ἰδιώτης

From the study of 1 Corinthians 14:16

Range of meaning

A private person as opposed to an official. A layman or amateur as opposed to an expert or professional. Someone not belonging to, or not initiated into, a particular group or skill. The basic idea is always being outside some circle of competence or membership, measured against a specific skill or group. It is never a general judgement on intelligence.

Against the English

KJV "unlearned", NASB "ungifted", ESV "outsider", NIV "inquirer", BSB "uninstructed", WEB "unlearned". Each picks up one part of the range. "Unlearned" now suggests uneducated or ignorant, which is not the point.

How it drifted

In 1611 "unlearned" could mean "not instructed in this particular matter". Today it mainly suggests a lack of schooling. (English "idiot" comes from this same word through Latin, but its modern meaning has nothing to do with Paul's.)

Used elsewhere in the period

In classical and papyrus Greek it often means a private citizen as against a magistrate, or a layman as against a doctor or rhetorician. Acts 4:13 calls Peter and John agrammatoi kai idiōtai, "untrained laymen" with no rabbinic schooling. In 2 Cor 11:6 Paul calls himself idiōtēs tō logō, "unskilled in speaking" by professional rhetorical standards. BDAG notes the use for non-members of religious associations. In 1 Cor 14:23–24 idiōtai are listed alongside, but distinct from, apistoi ("unbelievers").

From the study of 1 Corinthians 14:24

Range of meaning

A private person as opposed to an official. A layman as opposed to an expert or professional. An amateur. Someone uninitiated in a particular skill, cult or group. The meaning always depends on what the person is an outsider to (BDAG s.v. ἰδιώτης: "a person who is relatively unskilled or inexperienced in some activity or field of knowledge, layperson, amateur"; in 1 Cor 14 "one who is not a member of a group, outsider").

Against the English

KJV "unlearned" and WEB "unlearned" suggest a lack of education in general. BSB "uninstructed" is closer. ESV "outsider" catches the social position. NIV (2011) "inquirer" reads him as a seeker, which is an interpretation. NLT's "people who don't understand these things" keeps it relative to the meeting, which is accurate.

How it drifted

English "idiot" comes from this word (through Latin idiota, which is how the Vulgate translates this verse), but the Greek never meant stupid. KJV's "unlearned" now sounds like "uneducated". The Greek means not an insider to this.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Greek writers generally: the private citizen as opposed to the office-holder, or the layman as opposed to the doctor or orator. In Acts 4:13 Peter and John are "unlettered and idiōtai", meaning untrained in scribal learning, not dim. In 2 Cor 11:6 Paul calls himself an idiōtēs in speech, an amateur and not a trained orator. In Greek religious associations the word could mark someone who was not a member or initiate.

From the study of 2 Corinthians 11:6

Range of meaning

Basic sense: a "private person," from ἴδιος, "one's own." Senses in use: (1) a private citizen as against an office-holder or ruler; (2) a layman or non-specialist as against a trained professional, such as a doctor, soldier, philosopher or orator; (3) an outsider or uninitiated person as against members of a group (1 Cor 14:16, 23–24). It always gets its meaning from what it is contrasted with, and here that is a trained speaker.

Against the English

English versions say "unskilled" (WEB, ESV, NASB), "untrained" (NIV), "not a polished speaker" (BSB), "unlearned" (YLT) or "rude" (KJV). The modern English word "idiot" comes from this Greek word, by way of Latin idiota, "an uneducated person." But the Greek never meant mentally deficient. Of the English options, "amateur" or "layman" is closest.

How it drifted

Latin idiota already meant an unlettered person. In medieval and later English, "idiot" drifted from "uneducated layman" to "mentally deficient," and later to an insult. KJV "rude" meant "unpolished, untrained" in 1611, but today it sounds like "impolite."

Used elsewhere in the period

In Acts 4:13 the council sees Peter and John as ἀγράμματοι καὶ ἰδιῶται, "unlettered laymen," meaning without scribal training. Plato and Isocrates set the ἰδιώτης against the trained craftsman or orator. In the papyri it often means a private individual as against an official. Philo and Josephus use it for the non-expert. It was also a stock move among skilled speakers to call themselves amateurs: Socrates in Plato's Apology (17a–c) disowns any cleverness in speaking, and orators like Dio Chrysostom also called themselves mere laymen in speech.