ἀγενής (agenēs)
agenēs
lowly
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The adjective agenēs describes someone who is low-born or of no distinguished family. Formed from a negative prefix and the word for "race" or "kindred," it literally means without lineage. In classical Greek, it served as the direct opposite of eugenes, which denoted noble birth. The sources note this contrast explicitly, highlighting how social status was defined by ancestry.
This term appears only once in the New Testament, in 1 Corinthians 1:28. Paul uses it to describe those God chooses from the world’s perspective as insignificant or base. By selecting the lowly and despised, God confounds the wise and powerful, overturning human standards of honor with divine logic.
The word carries a sharp social edge in its original context. It does not merely mean humble in spirit but refers to actual lack of pedigree. Paul’s choice of this specific term underscores that God’s call often bypasses those with inherited prestige, favoring instead those with no social capital to offer.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word agenēs points to a person of low birth or no distinguished family line. In the ancient world, your ancestors determined your social standing. To be called without lineage was to have no status at all. Paul uses this specific term in 1 Corinthians 1:28 to describe those God chooses from the world’s perspective as insignificant.
This truth offers deep comfort when you feel overlooked or undervalued. Human systems often reward pedigree, wealth, and power. God’s kingdom operates on a different logic. He actively selects those with no social capital to confound the wise and powerful of this age. Your lack of worldly prestige does not disqualify you; it may be exactly where God sees potential for His work.
When you feel small in the eyes of society, remember that God’s choice is not bound by human hierarchies. He looks past external markers to see the heart. This inversion of status reminds us that our worth comes from being chosen by Him, not from what we inherit or achieve on our own.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- low-born1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- ἀγενῆ1×
Key Verses
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I Corinthians 1:28
God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing the things that exist,
Paul uses this rare term to highlight how God deliberately selects those with no social standing to overturn human expectations of power and wisdom.