βάρβᾰρος G0915
A foreigner, non-Greek speaker; anyone outside Greco-Roman linguistic and cultural identity.
Barbaros originally imitated the sound of incomprehensible speech -- 'bar-bar' -- and designated anyone who did not speak Greek. In the NT, the word appears without the pejorative modern sense of 'barbaric.' The Maltese natives are called barbaroi simply because they spoke neither Greek nor Latin (Acts 28:2, 4), and Paul pairs 'Greeks and barbarians' as a comprehensive merism for all humanity (Rom 1:14). In 1 Cor 14:11, Paul uses it pointedly: if you cannot understand the language being spoken, speaker and hearer are 'foreigners' to each other. The word thus illuminates the early church's multilingual, cross-cultural reality.
Senses
1. foreigner, non-Greek speaker — A person who does not speak Greek -- a foreigner or cultural outsider from the Greco-Roman perspective. The term carried no inherent moral judgment in antiquity; it was primarily a linguistic classification. In Acts 28:2 and 28:4, the Maltese are 'barbaroi' because they spoke a Punic dialect, yet Luke praises their 'unusual kindness.' Paul's merism 'Greeks and barbarians, wise and foolish' (Rom 1:14) uses the pair as shorthand for all humanity. In 1 Cor 14:11, 'barbarian' describes the mutual incomprehension between speakers of different tongues. Spanish 'nativos/barbaro,' English 'foreigner/barbarian/natives' reflect the range between neutral and culturally marked renderings. 6×
AR["-البَرابِرَةُ", "أعجَمِيًّا", "أعجَمِيٌّ", "بَرابِرَةُ", "بَربَرِيٌّ", "لِلْبَرابِرَةِ"]·ben["বর্বর", "বর্বরদের,", "বর্বরেরা", "বিদেশী;", "বিদেশী।"]·DE["Barbaren", "βάρβαροι"]·EN["a-foreigner", "barbarian", "natives", "to-barbarians"]·FR["Barbaren", "barbare"]·heb["בַּרְבָּר", "בַּרְבָּרִי", "בַּרְבָּרִים"]·HI["बरबर", "बर्बर", "बर्बरों", "बर्बरोंने", "विदेशी"]·ID["orang asing", "orang-asing,", "orang-asing.", "orang-asing;", "penduduk-asli"]·IT["barbaro", "barbaros"]·jav["pribumi", "tiyang-Barbara,", "tiyang-manca", "wong-manca"]·KO["야만인", "야만인들에게", "원주민들이", "이방인이"]·PT["bárbaro", "bárbaro.", "bárbaro;", "bárbaros", "nativos"]·RU["варвар", "варварам", "варваром", "варвары"]·ES["a-bárbaros", "bárbaro", "nativos"]·SW["Washenzi,", "mgeni", "mshenzi", "washenzi"]·TR["Barbarlara", "asılı-duran", "barbar", "barbarlar"]·urd["اجنبی", "بربریوں", "بربریوں-نے", "غیر-قوموں-کا", "غیر-مہذب"]
Related Senses
H5971a 1. people, nation (1836×)H5973a 1. accompaniment, together with (956×)H0854 1. with (accompaniment) (665×)H1471a 1. nations, peoples (plural/collective) (466×)G3326 1. with (368×)H1285 1. covenant, pact, treaty (284×)G2453 1. Jewish person, Jew (194×)H4150 1. meeting (tent of meeting) (151×)G2992 1. people/nation (an ethnic or political community) (142×)G4862 1. (129×)G1484 1. Gentiles, non-Jewish nations (128×)H1471a 2. nation, people-group (singular) (98×)H3162b 1. together (97×)H1616 1. sojourner, resident alien (92×)H0567 1. Amorite (people group) (87×)H3064 1. Jew, Jewish person (81×)H3669a 1. Canaanite (ethnic designation) (70×)G1122 1. scribe / expert in the Law (63×)H2114a 1. stranger, foreigner (person) (54×)H5608b 1. scribe, royal secretary (48×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
βάρβᾰρος, ον, barbarous, i.e. non-Greek, foreign, not in Refs 8th c.BC+; especially as substantive βάρβαροι, οἱ, originally all non-Greek-speaking peoples, then specially of the Medes and Persians, Refs 5th c.BC+; β. πόλεμον war with the barbarians, Refs 5th c.BC+; ἡ βάρβαρος (i.e. γῆ), opposed to αἱ Ἑλληνίδες πόλεις, Refs 5th c.BC+ adverb -ρως, opposed to Ἑλληνικῶς,Refs 3rd c.AD+ __2 especially…