ἀργός

From the study of James 2:20

Range of meaning

Formed from a- ('not') + ergon ('work'), so literally 'not working'. Meanings: idle, unemployed, at leisure; of land or money, lying unused and producing nothing; by extension useless, ineffective, and sometimes lazy.

Against the English

BSB 'worthless' and NIV/ESV/NASB 'useless' get the result right but lose the pun and the picture of something sitting idle. KJV/WEB/YLT 'dead' translate a different manuscript reading (νεκρά).

Used elsewhere in the period

In Matt 20:3, 6 it describes the labourers standing 'idle' in the marketplace. In Matt 12:36 it is the 'careless/idle word'. In 2 Pet 1:8 believers are not to be 'idle or unfruitful'. In 1 Tim 5:13 it means 'idlers'. In Wisdom 14:5 it describes 'idle' (useless) works. Greek papyri use it for fallow land and for workers without employment.

From the study of Matthew 12:36

Range of meaning

Formed from a- ('not') + ergon ('work'). Its senses in this period:

• Not working, unemployed: the laborers standing 'idle' in the marketplace, Matt 20:3, 6.
• Lazy, shirking work: 'lazy gluttons', Titus 1:12; idle young widows, 1 Tim 5:13.
• Unproductive, useless, ineffective: 'faith without works is argē', James 2:20; 'not argous or unfruitful', 2 Pet 1:8.

Applied to land, money or tools, it means lying unused and producing nothing.

Against the English

KJV/WEB/YLT say 'idle', from the Vulgate otiosum by way of Wycliffe and Tyndale. BSB, ESV and NASB say 'careless'. NIV (2011) says 'empty'. 'Idle' keeps the 'not working' root, but modern ears hear 'idle chatter' or small talk. 'Careless' moves the focus to the speaker's lack of attention. 'Empty' is close to 'useless'. None of them fully keeps the agricultural and economic picture: a word that does no work and bears no fruit.

How it drifted

English 'idle word' became a fixed phrase for frivolous talk, jokes and gossip. Moral writing after the Church Fathers often applied the verse to jesting. That use is not baseless, but it narrows a word whose core is 'producing nothing good' to 'unserious'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Classical and Hellenistic Greek use argos of fallow land, idle money, slaves without work, and laws that are not enforced. In the Septuagint, Sirach 37:11 speaks of an argos (idle) worker, and Wisdom 14:5 says God wills that the works of his wisdom not be arga (useless). Jerome (Commentary on Matthew, on 12:36) defined the verbum otiosum as a word 'spoken without usefulness to speaker or hearer'.

From the study of 1 Timothy 5:13

Range of meaning

From a- ('not') + ergon ('work'). Its meanings: (1) not working, unemployed, with nothing to do; (2) lazy, shirking work; (3) useless, ineffective, producing nothing.

Against the English

English 'idle' fits well, but today it can sound like simple leisure or relaxing. The Greek stresses having no productive role. That is a social and moral problem in a world where everyone was expected to belong to a household and work in it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Matthew 20:3, 6: labourers 'standing idle' in the marketplace because no one hired them. Matthew 12:36: 'every careless (argon) word'. Titus 1:12, quoting the Cretan poet: 'lazy (argai) gluttons'. James 2:20: faith without works is argē, 'useless'. In general Greek it is common for fields left unworked and for men without employment.