Idle
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The Greek adjective argos describes someone not presently working or something inactive, ineffective, careless, or unproductive. In Jesus' vineyard parable, laborers stand without work because no one has hired them, not because the text first identifies them as lazy.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἀργός (G692) · Open the biblical lexicon
The Greek adjective argos describes someone not presently working or something inactive, ineffective, careless, or unproductive. In Jesus' vineyard parable, laborers stand without work because no one has hired them, not because the text first identifies them as lazy.
The BSB source-word alignment has 8 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include doing nothing (2), [to be] idle (1), careless (1), idle (1), ineffective (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 12:36. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (3), 1 Timothy (2), 2 Peter (1), James (1).
The Greek adjective argos describes someone not presently working or something inactive, ineffective, careless, or unproductive. In Jesus' vineyard parable, laborers stand without work because no one has hired them, not because the text first identifies them as lazy. Jesus also speaks of careless words, James calls workless faith ineffective, and Peter says growing virtues keep believers from being ineffective or unfruitful.
Other passages address harmful patterns of idleness in a particular household and repeat a hostile cultural saying that Titus must confront in Crete. The word should not become a label for unemployed, disabled, ill, retired, grieving, caregiving, underpaid, or excluded people. Paid employment is not the only form of meaningful service, and limited output does not determine human worth.
Responsible teaching distinguishes lack of opportunity from refusal of responsibility, and distinguishes restorative rest from destructive inactivity. It challenges careless speech and empty profession while protecting dignity, fair work, material support, and realistic capacity.
Argos can describe people without current work, careless speech, inactive faith, ineffective character, or damaging idleness. The grammatical object and social setting determine whether the concern is opportunity, conduct, speech, or fruitfulness.
About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.
The landowner finds laborers standing without work in the marketplace and later hires them for the vineyard.
About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked.
The late-day workers explain that they remain without work because no one has hired them.
But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
Jesus warns that people will give account for careless words within teaching about speech revealing the heart.
At the same time they will also learn to be idle, going from house to house and being not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, discussing things they should not mention.
Paul describes a specific pattern in which some younger widows learn idleness and harmful speech while going from house to house.
O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless?
James argues that faith without works is ineffective within his case against partiality and empty profession.
For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Growing Christian qualities keep believers from being ineffective and unfruitful in knowing Jesus Christ.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Inactive or unproductive; applied to persons, things, or even faith when lacking corresponding action or effect.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
8 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
idle, lazy, thoughtless
Read verseidle, lazy, thoughtless
Read verseidle, lazy, thoughtless
Read verseidle, lazy, thoughtless
Read verseidle, lazy, thoughtless
Read verseidle, lazy, thoughtless
Read verseidle, lazy, thoughtless
Read verseidle, lazy, thoughtless
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.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 5 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.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 8 lexical occurrence verses.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Argos is not a single verdict on human value. In Matthew 20, the workers remain in the marketplace because no one has hired them. The parable centers the landowner's generosity and warns against resentful comparison; it should not be used to accuse unemployed people of laziness. Matthew 12 directs the word toward careless speech in a conflict about what words reveal.
That warning calls for truthful responsibility without producing obsessive fear over every involuntary thought, speech disability, translation error, or trauma response. First Timothy addresses a specified pattern involving some younger widows, not the moral status of all women, all widows, or all people supported by the church. James describes faith without works as ineffective because genuine trust becomes visible in merciful action, yet works do not purchase salvation or make high-output people more valuable.
Second Peter likewise joins fruitfulness to growing Christian qualities rather than constant busyness. Titus 1 quotes a Cretan saying in a corrective pastoral argument; it cannot authorize ethnic caricature. Faithful application supplies opportunity, fair pay, rest, accommodation, and care while naming gossip, exploitation, empty promises, and refused responsibility honestly.
A person's worth rests in God's creation and grace, not employment status, speed, income, or measurable ministry output.
Matt.20.6
Argos is a Greek adjective formed with a negative element and ergon, work. Depending on what it modifies, it can mean unemployed, inactive, ineffective, careless, or unproductive rather than supplying one uniform accusation of laziness.
Proverbs and other Old Testament texts address sloth, diligent labor, rest, speech, poverty, and oppression through distinct Hebrew terms. Canonical synthesis should hold personal responsibility together with justice and compassion without treating every term as equivalent.