Bible Lexicons

ἀργός

(A), ή, όν,

I

1. shining, glistening, of a goose, Od. 15.161; of a sleek, well-fed ox, Il. 23.30; in Hom. mostly in the phrase πόδας ἀργοί, of hounds, swift-footed, because all swift motion causes a kind of glancing or flickering light, 18.578, Od. 2.11, etc.; κύνες ἀργοί Il. 1.50, 18.283, cf. D.S. 4.41, Corn. ND 16.

2. white, Arist. Top. 149a7.

II parox. as pr. n., Ἄργος, ὁ, name of a dog, Swift-foot, Od. 17.292: also of the herdsman Argus (i.e. bright-eyed, A. Pr. 567 (lyr.), Supp. 305) who was so called from his eyes being ever open and bright. (By dissimilation from Αργρός, cf. Skt. ṛjrá-, = (1) shining, (2) swift, Vedic pr. n. [Rnull ]ji-śvan-, lit. = possessing κύνες ἀργοί.)

ἀργός

(B), όν, later ή, όν Arist. EN 1167a11, Mete. 352a13, Thphr. Lap. 27, Ath.Mech. 12.11, etc.: (contr. from ἀεργός): — prop.

I

1. not working the ground, Hdt. 5.6; idle, lazy, opp. ἐργάτις, S. Ph. 97, cf. Ar. Nu. 53, etc.; γαστέρες ἀ. Epimenid. 1; ἀ. ἐπιθυμίαι Pl. R. 572e; ἀ. τὴν διάνοιαν ib. 458a; τὸ πρὸς ἅπαν ξυνετὸν ἐπὶ πᾶν ἀ. Th. 3.82; ἂν ἀ. ᾖ if he have no trade, Antiph. 123.3; πότερον ἀνθρώπου οὐδέν ἐστιν [ἔργον] ἀλλ' ἀργὸν πέφυκεν; Arist. EN 1097b30: c. gen. rei, idle at a thing, free from it, τῶν οἴκοθεν from domestic toils, E. IA 1000; πόνων σφοδρῶν Pl. Lg. 835d; γυναῖκας ἀργοὺς ταλασίας ib. 806a; ἀ. αἰσχρῶν slow to evil, A. Th. 411; ἀργότεραι ἐς τὸ δρᾶν τι Th. 7.67; ἀ. περί τι Pl. Lg. 966d.

2. of things, δόρυ E. Ph. 1387; of money, lying idle, yielding no return, opp. ἐνεργός, D. 27.7 and 20; of land, lying fallow, Isoc. 4.132, X. Cyr. 3.2.19, Thphr. HP 9.12.2; opp. πεφυτευμένος, IG 7.2226 B (Thisbe, iii A.D.); διατριβὴ ἀ. in which nothing is done, fruitless, Ar. Ra. 1498 (lyr.), Isoc. 4.44; χρόνον ἀργὸν διάγειν Plu. Cor. 31. Adv. ἀργῶς, ἐπιμέλεσθαι X. Mem. 2.4.7; ἔχειν D. 6.3: Comp. and Sup. ἀργότερον, -ότατα, X. Oec. 15.6 and 1. ἀ. λόγος, name of a sophism, Chrysipp.Stoic. 2.277, cf. Plu. 2.574e.

II Pass.,

1. unwrought, ἁρμός, κυμάτιον, IG 1.322b23,59; πυροὶ ἀ. unprepared for eating, Hp. VM 13; ἄργυρος Paus. 3.12.3; βύρσαι undressed hides, Ath.Mech. l.c.; unpolished, Thphr. Lap. 27.

2. not done, left undone, κοὐκ ἦν ἔτ' οὐδὲν ἀ. S. OC 1605; ἓν δ' ἐστὶν ἡμῖν ἀ. E. Ph. 766; οὐκ ἐν ἀργοῖς not among things neglected, S. OT 287; τὰ μὲν προβέβηκεν ἀμήχανόν ἐστι γενέσθαι ἀργά Thgn. 584.

3. unattempted, μάχη Pl. Euthd. 272a.

4. Astrol., τόπος ἀ., name of the 8t h of the 12 'houses', Ptol. Tetr. 128, Paul.Al. M. 4; πλανήτης Plot. 2.3.3; ζῴδιον S.E. M. 5.15.

ἀργός, ἀργόν, and in later writings from Aristotle, hist. anim. 10, 40 (vol. i., p. 627{a}, 15) on and consequently also in the N. T. with the feminine ἀργῇ, which among the early Greeks Epimenides alone is said to have used, Titus 1:12; cf. Lob. ad Phryn., p. 104f; id. Paralip., p. 455ff; Winers Grammar, 68 (67) (cf. 24; Buttmann, 25 (23)) (contracted from ἀεργός which Homer uses, from alpha privative and ἔργον without work, without labor, doing nothing), inactive, idle;

a. free from labor, at leisure (ἀργόν εἶναι, Herodotus 5, 6): Matthew 20:3, 6 (Rec.); 1 Timothy 5:13.

b. lazy, shunning the labor which one ought to perform (Homer, Iliad 9, 320 ὁ, τ' ἀεργός ἀνήρ, ὁ, τέ πολλά ἐοργως): πίστις, James 2:20 (L T Tr WH for R G νεκρά); γαστέρες ἀργαί i. e. idle gluttons, from Epimenides, Titus 1:12 (Nicet. ann. 7, 4, 135 d. εἰς ἀργᾷς γαστερας ὀχετηγησας); ἀργός καί ἄκαρπος εἰς τί, 2 Peter 1:8.

c. of things from which no profit is derived, although they can and ought to be productive; as of fields, trees, gold and silver, (cf. Grimm on Wis. 14:5; (Liddell and Scott, under the word I. 2)); unprofitable, ῤῆμα ἀργόν, by litotes equivalent to pernicious (see ἄκαρπος): Matthew 12:36. [SYNONYMS: ἀργός, βραδύς, νωθρός: ἀργός, idle, involving blameworthiness; βραδύς slow (tardy), having a purely temporal reference and no necessary bad sense; νωθρός sluggish, descriptive of constitutional qualities and suggestive of censure. Schmidt, chapter 49; Trench, § civ.]

ἀργός , -όν

(in late Gk., incl. NT, -ή , -όν ; <ἀ - neg., ἔργον ),

[in LXX: 1 Kings 6:7 (H4551), Wisdom of Solomon 14:5; Wisdom of Solomon 15:15, Sirach 37:11; Sirach 38:28 *;]

inactive, idle: Matthew 20:3; Matthew 20:6, 1 Timothy 5:13, Titus 1:12, 2 Peter 1:8. Metaph., of things, inactive, ineffective, worthless: ῥῆμα , Matthew 12:36; πίστις , James 2:20 (v. Cremer, 259 f.).†

SYN.: βραδύς G1021, slow; νωθρός G3576, sluggish (Tr., Syn., § civ).