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Bible Lexicons
Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #888 - ἀχρεῖος
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- useless, good for nothing
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ἀχρεῖος
(Att. ἄχρειος acc. to Hdn.Gr. 1.136), ον, also α, ον IG 7.303.10 (Oropus), Dsc. 4.5, Polem.Phgn. 69: Ion. ἀχρήϊος:
I
1. useless, unprofitable, ἀχρήϊος ἀνήρ Hes. Op. 297; ἐπέων νομός ib. 403; δέμας A. Pr. 365, cf. Hp. Int. 39; οἰκητήρ S. OC 627; opp. εὐγενής, Id. Fr. 667; ἐρινὸς ἀ. ὢν ἐς βρῶσιν ib. 181; ἀ. κοὐ σοφός E. Med. 299; δοῦλος Matthew 25:30; οὐκ ἀπράγμονα ἀλλ' ἀχρεῖον νομίζομεν Th. 2.40; λόγον ἀχρεῖον ἀπέρριψαν Ant.Lib. 11.3: Comp. -ότερος, ὄρνιθες Chrysipp.Stoic. 3.195: c. inf., unfit to do, ἀ. πράττειν τι Pl. R. 371c: c. dat., ἀ. τοῖς σώμασι Agatharch. Fr.Hist. 3, cf. Them. Or. 26.326a.
2. esp. unfit for war, ἀ. ὅμιλος Hdt. 3.81; τὸ ἀ. τοῦ στρατοῦ the unserviceable part of an army, Id. 1.191; οἱ ἀχρειότατοι Th. 1.93, 2.6, cf. X. HG 7.2.18; τὸ ἀ. τῆς ἡλικίας Th. 2.44. Adv. -είως, ἔχειν πρὸς ναυμαχίαν App. BC 5.84.
II neut. ἀχρεῖον, as Adv., twice in Hom., ἀχρεῖον ἰδών giving a helpless look, looking foolish, of Thersites after being beaten, Il. 2.269; ἀχρεῖον δ' ἐγέλασσε laughed without cause, made a forced laugh, of Penelope trying to disguise her feelings, Od. 18.163; ἀχρεῖον κλάζειν bark without need or cause, Theoc. 25.72.
III Adv. ἀχρείως γέλασόν με (cf. ἀχρειόγελως) APl. 4.86, cf. Them. Or. 33.367b: neut. pl. as Adv. ἀχρεῖ' ἀσπαίροντος helplessly, Euph. 44.
ἀχρεῖος, ἀχρεῖον (χρεῖος useful), useless, good for nothing: Matthew 25:30 (δοῦλος, cf. Plato, Alc. 1:17, p. 122 b. τῶν οἰκετῶν τόν ἀχρειοτατον); by an hyperbole of pious modesty in Luke 17:10 'the servant' calls himself ἀχρεῖον, because, although he has done all, yet he has done nothing except what he ought to have done; accordingly he possesses no merit, and could only claim to be called 'profitable,' should he do more than what he is bound to do; cf. Bengel, at the passage. (Often in Greek writings from Homer down; Xenophon, mem. 1, 2, 54 ἀχρεῖον καί ἀνωφελές. The Sept. 2 Samuel 6:22 equivalent to שָׁפָל low, base.) (Synonyms: cf. Tittmann ii., p. 11f; Ellicott on Philemon 1:11.)
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ἀ -χρεῖος , -ον
(< χρεῖος , useful),
[in LXX: 2 Samuel 6:22 (H8217), Ep. Jeremiah 17:1-27 *;]
useless, unprofitable: Matthew 25:30, Luke 17:10 (MM, s.v.).†
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
With Luke 17:10 may be compared the fragmentary P Par 68.54 ἀχρείους δούλους : see also P Magd 29.6 (B.C. 217) τόπ [ον ] ὄντα ̣ κα ̣ί μοι ἀχρεῖον καὶ στενὸν ἐπὶ μῆκος δέδωκεν . The one occurrence of the adj. in NT may quite possibly be a mistaken gloss : the Lewis Syriac presumes simply δοῦλοί ἐσμεν , a very plausible reading.
Herwerden cites the abnormal feminine ἀχρεία from IG Sept 303.10 (iii/B.C.) φιάλην . . . ἀχρείαν .
Copyright © 1914, 1929, 1930 by James Hope Moulton and George Milligan. Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Derivative Copyright © 2015 by Allan Loder.
