Greek word · G812

ἀτακτέω

atakteō

be idle

Built from a- ('not') plus tassō ('to put in order, assign a post'). Its basic meaning is 'to be out of order, out of rank'. From this comes a narrower everyday sense, attested in the papyri: 'to fail to turn up for work, to skive off'.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἀτακτέω -ῶ

(ἄτακτος),

primarily, of soldiers marching, to be out of order, to quit the ranks; hence, metaphorically, to be remiss, fail in the performance of duty (in π., of truancy on the part of an apprentice): 2 Thessalonians 3:7 (on ἀ. and its cognates, see M, Th., 152 ff.; MM, s.vv.).†

(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 2 Thessalonians 3:7

Range of meaning

Built from a- ('not') plus tassō ('to put in order, assign a post'). Its basic meaning is 'to be out of order, out of rank'. It is used of soldiers who break ranks or leave their post, of citizens who neglect their civic duties, and more broadly of anyone who does not do what is properly required of them. From this comes a narrower everyday sense, attested in the papyri: 'to fail to turn up for work, to skive off'.

Against the English

KJV and YLT say 'behaved disorderly' or 'act disorderly', BSB and NASB 'undisciplined', WEB 'rebelliously', and NIV, ESV and NLT 'idle'. 'Disorderly' and 'undisciplined' keep the root picture of being out of line. 'Idle' keeps the specific application in this chapter but drops the idea that a duty is being defied. 'Rebelliously' makes it sound more openly defiant than the word itself does.

How it drifted

Two opposite drifts. Modern 'disorderly' suggests noise, rowdiness or mess ('disorderly conduct'), which is not the point. Modern 'idle' suggests mere laziness or having nothing to do. The Greek word is about failing to do one's duty, a breach of the order one belongs to. In this context the duty breached is working for one's own living.

Used elsewhere in the period

Classical writers, Xenophon among them, use the word group of soldiers leaving their ranks. In the Oxyrhynchus papyri, apprenticeship contracts use ἀτακτέω for days an apprentice fails to show up for work, days that must be made up (P.Oxy. 275, AD 66; P.Oxy. 725, 2nd century). George Milligan's 1908 commentary used these to argue for the sense 'play the truant'. C. Spicq (Theological Lexicon of the NT) and BDAG keep the broader sense 'be out of order, neglect duty', with idleness as the concrete case. In the NT the word group appears only in the Thessalonian letters: ἄτακτοι in 1 Thess 5:14, ἀτάκτως in 2 Thess 3:6 and 3:11, and here.

Where it appears

2 Thessalonians · 1

  1. 2 Thessalonians 3:7 ἠτακτήσαμεν we were idle

    For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not undisciplined among you,

    Here: Literally 'we did not step out of line'. The word means failing to keep one's assigned place or duty. Verses 8–10 show which duty is meant here: the ordinary duty of earning one's own bread. So 'idle' captures the specific application, and 'undisciplined' or 'out of line' captures the root picture.

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