νωθρός

From the study of Hebrews 5:11

Range of meaning

Sluggish, slow, lazy, slack, torpid. In Greek it describes a lack of drive or energy: slow animals, lethargic people, workers who do not put themselves out. Applied to learning, it means a student who does not engage, not necessarily a stupid one.

Against the English

KJV, ESV, NASB and BSB keep the old idiom 'dull of hearing'. NIV turns it into a behaviour: they 'no longer try to understand'. NLT calls them 'spiritually dull'. 'Dull' was a good match in older English, where it meant blunt or slow, but it has moved.

How it drifted

In modern English 'dull' mostly means boring or unintelligent ('a dull student'). Νωθρός is about lack of effort and attentiveness. It points to a fault of will and habit, not of mental ability.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint), Wisdom of Ben Sira 4:29 warns against being 'slack (νωθρός) and remiss in your deeds', and Proverbs 22:29 contrasts the skilled worker with sluggish men. Plato (Theaetetus 144b) uses the word for students who come to their studies sluggishly. The word appears in the New Testament only in Hebrews 5:11 and 6:12 ('so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises').

From the study of Hebrews 6:12

Range of meaning

Slow, sluggish, slack, dull. It is used of the body (slow-moving, heavy), the mind (slow to understand) and conduct (lazy, remiss). It is the opposite of being quick and keen.

Against the English

KJV and YLT say 'slothful', which makes it sound like one of the seven deadly sins. BSB, ESV and NASB say 'sluggish'. NIV says 'lazy'. NLT says 'spiritually dull and indifferent'. 'Sluggish' is closest: the word describes losing momentum, not a vice of character.

Used elsewhere in the period

The New Testament uses it only twice, both times in Hebrews (5:11; 6:12). In the Greek Old Testament: Proverbs 22:29 says a man quick in his work will stand before kings, not before sluggish men. Sirach 4:29 says do not be 'sluggish and slack in your deeds.' Sirach 11:12 speaks of someone 'sluggish' who needs help. In ordinary Greek it can describe slow animals or a dull mind.