Greek word · G62

ἀγράμματος

agrammatos

unschooled

'Without grammata'. Grammata means letters of the alphabet, writings, and by extension learning.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἀγραυλέω, -ῶ

(ἀγραυλος, dwelling in the field; ἀγρός, αὐλή),

to live in the fields: Luke 2:8.†

(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 Acts 4:13

Range of meaning

'Without grammata'. Grammata means letters of the alphabet, writings, and by extension learning. The word can mean (1) unable to read or write; (2) without formal, literary education; or, in a Jewish setting, (3) without training in the Scriptures and their scholarly interpretation, which was the expertise of the 'scribes' (grammateis, from the same root) sitting on this council (4:5).

Against the English

KJV/WEB: 'unlearned'. BSB/NIV: 'unschooled'. ESV/NASB: 'uneducated'. NLT expands to 'no special training in the Scriptures', which commits to sense (3). YLT: 'unlettered', the closest to the Greek picture. None of these settles whether Luke means they could not read at all.

How it drifted

'Uneducated' can suggest to modern ears that someone is ignorant or unintelligent. The Greek describes lack of formal schooling, a matter of status and training, not mental ability.

Used elsewhere in the period

Plato, Timaeus 23b: after disasters the Greeks are left 'unlettered and uncultured' (agrammatous kai amousous). In the documentary papyri the word regularly marks someone who cannot sign their own name, so a scribe signs for them (studied in detail by T. J. Kraus, NTS 1999). Close New Testament parallel: John 7:15, where the Jerusalem authorities say of Jesus, 'How does this man know letters (grammata), having never studied?'

Where it appears

Acts · 1

  1. Acts 4:13 ἀγράμματοί unschooled

    When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.

    Here: Literally 'without grammata (letters, writings)'. They had no formal education in letters and had not been trained as scribes. In the papyri the word can mean someone who cannot write. See the study and the debate below.

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