The Greek word áteknos, represented by G815, defines the state of being childless. Derived from the negative particle Α and τέκνον (child), it appears 3 times in 3 unique verses. Its meaning is specific and literal, referring directly to the absence of children.
All occurrences of G815 are found in a single narrative in the Gospel of Luke. The term is used to present a legal question to Jesus concerning levirate marriage. The scenario begins with the premise that if a man's brother dies having a wife but is without children G815, the surviving brother should take the wife to "raise up seed" for his deceased brother Luke 20:28. The story continues with a sequence of seven brothers, the first of whom "died without children" Luke 20:29, followed by the second who also "died childless" G815 Luke 20:30.
Several related words provide context for the situation described by G815:
- G80 adelphós (brother): This term defines the familial relationship at the heart of the legal and social obligation. The responsibility falls upon the surviving brother when another brother dies childless Luke 20:28.
- G1135 gynḗ (woman; wife): This word identifies the person central to the continuation of the family line. The surviving brother is to take his deceased brother's wife Luke 20:28.
- G4690 spérma (seed; offspring): As the direct counterpart to being childless, the purpose of the levirate marriage was to raise up seed, or offspring, for the one who died Luke 20:28.
The significance of G815 is primarily social and legal, highlighting the importance of heirs in the biblical world.
- Continuity of Lineage: To die childless was to face the end of one's family line. The law mentioned in Luke 20:28 was a provision intended to prevent this by ensuring the deceased brother would have seed to carry on his name.
- Trigger for Legal Duty: The state of being G815 immediately initiated a legal duty for a surviving brother under the law of Moses Luke 20:28.
- Absence of Posterity: While the term seed G4690 is connected to promise and inheritance, as with Abraham Galatians 3:16, the condition of being childless G815 represents the opposite: a lack of posterity and the fulfillment it represents.
In summary, G815 is a precise term for being childless or without children. Its biblical usage is confined to a single account in Luke, where it serves as the crucial condition for a legal and theological question about marriage, death, and resurrection. The word powerfully underscores the cultural and covenantal importance placed on having children, or seed G4690, to continue a family's lineage and legacy.
TRV