📖 Biblical Definition
Biblical meekness is reined power — not weakness, not timidity, not absence of conviction. The Greek praotēs in classical use named a war-horse trained to obey the rider’s lightest touch: full strength under perfect control. The same Greek root names the colt Christ rode in the Triumphal Entry (Matthew 21:5). Christ Himself: "I am meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29). And Moses, the man with two million souls under his hand, is named the meekest man on earth: "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:3). Meek men inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5) because they have not had to seize it.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Softness of temper; mildness; gentleness; submission to the divine will without murmuring or peevishness.
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MEEKNESS, n. Softness of temper; mildness; gentleness; forbearance under injuries and provocations.
Webster captures the ‘mildness’ sense; the Greek captures the ‘harnessed strength’ sense. Both are needed; modern English has lost the second.
📖 Key Scripture
Numbers 12:3 — "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth."
Matthew 5:5 — "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."
Matthew 11:29 — "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart."
Galatians 6:1 — "Restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern English equates meek with timid, doormat, weak; the Greek means a war-horse harnessed.
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Moses, the meekest man on earth (Num 12:3), led two million through a desert and confronted Pharaoh to his face. Christ, the meek and lowly, made a whip of cords and cleared the temple. Meekness in Scripture has nothing to do with timidity.
Recover the war-horse picture and Matthew 5:5 stops sounding sentimental: blessed are the meek — for they shall inherit the earth. The earth goes to those whose strength obeys the Rider, not to those who have no strength at all.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek praotēs is the technical term for the trained war-horse's controllable power.
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Greek praotēs / prautēs — meekness; in classical Greek used of horses broken to harness.
Note: paired in 1 Peter 3:4 with quiet as the inner ornament ‘of great price in the sight of God’.
Usage
"Meekness is a war-horse harnessed."
"Moses was the meekest man on earth and led two million through a desert."
"The earth goes to those whose strength obeys the Rider."