ἄσημος, ἄσημον (σῆμα a mark), unmarked or unstamped (money); unknown, of no mark, insignificant, ignoble: Act_21:39. (3Ma_1:3; in Greek writings from Herodotus down; tropically, from Euripides, down.)

ἄσημος asēmos 1x pr. not marked; met. not noted, not remarkable, unknown to fame, ignoble, mean, inconsiderable, Act_21:39

ἄσημος , -ον ( < σῆμα , a mark ), [in LXX : Gen_30:42 ( H5848 ), Job_42:11 , 3Ma_1:3 * ;] without mark (in Papyri of an uncircumcised boy: Deiss ., BS, 153; MM , s.v. ). Metaph . ( MM , s.v. ), unknown, obscure: litotes, οὐκ ἄ ( Eur ., al. ), πόλις , Act_21:39 .†

ἄσημος [page 84] This word occurs perpetually in the papyri to denote a man who is not distinguished from his neighbours by the convenient scars on eyebrow or arm or right shin which identify so many individuals in formal documents. Thus in P Oxy I. 73 .28 f. (A.D. 94) a slave is described as μελίχρωτ [α μακρ ]οπ [ρ ]όσωπον ἄσημον , and similarly in P Fay 28 .13 f. (A.D. 150 1) (= Selections , p. 82) the parents in giving notice of the birth of a son sign themselves Ἰσχυρ ]ᾶς (ἐτῶν ) μ̄δ̄ ἄσημος Θαισάριον (ἐτῶν ) κ̄δ ἄσημος . From the fact that in BGU I. 347 (ii/A.D.), an as yet uncircumcised boy is twice described as ἄσημος Deissmann ( BS p. 153) conjectures that ἄ . may have been the technical term for uncircumcised among the Greek Egyptians, but cites Krebs ( Philologus liii. p. 586), who interprets it rather as = free from bodily marks owing to the presence of which circumcision was forborne : cf. Preisigke 16 .15 (A.D. 155 6), where formal enquiry is made as to a priest s sons, εἴ τινα σημεῖ [α ἔχουσιν , and leave for circumcision is apparently given if these signs are not conspicuous (Wilcken Archiv v. p. 435 f.). In BGU I. 22 .32 (A.D. 114) (= Selections , p. 76) a pair of silver bracelets are described as of ἀσήμου unstamped silver, and the same epithet is applied to a δακτυριτρι ω , apparently some kind of a ring, in P Lond 193 verso .4 (ii/A.D.) (= II. p. 245). So Syll 586 .72 (early iv/B.C., Athens) ἀργύριον σύμμεικτον ἄσημον , weighing so much, followed by χρυσίον ἄσημον , so much. The word became technical in commerce, so that Middle Persian borrowed it as as+m silver (P. Horn, in Grundriss d. iran. Philol. I. ii. p. 20). So MGr ἀσήμι , with the same meaning. The only NT instance of ἄσημος is in Act_21:39 (cf. 3Ma_1:3 ), where it = undistinguished, obscure, as sometimes in classical writers, as Euripides Ion 8, οὐκ ἄσημος Ἑλλήνων πόλις ( i. e. Athens). Cf. Chrest. I. 14 iii. 10 (p. 27 c. A.D. 200) ἐγ ]ὼ μὲν οὔκ εἰμι δοῦλος οὐδὲ μουσικῆς [υἱ ]ός , ἀλλὰ διασήμου πόλεως [Ἀ ]λεξαν [δρ ]εί [ας ] γυμνασίαρχος . For the evidence that Tarsus was no mean city see Ramsay, Cities , p. 85 ff., and more recently Bφhlig, Die Geisteskultur von Tarsos im augusteischen Zeitalter (Gφttingen, 1913). The adj. is applied to a ship in P Lond 948 .2 (A.D. 236) (= III. p. 220), without a figurehead (παράσημος q.v. ).

ἄσημος [Etym: σῆμα] "without mark or sign", ἄς. χρυσός "uncoined" gold, Hdt. ; ἄς. ἀργύριον Thuc. ; ἄς. ὅπλα arms "without device", Eur. of sacrifices or oracles, "giving no sign, unintelligible", Hdt. , Trag. "leaving no mark, indistinct", Soph. ; of sounds, "inarticulate, unintelligible", Hdt. ; ἄσημα βοῆς ῀ ἄσημος βοή, Soph. :—generally, "unperceived, unnoticed", Aesch. , Soph. of persons, cities, etc., "of no mark, unknown, obscure", Eur.

ἄσημος, -ον (σῆμα, a mark), [in LXX: Gen.30:42 (עָטַף), Job.42:11, 3Ma.1:3 * ;] without mark (in π. of an uncircumcised boy: Deiss., BS, 153; MM, see word). Metaphorical (MM, see word), unknown, obscure: litotes, οὐκ ἄ (Eur., al.), πόλις, Act.21:39.† (AS)