Exploring the Meaning of Askemon in Greek

ἀσχήμων means “indecent” and appears once in the New Testament, in Paul’s extended body metaphor in 1 Corinthians 12. In that setting it helps describe bodily members that are treated with special care because they are regarded as unpresentable.

Root and Related Words

Strong’s connects ἀσχήμων (Askemon) with the letter name ἄλφα (Alpha; Strong’s G1) and the verb ἔχω (echo), “to have/be” (Strong’s G2192), and also links it to σχῆμα (schema), “form” (Strong’s G4976). These associations place the adjective alongside vocabulary that speaks about what is “had” or “possessed” in one’s outward “form,” fitting its use in a discussion of bodily members and their public presentation.

Occurrences

“Those parts of the body which we think to be less honorable, on those we bestow more abundant honor; and our unpresentable parts have more abundant propriety;” (1 Corinthians 12:23)

In this verse Paul describes a pattern of judgment and response: some “parts of the body” are “think[ed]” to be “less honorable,” and precisely these are treated with “more abundant honor.” The word ἀσχήμων stands behind “unpresentable,” naming the members that are not readily brought forward for display. Within the sentence, the term functions as a counterpart to “less honorable”: it is not merely a private assessment but a social one—parts considered unsuitable for presentation are handled in a way that results in “more abundant propriety.” Paul’s phrasing is careful: these parts “have” propriety in an abundant measure, not because their nature changes in the moment, but because they are accorded a kind of fitting treatment within the body’s ordering. The adjective therefore contributes a realistic note to the metaphor: some members are commonly regarded as indecent for open display, and that very perception calls forth deliberate honor and decorum.

Sense and Usage

The single attestation of ἀσχήμων anchors its sense in the ordinary realm of what is considered indecent in bodily presentation. The verse does not use the adjective to describe a person’s character or speech, but to describe “parts of the body” in the context of what can be shown and what tends to be covered. In this way, “indecent” is expressed through the idea of being “unpresentable”: the word marks a boundary between members that are naturally displayed and members that are treated with reserve.

Paul’s point depends on the social force of the label. He speaks of what “we think” about certain parts, indicating that the category is recognized by communal perception and practice. Because those members are regarded as indecent, the community instinctively responds by assigning them “more abundant propriety.” The adjective thus helps describe a moral-aesthetic judgment—indecency as something that calls for propriety rather than exposure. In the logic of the sentence, the body’s response is not to deny that some parts are unpresentable, but to answer that reality with honor and fittingness.

The immediate collocation with “propriety” clarifies how indecency is handled in the metaphor. The “unpresentable parts” are not discarded or shamed into neglect; instead, they “have more abundant propriety.” The adjective therefore functions within a paradox central to the verse: members judged less honorable and unpresentable are precisely the ones to which special honor and propriety are given. The term ἀσχήμων supplies the strong end of the spectrum—the indecent, the not-for-display—so that Paul can underline how the body’s care moves toward what is most easily overlooked.

Because the word occurs here in a bodily metaphor, it also carries a concrete, visual force. The reader is asked to imagine actual bodily members and the customary human instinct to cover them, protect them, and treat them with discretion. The adjective captures that instinct in one term: “indecent” as a quality that shapes how something is presented to others. In this verse, indecency does not become a reason for abandonment but a reason for intentional, abundant propriety.

Imagery

The image suggested by ἀσχήμων in 1 Corinthians 12:23 is not of scandal but of careful covering. The “unpresentable parts” evoke what is kept from public view, and the verse’s matching emphasis on “more abundant honor” and “more abundant propriety” paints a picture of respectful concealment and dignifying care within the unity of the body.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).