Babbler
σπερμολόγος/BAB-ler/
“Seed-picker, one who gathers scraps”
Summary
A contemptuous term used by Athenian philosophers to mock Paul, comparing him to a bird picking up scraps of knowledge.
☩The Athenian Insult
When Paul preached in Athens, some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers dismissed him with the contemptuous Greek word spermologos, meaning 'seed-picker.' The term was originally used for birds like crows that pick up seeds, then applied to loafers in marketplaces who made a living by what they could scavenge. Applied to Paul, it implied he was an 'ignorant plagiarist' who retailed odds and ends of knowledge picked up from others without truly understanding them.
Key verses:Acts 17:18
References
- 1.James Orr (ed.), "Babbler," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 2.James Hastings (ed.), "Babbler," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).