ἄτιμος

From the study of Matthew 13:57

Range of meaning

Without timē (honor, worth, public esteem). It covers being dishonored, despised, held in low regard, or of no account. In Athenian law, atimia was a formal loss of civic rights. In general use it describes someone denied the recognition their status calls for (BDAG: 'without honor, dishonored, despised').

Against the English

Every major English version says "without honor" or (NLT) turns it into "is honored everywhere except." The translation is accurate, but modern readers may take "honor" as private respect or personal integrity.

How it drifted

In the Mediterranean world, honor was a person's public worth: claimed by them and acknowledged by the community. It mattered for marriage, trade and standing. Modern Western "honor" is more individual and inward. So "without honor" can sound like mere unpopularity rather than social demotion.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used in the Septuagint (e.g. Isa 3:5; 53:3 in some forms of the tradition, "despised"). Elsewhere in the NT only in Mark 6:4 (the parallel) and 1 Cor 4:10; 12:23. Classical writers use it for disenfranchised or disgraced people.

From the study of 1 Corinthians 4:10

Range of meaning

Without honor (a- 'without' + timē 'honor, value, worth'); dishonored, disgraced, of no account. In classical Athenian law atimia meant formal loss of citizen rights, a civic non-person.

Against the English

BSB, NIV and WEB have 'dishonored/dishonor,' NASB 'without honor,' and KJV 'despised.' KJV's 'despised' points modern readers toward being hated, an emotion. The Greek means lacking honor and standing: disregarded and treated as nobodies, which is colder and more about social rank.

How it drifted

'Despised' in modern English stresses active loathing. The Greek describes a position on the honor scale, not the feelings of the people who look down on you.

Used elsewhere in the period

Mark 6:4: 'a prophet is not without honor (atimos) except in his hometown.' In 1 Cor 12:23 Paul speaks of 'less honorable' (atimotera) body parts. In the LXX, Isa 53:3 describes the Servant's appearance as 'without honor' (atimon); this may be a deliberate echo, though it is not certain.

From the study of Mark 6:4

Range of meaning

Built from a- ("without") + timē ("honor, value, price, public esteem"). It means without honor, unhonored, slighted, held cheap, treated with contempt. In classical Athens atimia was a legal status: loss of citizen rights, a kind of public erasure. More broadly it describes anyone or anything not given its due worth in the eyes of others. Honor (timē) in the ancient Mediterranean was a person's publicly recognized worth: the standing others grant you and act on.

Against the English

"Without honor" is a correct rendering, but in modern English "a man without honor" usually means someone with no integrity: a liar or a cheat. The Greek means nothing like that here. It describes how others treat him: he is denied the respect a prophet would normally get. The NLT turns the sentence positive ("honored everywhere except"), which keeps the sense but drops the double negative.

How it drifted

In modern English "honor" has shifted from public standing given by the community toward private moral integrity ("honor" as personal uprightness), so "without honor" can sound like a judgment of character.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the LXX (the Greek Old Testament), Isaiah 3:5 sets "the dishonored man" (ho atimos) against "the honored" (ton entimon), contrasting social rank. LXX Isaiah 53:3 says the servant's appearance was atimon, "held in no esteem." In the New Testament, Paul writes "we are atimoi" ("we are in disrepute," 1 Corinthians 4:10), the opposite of being held in honor, and speaks of body parts "we think less honorable" (1 Corinthians 12:23). Matthew 13:57 keeps the same word in its parallel; John 4:44 uses the noun: a prophet "has no timē" in his own homeland.