What does ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs) mean in the Bible?
ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs) is a Greek word meaning "unlearned".
Greek · G2399
ἰδιώτης
Unlearned
Reading a lexicon entry
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ἰδιώτηςG2399
Pronunciationidiṓtēs
What does ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs) mean in the Bible?
ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs) is a Greek word meaning "unlearned".
Full entry for ἰδιώτης (G2399) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G2399?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include [I am] not a polished (1), ordinary (1), some who are uninstructed (1), uninstructed person (1), who is uninstructed (1).
Where does ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 4:13. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (3), 2 Corinthians (1), Acts (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It[I am] not a polished1×2 Corinthians 11:6
ordinary1×Acts 4:13
some who are uninstructed1×1 Corinthians 14:23
uninstructed person1×1 Corinthians 14:24
who is uninstructed1×1 Corinthians 14:16
Show sample aligned rows
Acts 4:13ἰδιῶταιtoordinaryNoun - Nominative Masculine Plural1 Corinthians 14:16ἰδιώτουtowho is uninstructedNoun - Genitive Masculine Singular1 Corinthians 14:23ἰδιῶταιtosome who are uninstructedNoun - Nominative Masculine Plural1 Corinthians 14:24ἰδιώτηςtouninstructed personNoun - Nominative Masculine Singular2 Corinthians 11:6ἰδιώτηςto[I am] not a polishedNoun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowActs 4:13
Aligned rows5
Books represented3
Acts11 Corinthians32 Corinthians1
Source forms
ἰδιῶται2xidiōtaiActs 4:13, 1 Corinthians 14:23
ἰδιώτης2xidiōtēs1 Corinthians 14:24, 2 Corinthians 11:6
ἰδιώτου1xidiōtou1 Corinthians 14:16
Parsing patterns
Noun - Nominative Masculine Plural2xActs 4:13, 1 Corinthians 14:23
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular2x1 Corinthians 14:24, 2 Corinthians 11:6
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular1x1 Corinthians 14:16
Evidence Summary
Greek word. unlearned
Strong'sG2399
Lexical occurrences5 versesGreek text appearances5 timesWord forms3 forms5 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Source Gloss
unlearned
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
(ἴδιος), [in LXX: Pro.6:8 (no Heb.)* ;]
1a private person, as opposite to the State or an official (βασιλεῖς κ. ἰδιῶται, Pr, l.with; and cf. MM, Exp., xv).
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Acts 4:13Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
ἰδιῶται,idiwtai
an amateur, layman
Read verse1 Corinthians 14:16Noun Genitive Singular Masculine
ἰδιώτουidiwtou
an amateur, layman
Read verse1 Corinthians 14:23Noun Nominative Plural Masculine
ἰδιῶταιidiwtai
an amateur, layman
Read verse1 Corinthians 14:24Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
ἰδιώτης,idiwthv
an amateur, layman
Read verse2 Corinthians 11:6Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
ἰδιώτηςidiwthv
an amateur, layman
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 3 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns3Aligned forms5Case patternNominative (4)Number patternSingular (3)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · MasculineActs 4:13 · 1 Cor 14:232×
Nominative · Singular · Masculine1 Cor 14:24 · 2 Cor 11:62×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine1 Cor 14:161×
Word Origins
ἰδιώτης is built from this root: