ὄνειδος

From the study of Luke 1:25

Range of meaning

Reproach, insult, disgrace, a reason for being spoken against. In Greek it can mean the cutting words people say (taunts, reproaches) or the shameful condition that draws them. It is a word about public reputation, about honor and shame.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT have "reproach"; BSB and NASB have "disgrace"; NLT spells it out as the disgrace of childlessness. Today "reproach" sounds old-fashioned. "Disgrace" can suggest a person brought shame on herself through bad behavior, which the Greek does not imply here.

How it drifted

Modern English "disgrace" tends to mean shame you have earned. The ancient word was about how you stood in the community's eyes, whatever the cause.

Used elsewhere in the period

This is the only time the word appears in the New Testament. In the Greek Old Testament it often translates Hebrew ḥerpāh (חֶרְפָּה, "reproach, scorn"). Most important is Genesis 30:23, where Rachel says when she conceives: Aphelen ho theos mou to oneidos, "God has taken away my reproach." Luke's wording follows hers closely. Compare 1 Samuel 1:6–7, where Hannah's rival taunts her for being childless, and Isaiah 4:1 and 54:4, where shame and childlessness or widowhood go together.

From the study of Psalm 151 1:7

Range of meaning

Public disgrace or shame; the taunt or insult that causes it; the state of being an object of mockery. In the Greek Old Testament it usually translates Hebrew ḥerpah, a word for the scorn heaped on someone who seems abandoned, defeated or cursed: a childless woman, a conquered city, an army that will not fight.

Against the English

Brenton and WEB keep the older English word 'reproach'. Some modern translations use 'disgrace' or 'shame', which is closer. In today's English 'reproach' usually means a rebuke or criticism ('a reproachful look'), and that misses the sense of a whole community being publicly humiliated.

How it drifted

In older English 'reproach' meant disgrace or shame, as in 'a reproach among the nations'. Over time the noun narrowed toward 'criticism or blame', so the KJV-style word now sounds milder and more personal than the original.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 30:23 (Greek), where Rachel says 'God has taken away my oneidos' after bearing a son. Luke 1:25, where Elizabeth speaks of God taking away 'my oneidos among people'. In the Greek of 1 Samuel 17 the Philistine 'reproached' (ōneidisa, the related verb) the ranks of Israel (17:10, 36, 45). In the Hebrew of 17:26 David asks what will be done for the man who 'takes away the reproach (ḥerpah) from Israel'. Taking away reproach was a fixed biblical expression.