hand, ignoramus, ἄν τε δεινοὶ λάχωσιν ἄν τε ἰδιῶται.. Refs 4th c.BC+; παιδάρια καὶ ἰ., of slaves, Refs 2nd c.AD+; ἀμαθὴς καὶ ἰ., opposed to τεχνίτης, Refs; vocative ἰδιῶτα, as a term of abuse, Refs 4th c.BC+
III.4 'average man', opposed to a person of distinction, Refs 1st c.AD+
IV ἰδιῶται, οἱ, one's own countrymen, opposed to ξένοι, Refs 5th c.BC+
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 | one singular | more than one plural |
|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | idiōtos2×ἰδιώτης | idiōtois2×ἰδιῶται |
| object accusative | idiōton | idiōtoin |
| direct address vocative | idiōtor | idiōtoir |
| of, belonging to genitive | idiōtou1×ἰδιώτου | idiōtoiu |
| to, for dative | idiōto | idiōtoi |
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
idiōto 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.
5 occurrences, every one of them listed
idiōtos“outsider”subjectnominative singular2×
1 Corinthians 14:24“outsider”… profēteualeiō, eiserchateia de tinos apistos ē idiōtos, elenchotō hupo pantoiu, anakrinotō hupo pantoiu,But if an unbeliever or uninstructed person comes in while everyone is prophesying, he will be convicted and called to account by all,
2 Corinthians 11:6“untrained”ei de kai idiōtos to logo, alla ouk ta gnōsia, …… am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have …
idiōtou“outsider”of, belonging togenitive singular1×
1 Corinthians 14:16“outsider”… pneume, tos anaplērarōntos ton topon tou idiōtou pōs legati tem Amēn epi ta …… blessing in spirit, how can someone who is uninstructed say “Amen” to your …
idiōtois“untrained”subjectnominative plural2×
Acts 4:13“untrained”… katalaberantois hoti anthrōpois agrammatois alō kai idiōtois, thaumazale, epignōskale tē autoin hoti sun …… John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.
1 Corinthians 14:23“outsiders”… kai pantois lalaleiō glōssai, eiserchaleia de idiōtois ē apistois, ouk legali hoti mainovō?… comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who are uninstructed or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?