Bible Dictionary
UNLEARNED
Unlearned can mean lacking formal education or technical rabbinical instruction. In some New Testament contexts it refers more broadly to an ordinary person without special spiritual gifts or to those lacking understanding.
Definition
Unlearned means lacking formal or technical instruction. It may describe someone without rabbinical training, an ordinary private person without special gifts, or someone lacking understanding.
Biblical Usage
In Acts, the word refers to men lacking technical rabbinical instruction rather than necessarily being wholly illiterate. In 1 Corinthians it can mean a private person or one without spiritual gifts, and elsewhere it is associated with ignorance.
Historical Background
The underlying Greek words have different senses: one literally means illiterate, while another means a private person. Translation therefore depends on whether the context concerns education, status, gifts, or understanding.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>un-lur'-ned: Ac 4:13 for agrammatos, literally "illiterate." But nothing more than "lacking technical rabbinical instruction" seems to be meant (compare Joh 7:15). 1Co 14:16,23,24 for idiotes, "private person," the Revised Version margin "he that is without gifts," correctly expresses the sense ("unbeliever" is hardly in point); also the King James Version, 2Ti 2:23; 2Pe 3:16 (the Revised Version (British and American) "ignorant").</p>