Greek word · G790
ἀστατέω
astateō
be unsettled
From ἄστατος, 'unstable, unsettled' (a-, 'not', plus a root meaning 'stand'). It means to be without a fixed place, to wander, to have no settled home. The word suggests rootlessness and uncertainty.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ἀστατέω, -ῶ
(ἄστατος, unstable), [in Aq.: Isaiah 58:7 (LXX, ἄστεγος)* ;]
to be unsettled, be homeless, lead a vagabond life (Cremer, 738 MM, see word): 1 Corinthians 4:11 †
(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 4:11
- Range of meaning
From ἄστατος, 'unstable, unsettled' (a-, 'not', plus a root meaning 'stand'). It means to be without a fixed place, to wander, to have no settled home. The word suggests rootlessness and uncertainty.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB 'have no certain dwellingplace' and YLT 'wander about' are close. BSB, NIV, ESV and NASB 'homeless' is shorter and mostly right, but modern readers may picture urban street homelessness. The Greek is about being constantly unsettled and on the move without a home of one's own.
- How it drifted
The modern idea of 'homelessness' as a social category (sleeping rough, shelters) can colour the English word. Paul usually stayed with hosts (Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth, Acts 18:3; Gaius, Rom 16:23), so he means he had no settled household, not that he never had a roof.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Used only here in the New Testament and absent from the Septuagint. Related ἀκαταστασία ('disorder, unrest') appears in Paul's hardship list in 2 Cor 6:5. In wider Greek the word family describes instability or restless movement (LSJ, BDAG).
Where it appears
1 Corinthians · 1
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1 Corinthians 4:11 ἀστατοῦμεν wander homeless
To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
Here: Used only here in the New Testament. 'We have no settled place': always on the move, with no house of their own. The word suggests the uncertain, low standing of a drifter rather than a respected householder.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.