Greek word · G35

ἀγενεαλόγητος

agenealogētos

without genealogy

'Not reckoned in a genealogy; without a recorded line of descent.' It comes from genealogeō, 'to trace a family line', with the negating a- in front. It is extremely rare before Hebrews and may have been coined by the author.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἀγενεαλόγητος, -ον

(γενεαλογέω),

without genealogy, i.e. without recorded pedigree (cf. Nehemiah 7:64): Hebrews 7:3 (Cremer, 152; MM, VGT, see word).†

(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 Hebrews 7:3

Range of meaning

'Not reckoned in a genealogy; without a recorded line of descent.' It comes from genealogeō, 'to trace a family line', with the negating a- in front. It is extremely rare before Hebrews and may have been coined by the author.

Against the English

BSB, WEB, YLT and the NASB give 'without genealogy'. KJV 'without descent' meant 'without pedigree' in 1611, but today it can be misheard as 'without descendants'. The NLT turns the list into 'no record of his father or mother', which spells out what the author means but removes the deliberate ambiguity of the original words.

Used elsewhere in the period

No secure use earlier than Hebrews. The verb it comes from appears in 7:6: Melchizedek is ho mē genealogoumenos ex autōn, 'the one whose descent is not traced from them' (the sons of Levi). The idea itself is well attested. Priests who could not find their genealogical record were excluded from the priesthood (Ezra 2:61–63; Neh 7:63–65). Josephus says priestly families kept public archives of descent, even in Egypt and Babylon (Against Apion 1.30–36; Life 1–6).

Where it appears

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 7:3 ἀγενεαλόγητος, without genealogy,

    Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time.

    Here: 'Without a recorded family tree.' This is the key to the first two words: the point is that no pedigree is on record. Verse 6 picks the idea up again: he 'does not trace his descent from them' (the Levites).

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