249. alogos

Lexical Summary

alogos: Irrational, unreasonable, without reason

Original Word: ἄλογος
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: alogos
Pronunciation: ah'-lo-gos
Phonetic Spelling: (al'-og-os)
KJV: brute, unreasonable
NASB: unreasoning, absurd
Word Origin: [from G1 (α - Alpha) (as a negative particle) and G3056 (λόγος - word)]

1. irrational

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

brute, unreasonable.

From a (as a negative particle) and logos; irrational -- brute, unreasonable.

see GREEK a

see GREEK logos

HELPS Word-studies

249 álogos (from 1 /A "not" and 3056 /lógos, "reason") – properly, counter to reason; "unreasonable" – literally, "non-reason, no-logic."

249 /álogos ("unreasonable") refers to irrational behavior (thinking) from God's point of view, i.e. what is completely against divine reason. 249 (álogos) means "acting like a brute beast" (see Jude 10), i.e. utterly unreasonable (absurd).

[249 (álogos) describes behavior that lacks sound moral (spiritual) reasoning.]

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from alpha (as a neg. prefix) and logos
Definition
without reason
NASB Translation
absurd (1), unreasoning (2).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 249: ἄλογος

ἄλογος, (λόγος, reason);

1. destitute of reason, brute: ζῷα, brute animals, Jude 1:10; 2 Peter 2:12 (Wis. 11:16; Xenophon, Hier. 7, 3, others).

2. contrary to reason, absurd: Acts 25:27 (Xenophon, Ages. 11, 1; Thucydides 6, 85; often in Plato, Isocrates, others).

Topical Lexicon

Overview

Strong’s Greek 249, ἄλογος, surfaces three times in the New Testament. Each setting underscores a condition, action, or decision devoid of reasoned reflection—whether moral, spiritual, or judicial—and thus highlights the peril of living, speaking, or judging apart from God-given discernment.

Occurrences and Contexts

1. Acts 25:27 – Governor Festus, preparing to send Paul to Caesar, admits: “For it seems unreasonable to me to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him”. Here ἄλογος exposes the folly of legal procedure detached from evidence, reminding readers that justice demands clarity and truth.
2. 2 Peter 2:12 – False teachers are likened to “irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed”. Their doctrinal rebellion springs from willful ignorance; they operate beneath the level of sanctified reason.
3. Jude 1:10 – Jude echoes Peter, charging certain intruders who “revile what they do not understand; and what they do understand by instinct, like irrational animals, they are destroyed by these things”. The apostle layers moral corruption on top of intellectual darkness.

Theological Significance

ἄλογος does more than label stupidity; it unmasks a heart estranged from divine wisdom. Scripture consistently joins right thinking with right living (Romans 12:2; Philippians 4:8). Thus ἄλογος behavior reveals suppression of truth (Romans 1:18-22). In Peter and Jude, the term exposes the ultimate trajectory of such suppression—perdition—while Acts shows the absurdity that even pagan governance recognizes when reason is bypassed.

Moral and Ethical Dimensions

• ἄλογος contrasts sharply with the renewed mind of the believer (Ephesians 4:23).
• It illustrates that intellectual capacity does not guarantee moral clarity; without submission to God, reason itself becomes distorted (1 Corinthians 1:20).
• Leaders, secular or ecclesiastical, court disaster when decisions ignore evidentiary or revelatory truth.

Pastoral and Homiletical Application

• Warn against teaching or absorbing doctrine untethered to Scripture. The brute-beast imagery dramatizes the outcome.
• Encourage believers to cultivate sanctified reasoning through the Word and Spirit so that responses to cultural pressures will be thoughtful, not instinctual.
• In counseling, expose ἄλογος patterns—impulsive choices, unverified accusations—and redirect toward prayerful investigation and biblical principle.

Historical Interpretation

Early fathers (e.g., Clement of Alexandria, Athanasius) read 2 Peter and Jude as polemics against Gnostic irrationality. Reformation commentators applied ἄλογος to ecclesial abuses, showing that tradition without Scriptural warrant drifts into unreason. Contemporary expositors link the term to post-modern relativism, where feeling eclipses fact.

Related Concepts

• φρόνησις (prudence) – the antidote of Spirit-guided reason.
• νοῦς (mind) – the faculty renewed in Christ.
• ἀφροσύνη (folly) – the larger category of moral foolishness into which ἄλογος decisions fall.

Ministry Significance

Church leadership must guard against ἄλογος governance—policy made without biblical anchoring or congregational transparency. Apologetics ministries highlight the rational coherence of faith, demonstrating that Christianity invites thoughtful engagement, not credulous impulse. In missions and evangelism, presenting the gospel as both transformative and intellectually satisfying counters caricatures of faith as ἄλογος superstition.

Forms and Transliterations

αλογα άλογα ἄλογα άλογοι αλογον άλογον ἄλογον άλογός aloga áloga alogon álogon

Englishman's Concordance

Acts 25:27 Adj-NNS
GRK: ἄλογον γάρ μοι
NAS: For it seems absurd to me in sending
KJV: to me unreasonable to send
INT: absurd indeed to me

2 Peter 2:12 Adj-NNP
GRK: δέ ὡς ἄλογα ζῷα γεγεννημένα
NAS: like unreasoning animals,
KJV: as natural brute beasts, made
INT: moreover as irrational animals born

Jude 1:10 Adj-NNP
GRK: ὡς τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα ἐπίστανται
NAS: like unreasoning animals,
KJV: naturally, as brute beasts, in
INT: as the irrational animals they understand

Strong's Greek 249
3 Occurrences

ἄλογα — 2 Occ.
ἄλογον — 1 Occ.