ἄμεμπτος G0273
Blameless, without fault or reproach; describing a person or thing that is beyond legitimate criticism.
An alpha-privative compound (a- + memptos, 'blamed'), this adjective describes someone against whom no charge can be sustained. Luke applies it to Zechariah and Elizabeth walking in all the Lord's commandments (Luke 1:6), while Paul uses it both of his own pre-conversion Torah observance (Phil 3:6) and as an eschatological aspiration for believers (1 Thess 3:13). The multilingual glosses—Spanish 'irreprensible,' French 'irréprochable,' German 'untadelig'—all converge on the notion of being beyond reproach, though the Hebrews 8:7 usage applies the concept to the old covenant itself rather than to persons.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Without blame or fault, beyond legitimate criticism. In its personal sense it describes those whose conduct invites no reproach—Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:6), Paul's Pharisaic righteousness (Phil 3:6), and the eschatological holiness believers are to attain (1 Thess 3:13, Phil 2:15). The Hebrews 8:7 occurrence extends the concept to the first covenant: had it been amemptos, no second would have been needed. Spanish 'irreprensible' and French 'irréprochable' capture the legal nuance of being beyond formal accusation, while German 'untadelig' emphasizes the absence of anything worthy of censure. 5×
AR["بِلا-لَوْمٍ", "بِلَا-عَيْبٍ", "بِلَا-لَوْمٍ"]·ben["নিন্দাহীন", "নির্দোষ"]·DE["untadelig", "ἄμεμπτοι"]·EN["blameless", "faultless"]·FR["irréprochable"]·heb["חֲסְרֵי-דֹפִי", "חֲסַר-מוּם.", "לְלֹא-דֹפִי", "תְּמִימִים"]·HI["निरदोश", "निरदोश.", "निर्दोष", "निर्दोष,"]·ID["tanpa cela", "tanpa-cacat", "tanpa-cela"]·IT["amemptoi", "amemptos", "amemptous"]·jav["tanpa-cacad", "tanpa-cacad.", "tanpa-cacat"]·KO["흠-없는", "흠-없는.", "흠-없이", "흠없는"]·PT["irrepreensíveis", "irrepreensível", "sem-defeito"]·RU["безупречны", "безупречным", "непорочные", "непорочный", "непорочными"]·ES["irreprensible", "irreprensibles", "sin-falta"]·SW["bila-lawama", "lisilo-na-kosa"]·TR["kusursuz"]·urd["بے-عیب"]
Related Senses
H2896a 1. good (quality or moral) (305×)H7563 1. wicked person (259×)H7451c 1. moral evil or wickedness (234×)H5771 1. iniquity, sin, wrongdoing (222×)H6662 1. righteous person (substantive) (195×)G0266 1. sin, failure, transgression (173×)H2403b 1. sin, transgression (170×)H2617a 1. Covenant faithfulness, steadfast love (167×)H2398 1. Qal: to sin, commit sin (165×)H6666 1. righteousness, moral uprightness (145×)G5485 1. grace, divine favor (141×)H7451a 1. morally evil, wicked (129×)H2403b 2. sin-offering, sacrifice for sin (120×)G2570 1. good, right, excellent (98×)H6588 1. transgression, offense against God (88×)G0018 1. good (moral quality) (85×)H2896b 1. good, what is good (85×)H7451b 1. evil, wickedness (moral) (83×)H7451a 2. evil, harm, calamity (80×)G1342 1. righteous, upright (of persons) (70×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἄμεμπτος, ον, blameless, without reproach, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἄ. χρόνου in regard of time, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἄ. ἐκείνῃ without blame to her, Refs 1st c.AD+: comparative -ότερος less blameworthy, Refs 1st c.AD+ __2 of things, perfect in its kind, δεῖπνονRefs 5th c.BC+. adverb -τως irreproachably, Refs 5th c.BC+ __II active, not blaming, well content, ἄμεμπτόν τινα ποιεῖν or ποιεῖσθαι, Refs 5th c.BC+adverb -τως, δέχεσθαί τιναRefs