Greek word · G1729
ἐνδεής
endeēs
impoverished
Lacking or in want; a person without the basic means of life (food, shelter, clothing). It is close to πτωχός ('poor, beggarly') but focuses on what is missing more than on social status.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
Lacking or in want; a person without the basic means of life (food, shelter, clothing). It is close to πτωχός ('poor, beggarly') but focuses on what is missing more than on social status.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB 'lacked' and YLT 'did lack' keep the idea of missing something. BSB/ESV/NASB 'needy' is accurate. None of them signal the Old Testament quotation that a Greek-speaking Jewish reader would have heard.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Greek Old Testament (LXX) Deuteronomy 15:4: 'there shall be no needy one (ἐνδεής) among you, for the LORD will surely bless you', which goes with 15:11, 'the needy one will not cease from the land.' The word is common in classical and Hellenistic Greek for the destitute. In the New Testament it occurs only here.
Where it appears
Acts · 1
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Acts 4:34 ἐνδεής in need
There were no needy ones among them, because those who owned lands or houses would sell their property, bring the proceeds from the sales,
Here: A person who lacks the necessities of life. It appears only here in the New Testament, and it is the exact word of the Greek Old Testament promise in Deuteronomy 15:4, 'there shall be no needy one among you.'
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.