Greek word · G1847

ἐξουδενόω

exoudenoō

be rejected

To make nothing of, treat as worthless, despise, scorn. It comes from οὐδέν, "nothing," and has a common variant spelling ἐξουθενέω. The idea is contempt and disdain, not just a decision against someone.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἐξ-ουδενέω

(Rec. -όω; T, -θανόω), -ῶ, [in LXX (with vv. ll. -όω, -θενέω, -θενόω) for בּוּז, בָּזָה, מָאַס, בּוּס, etc. ;]

to despise, set at nought: Mark 9:12 (cf. ἐξουθενέω).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Mark 9:12

Range of meaning

To make nothing of, treat as worthless, despise, scorn. It comes from οὐδέν, "nothing," and has a common variant spelling ἐξουθενέω. The idea is contempt and disdain, not just a decision against someone.

Against the English

KJV and YLT: "set at nought," the most literal, though archaic. WEB: "despised." ESV and NASB: "treated with contempt." BSB and NIV: "rejected." That last is defensible, since the verb was used for the rejected stone of Psalm 118, but it merges this word with the different verb of Mark 8:31 (ἀποδοκιμάζω, "reject after examination").

Used elsewhere in the period

Common in the Greek Old Testament for scorn. Psalm 22:6 (21:7 LXX) has "a reproach of men and a thing despised [ἐξουδένημα] by the people." Psalm 89:38 (88:39 LXX) says of God, "you have spurned [ἐξουδένωσας] your anointed." Later Greek translations of Isaiah 53:3, preserved in fragments of Origen's Hexapla, use ἐξουδενωμένος for the "despised" servant. Acts 4:11 quotes Psalm 118:22 with this verb: "the stone despised [ἐξουθενηθείς] by you builders." Luke 23:11 uses it of Herod's mockery of Jesus.

Where it appears

Mark · 1

  1. Mark 9:12 ἐξουδενηθῇ. may be set at naught.

    He replied, “Elijah does indeed come first, and he restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected?

    Here: "Be made nothing of": scorned, counted as worthless. It is built on the Greek for "nothing" (οὐδέν) and is harsher and more personal than plain "rejected." It echoes the scorned figures of the Psalms and Isaiah 53.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.