Greek word · G36
ἀγενής
agenēs
lowly
The word is built from a- ("without") and genos ("birth, family, lineage"). In classical and Hellenistic Greek it can mean (1) "unborn" or "uncreated" in philosophical writing, but much more often (2) "of no family, low-born, ignoble": someone with no ancestry worth naming.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ἀγενής, -ές
(γένος),
1. unborn (Plat.);
2. of no family, ignoble, base (opposite to ἀγαθός, Soph., Fr., 105): opposite to εὐγενής, 1 Corinthians 1:28 (for exx. from π., see 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 1 Corinthians 1:28
- Range of meaning
The word is built from a- ("without") and genos ("birth, family, lineage"). In classical and Hellenistic Greek it can mean (1) "unborn" or "uncreated" in philosophical writing, but much more often (2) "of no family, low-born, ignoble": someone with no ancestry worth naming. It came to mean "mean" or "base" in the old social sense of low rank. Its opposite is eugenēs, "well-born, noble".
- Against the English
KJV and NASB "base" once meant "low in rank", but today it suggests moral vileness. BSB and WEB "lowly" and ESV "low" are safer, but they lose the specific point about birth and family. "Low-born" or "of no pedigree" comes closest.
- How it drifted
In 1611 English "base" still mostly meant low-born (as in "base-born"). Over time the word shifted toward moral corruption ("base motives"). A modern reader of the KJV may think Paul is calling believers wicked.
- Used elsewhere in the period
This is the only use in the New Testament. In Greek literature (see LSJ) it is the regular insult for a person of no family. The pairing with eugenēs reflects the status vocabulary of Greek and Roman cities, where birth fixed a person's honour. Paul has just used eugeneis in verse 26: "not many of you were well-born."
Where it appears
1 Corinthians · 1
-
1 Corinthians 1:28 ἀγενῆ low-born
He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,
Here: Literally "without birth" or "without family": people with no family line worth naming. It is the direct opposite of eugeneis, the "well-born" in verse 26. This is a word about social rank, not morals.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.