"unwise, inconsiderate, simple, foolish, Lk. 11:40; 12:20; 1 Cor. 15:36; ignorant, religiously unenlightened, Rom. 2:20; Eph. 5:17; 1 Pet. 2:15; boastfully foolish, vain, 2 Cor. 11:16, 19"
Definition and meaning
unwise, inconsiderate, simple, foolish, Lk. 11:40; 12:20; 1 Cor. 15:36; ignorant, religiously unenlightened, Rom. 2:20; Eph. 5:17; 1 Pet. 2:15; boastfully foolish, vain, 2 Cor. 11:16, 19
In the original Greek the word is written: ἄφρων
Historical context
Luke wrote as a historian addressing a Greek audience. He carefully interviewed eyewitnesses and arranged events in order. The social and economic realities he describes — Roman taxation, Jewish religious hierarchy, the marginalization of women and the poor — are consistent with first-century Judea under Roman administration.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of aphron (G878) across the King James Bible.
Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little.
For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.
For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.
I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
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Common questions
Strong's G878 (aphron) is a Greek word that means: unwise, inconsiderate, simple, foolish, Lk. 11:40; 12:20; 1 Cor. 15:36; ignorant, religiously unenlightened, Rom. 2:20; Eph. 5:17; 1 Pet. 2:15; boastfully foolish, vain, 2 Cor. 11:16, 19 It appears 10 times in the King James Bible.
The word aphron (G878) appears 10 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G878 is aphron, a Greek word defined as: unwise, inconsiderate, simple, foolish, Lk. 11:40; 12:20; 1 Cor. 15:36; ignorant, religiously unenlightened, Rom. 2:20; Eph. 5:17; 1 Pet. 2:15; boastf. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
aphron is a Greek word found in the New Testament.