ἀργυροῦς
made of silver
Definition
The adjective ἀργυροῦς means 'made of silver' or 'silvery.' It describes objects crafted from the precious metal silver, emphasizing their material composition rather than their function. In the New Testament, it is used exclusively to denote physical items, such as the silver shrines of Artemis in Acts 19:24, the silver vessels in 2 Timothy 2:20, and the idols of silver in Revelation 9:20. There are no extended metaphorical meanings; its usage is consistently literal across all occurrences.
Biblical Usage
ἀργυροῦς appears three times in the New Testament, each in a distinct context that highlights the material value and cultural significance of silver objects. In Acts 19:24, it describes the silver shrines of the goddess Artemis, which were a source of income for silversmiths in Ephesus. In 2 Timothy 2:20, it refers to vessels made of silver within a metaphor about household items, contrasting them with those of gold, wood, and clay. In Revelation 9:20, it is used for idols made of silver, part of a list of materials in a condemnation of idolatry. All instances are in descriptive, non-theological contexts.
Etymology
Derived from the noun ἄργυρος (argyros, G693), meaning 'silver.' The suffix -οῦς forms an adjective indicating 'made of' or 'pertaining to' the base material, similar to other adjectives like χρυσοῦς (chrysoys, 'made of gold'). It has no connection to the prefix ἀ- (meaning 'not'); that is a common misconception. The root is related to the Indo-European word for silver, seen in Latin 'argentum.'
Semantic Range
In the ancient Greco-Roman world, silver was a valuable commodity used for currency, jewelry, and religious artifacts. Silver objects like shrines (Acts 19:24) or idols (Revelation 9:20) represented wealth and religious devotion, often associated with pagan worship. Understanding this helps modern readers grasp the economic and religious stakes in passages like Acts 19, where the gospel threatened the silver-based trade of idol-making.
ἄργυρος (argyros, G693) — the noun 'silver,' the material itself, whereas ἀργυροῦς is the adjective 'made of silver.' χρυσοῦς (chrysoys, G5552) — 'made of gold,' a parallel adjective for another precious metal.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Dodson Greek-English Lexicon, a concise public-domain resource suitable for introductory word study. Brief glosses are supplemented by STEPBible TBESG data (CC BY 4.0). For advanced research, standard scholarly references include BDAG (Danker, 3rd ed.) and LSJ.
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