ἀνέγκλητος G441 (anenklētos), not accused, without reproach, blameless
Concept: Good
GL The adj. ἀνέγκλητος is derived from the vb. ἐγκαλέω G1592 (“to accuse, bring a charge [against someone]”; see καλέω G2813) with privative alpha. Thus in class. Gk. from the 5th cent. BC on it is applied to a person against whom no accusation is made. Isocrates, e.g., points out that Timotheus was “the only general under whom no complaint was raised [ἀνέγκλητον … παρέσχε] against the city [Athens] by the other Hellenes” (Antid. [= Or. 15] 127). Xenophon reports that Socrates said to Eutherus, “… it is by no means easy to find a public post in which one is not liable to censure [αἰτίαν ἔχοι].… I wonder if you find it easy to avoid complaints entirely [εἰῥᾴδιόνἐστινἀνέγκλητονδιαγίγνεσθαι] even from your present employers” (Mem. 2.8.5). In some contexts, the word may refer simply to something that does not give rise to dispute (Plato Leg. 737a–b). V 1, p 294 When applied to persons, however, it normally indicates, or at least suggests, a positive moral quality; e.g., Plutarch uses the adv. ἀνεγκλήτως in combination with ἐπιεικῶς (“with moderation, courteously, kindly”) when describing a life that is led circumspectly and that avoids inconsiderateness (Inim. util. 87E). The word must have been used freq. in colloquial speech, as papyri from both pre-Christian and Christian eras bear witness (see TDNT 1:356).
JL The only occurrence of ἀνέγκλητος in the LXX is in 3 Macc 5:31, with the sense “no ground for complaint” (so NRSV). The word occurs only twice in Jos., both times without special moral connotations (A.J. 10.281; 17.289), and not at all in Philo or other Jewish lit.
NT The adj. ἀνέγκλητος occurs 5× in the NT, only in the Pauline corpus. Its meaning in the Pastorals (Titus 1:6–7; 1 Tim 3:10) is akin to the usage in Hel. colloquial speech. Under discussion here are the qualifications for the church offices of deacon and elder (bishop). The other adjs. used in this context suggest that the meaning is “beyond reproach,” indicating respectability and good reputation. Thus in addition to qualifications of a spiritual nature, ordinary standards of decency are made into preconditions of office in the church, for the sake of the church’s good name in the world.
In 1 Cor 1:8 Paul speaks of the eschat. day of the Lord. God promises believers that he will keep them firm to the end so that they will stand “blameless,” i.e., innocent, on the day of the Lord. This blamelessness is not to be understood primarily as an ethical quality—and certainly not as the Christian’s own achievement. Rather, it is a judicial category: blamelessness on the day of the Lord is the consequence of holding fast to fellowship with Jesus Christ until the end (1:9). W. Grundmann (in TDNT 1:357) points out that the rhetorical question of Rom 8:33 provides a helpful parallel: “Who will bring any charge [ἐγκαλέσει] against those whom God has chosen?” The obvious answer is no one, for “it is God who justifies,” and his act of justification cannot be set aside.
A sim. affirmation is made in Col 1:22. This passage also speaks of judgment. Again it is the work of Christ—i.e., the reconciliation effected by his death—that forms the basis of the Christian’s blamelessness. The writer is speaking of justification. Alongside ἀνέγκλητος (the word drawn from the original legal and moral thought of Hellenism), he uses here ἅγιος G41 (“holy,” indicating primarily the believer’s special status before God) and ἄμωμος G320 (“without blemish,” an adj. drawn from the language of Jewish ritual). These words have been divorced from their Hel. or Jewish origins by the new content given to them. Through faith in Jesus Christ (Col 1:23), we receive deliverance from well-merited accusation even “now” (νυνί, 1:22), and the ultimate purpose is to confirm believers in this state of blamelessness on the day of the Lord. It is clear, however, that these terms cannot be dissociated from the concept of moral purity. (For a discussion of synonyms, see ἄμωμος G320.)
Silva, M. (Ed.). (2014). New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (Second Edition, Vol. 1, pp. 293–294). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.